A Few Clear Days on the San Francisco Bay

We had a stretch of clear, bright days at the end of March, so I spent some time down by the water. Alcatraz is always there on the horizon, a constant landmark. From one spot, I could see it framed by trees, and from another, it was visible over a small sandy inlet with old wooden posts reflecting in the calm water.

The harbor was still, with sailboats docked and their masts mirrored perfectly. It was a good day to get out on the bay itself. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge from the water gives you a real sense of its scale, spanning the entire opening with the Marin Headlands behind it. We passed by Alcatraz again, this time with a couple of other sailboats cutting across the waves in front of the island.

Back on land, I was walking around and looked up to see these two classical statues carved into the corner of an ornate building, catching the afternoon sun. Just one of those details you notice when you're not in a hurry. The day ended with one last look at the bridge, just the top of a tower seen from below, framed by a lamppost and a sign.