A Week Watching the San Francisco Waterfront

I spent the first week of December mostly watching the city from a high window overlooking the Embarcadero. The view was always changing. In the evenings, I’d watch the massive container ships gliding across the bay, their stacks of containers silhouetted against the sunset over the hills. Below, the ferries came and went from the piers with a quiet, daily regularity.

Down in the park, a temporary ice rink appeared, a clean white oval waiting for skaters. It was a sure sign the holidays were approaching. As dusk fell earlier each day, little lights would start to pop up—on rooftop patios, strung up in decorative arches along the street. From this high up, it all felt a bit distant, like watching a model of a city coming to life.

The best light was often the last of the day, when the low sun would catch the windows of the other tall buildings, turning them a brief, brilliant gold before the city settled into the night. It was a simple, repetitive, and quiet way to pass the time.