Happy Birthday to the Bay Bridge!

The Bay Bridge is 75 years old today. So far it’s appeared three times in the 2011 Project. With just 49 days left in the project, I’ll have to see if we can get the Bridge in there one more time.

November 3, 2011 – The Tent is Mightier than the Sword

If you think back a few months ago, it’s hard to imagine that something as simple as the tent would gain such symbolic importance. And wherever the Occupy Wall Street movement goes from here, it has already succeeded in that it has opened a dialogue about wealth and power that we have not had in 80 years in the United States. Yesterday I was in Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of Oakland’s City Hall. It was inspiring.

July 27, 2011 – Eastern Span

Once you come zooming down the Eastern Span, heading west, you know you’re almost home. There are two Bay Bridges. The Western Span is quite lovely connecting Yerba Buena Island to San Francisco. But with a sister like the Golden Gate Bridge, no one ever notices the Western Span of the Bay Bridge. As for the poor Eastern Span, she is the third sister. The Eastern Span is the sister with a “nice” personality. Actually, let’s just say she has personality, and honestly, she’s clumsy and she’s no beauty. But as you zoom along and look up at all the steel holding her together – hopefully for just a little longer — the Eastern Span welcomes you home, that crazy curve a quick tunnel and there is our City. From the Bay Bridge, San Francisco always looks great no matter the weather, no matter the time of the day.

The Eastern Span’s replacement will be ready soon (it actually would have been completed about 10 years ago if not for politricks). I already am missing that clunky old bridge.

May 29, 2011 – Just Over the Hill

One of the many pleasures of living in the Bay Area is our immediate access to nature. Places like Big Sur and Yosemite are all of four hours away, but so many incredible places are much closer. You can just go right across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin Headlands. Today we were just the other side of Oakland. Just over the hills, a few miles from downtown, hidden away is Redwood Regional Park. We stopped for lunch at a crowded shopping center in Emeryville on the way. By contrast the park was quiet and uncrowded. It was a beautiful day with mild, sunny weather and why one would choose shopping over nature is always a mystery to me. The park is a beautiful place t with a remote feel. As you stroll down one of the shaded trails, you have no sense that you are in the heart of an urban area with over 7,000,000 people.

Oddly, last night I had dreams about a giant, 3 foot tall grackle. I just thought it was a ridiculous dream. Okay, I didn’t see a big grackle, but my brain must have been picking up the signal from the wild turkey and her chicks that I met on the trail.