For our last day in San Francisco, we hit up Golden Gate State Park and the ocean! We left our luggage at the hotel and hired an uber driver to take us to the middle of the park. While waiting, we took a picture outside of the hotel while we were still fresh and ready to take on another day!
That park is HUGE… again, Danny and I had really no idea what there was in San Francisco, so when we saw the size of the park we were floored! It was so cool. There was a free bus system JUST for the park. It was a little haven in a big, busy city. We watched families walk together, BBQ together and toss around frisbees. People were running by, biking by, and laughing as they went. I felt more comfortable in the park than I did at the wharf. Probably because I could stretch out my hands without smacking someone with a camera in their hands.
“Sorry…”
Here’s a picture of our drive -the scenery is pretty amazing, nothing like what I’m used to in Arizona!
We walked along a paved path and plucked bits of greenery. I have a thing about natural souvenirs… last year when we hit up Newport Beach, I took some sand and shells home. They’re in a vase, and I love displaying it. As I walked in the park, I grabbed flowers and leaves to press. I want to frame them like I did with my sister’s bouquet. I’m pretty excited about it! The flowers are all smashed up in a book right now. My fingers are crossed that they’ll turn out beautifully!
The park was a fun walk. We saw Bison and a big windmill. It was neat to find benches that were dedicated to people who’d passed on, people who had loved the park.
The walk was refreshing.
It was nice when we started to see the ocean in the distance -soon we could hear it and feel it. We couldn’t wait to sink our toes into the sand! We knew we’d end up bringing sand home in our socks, but we didn’t mind. Maybe we even liked the idea a little.
Folks were playing catch with their pets, doing yoga, building castles with their kids. It was a beautiful sight and a beautiful day. This trip was worth the cost for the PEOPLE WATCHING alone, I swear.
I did some Danny-watching too. It’s fun to snap pictures of people when they’re just enjoying joy.
We were able to enjoy the beach for a couple solid hours:
I’ve done some studying on negative ions lately, and I couldn’t wait to put into practice some of what I’d learned and am learning -I couldn’t wait to let my body soak up the healing that naturally comes from the sea, the sand, even the energy put off by the waves! I asked my husband to take pictures of me just… BEING in the sea. When I looked at them, I could see how guarded I am naturally -how scared I am, how fear takes over so many of my everyday moments. My eyes have been opened in a big way about this… anxiety is a big issue for me, and I see it in the way I eat, the decisions I make, even the way I stand:
I self-protect. I don’t stand up straight, unconsciously protecting my heart, keeping it safely tucked behind a “should cage.”
After Danny and I both looked at the pictures, after I’d spent the weekend consciously trying to physically OPEN my heart, we said, “let’s try that again.”
And I TRIED. So you can tell it isn’t totally natural, and I’m hoping for one of those, “fake it until you become it,” miracles.
The hardest work I’ve ever done is loving myself -namely: ACTING and LIVING from that place… that place where there’s lots of veggies and fresh air, peace despite storms, laughter in the moment and clothes that fit right, a made bed and peaceful surroundings, open chest, straight back!
IT.
IS.
THE.
HARDEST.
Most times, I just can’t do it! Sometimes I can fake it! And sometimes, I get a taste of having it come naturally. And those are The Blissful Times.
After slipping dusting the sand off as best we could, we gave our mostly unused bus passes (they still had one full day on them) to a couple who looked nice and didn’t speak English much at all so they probably didn’t use them. They returned kindness by taking our picture:
There’s so many pictures of our faces, this is true. I just have the hardest time with coming home from vacations with mostly pictures of scenery. I carry scenery in my heart, but I carry pictures of faces in my hands.
So let it be written.
The sand was SO HOT. I slipped my shoes back on, but Danny tried to tough it out. He got pretty far, but we had to stop so he could put his shoes on. It took a while, so I took a picture of the view to my right with the bright, big city behind me:
I took a picture of the view to my left of a big and wild sea behind me:
And then I took a picture of the view in front of me… a boy with burning hot feet:
It made me laugh. It still makes me laugh.
I laugh easily.
We grabbed some hot wings at the airport -our first UN-SEAFOOD food all weekend -and then we headed toward our kids.
One of my favorite things (right up there with people watching) is Arizona sunsets, and we flew home in the middle of a great one.
Goodbye ocean, hello desert! You’re both beautiful in your own way.
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