20 for 2020: Number 20—Ocean Beach/The Great Highway

Time and again, San Francisco does nearly everything in its power to end our relationship. The nutty politics, the secularism that rules the roost and the perennial challenges of city life wear me down. It's a grind plus. And yet, this City by the Bay is a place I remain committed to—not because I have to, but because I want to. This city/county where my mom grew up and my grandparents settled after immigration is my home. And, one of its greatest attributes has risen out of this pandemic. It is 20 on my 20 for 2020: the closure of the Great Highway along Ocean Beach.

As written on Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy's website

Picture a 3.5-mile stretch of white beach with few tourists and no high rises. It's just you and the waves and the seabirds at Ocean Beach, on the westernmost border of San Francisco, adjacent to Golden Gate Park. Great for strolling and flying kites, but the water is frigid and the currents hazardous for all but the most experienced surfers.

What this description of Ocean Beach is NOT telling you is the reason there are so few tourists. It only alludes to why it might be you and the waves, interacting with the wildlife and the water. The last line of the descriptor is a give away, but so is the famous quote by Mark Twain. You might not know exactly where he wrote: the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco, but I do. With pen in hand and paper drenched by the fog, Samuel Clemens was inspired by Ocean Beach in the Outer Sunset of San Francisco in July, 1880.

To me, Ocean Beach answers the question why those without expectations are happiest. Arrive in the summer for a day at the beach and you'll be disappointed (unless you're down with gray, fog and a good fleece). Arrive in November, December and January and what you find is however.....magnificence.

In How the Great Highway became San Francisco's most unexpected promenade, Fiona Lee writes

When the pandemic shut down most of the city, much of the 3.5-mile road closed to car traffic and transformed into San Francisco’s newest promenade, one that hugs the edge of the continent and overlooks the sea — the Westside’s version of the Embarcadero.

This long, smooth stretch of concrete has been given a new life. Every weeknight or weekend we aren’t shrouded in wildfire smoke, people flock here to enjoy this urban parkway between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard, to bike and walk, to breathe in a little ocean air without a mask, and to simply enjoy life where we can enjoy crowds while staying socially distanced.

It’s become one of our few “third places,” neither work nor home, left to us now as nearly everything else — restaurants, malls, churches, movie theatres, retail shops, coffee shops and much, much more — closed in the wake of COVID-19. (Yes, some of these places are reopening, but they don't feel safe like the outdoors do.)

I believe that the closing of the Great Highway has done more for the mental and physical health of San Franciscans that any other public health program. 

In December and in January, I came to the Great Highway to find weather and waves that rival any beach in Southern California. I have walked the shore solo and with friends (thank you Haley!!). I have witnessed some of the most remarkable breakers and prolific sunsets that left me utterly convinced Abba Father is the Potter, the Creator and THAT is the work of His hands. I have arrived to this space totally spent, down and in low spirits and every time, I leave feeling a little lighter. I urged my students—many who live as many as 30-40 miles away—to make the trek to the Outer Sunset for this place. Sacred Space, indeed.

The Roman god Janus is depicted with two heads—one looks back and the other ahead. Writing the remaining 10 of my 20 for 2020 in January allowed me to realize how grateful I am fo so many meaningful memories, life giving relationships and experiences as this list suggest. My gaze is focused on all that is to come.  Here's to 21 in 2021.

Photo Credits
Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach Sunset
Top photo is one I took for the purpose of this blog... In doing so I ran into a former coworker and had the good fortune to catch up and walk together!

Dedicate Yourselves to Gratitude: Thoughts on the 2010 World Series Champions...

Watching the 2011 World Series is a little strange. The atmosphere, the hype, and the timing is remarkably familiar but it’s not exactly “déjà vu all over a again” (Yogi Berra). No, unfortunately for my Bay Area brethren and me, our beloved band of misfit toys, those San Francisco Giants ended their season in September. October baseball was not their fate.

To be honest, I dealt with it in late August. As baseball fans in a number of cities across the United States (sorry Canada!) supported their team in anticipation of the play-offs, I found myself in the City by the Bay still proclaiming one thing. I live and work in the home of the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

I took advantage of any given opportunity to remind friends—near and far—of this great distinction. I delight in sharing that reminder in e-mails, letters and phone conversations. Nowhere has victory been sweeter than in owning that title. It’s never gotten old; it’s not something I take for granted. I will relish these words until the St. Louis Cardinals or Texas Rangers capture them for the 2011 season.

San Francisco is known for its aesthetic beauty. A Victorian city built upon high hills and sand dunes, it is surrounded on three sides by water. Its Golden Gate Bridge is truly an architectural wonder of the world. And yet, this past year its great beauty was no longer to be found in its iconic vistas or landmarks. For me, it was in a World Series banner. When I first saw this flag flying above the San Francisco Bay against a clear blue sky, I did a double take. I gazed at it in wonder and awe.

Fortunately for Giants fans, this banner is not something we surrender at the conclusion of the MLB season. No, as any banner does, it reminds us of what the Giants did; they won the last game of the season (the goal of A's General Manager, Billy Beane as stated in Moneyball).

Many years ago, I hung a homemade sign over my door that read: “Dedicate Yourselves to Gratitude.” I suppose it was my hope that I would live each day grateful for what God has given and will provide. Catholic Relief Services reminds us that “Gratitude is a gift from God. It gives us a way to respond to the Creator. With it, God gives us a way to respond to the brother who gives us a gift, to the sister who tends to a wound.”

In some small way, I think that World Series banner will remind me of Paul’s message to the Colossians. The 2010 San Francisco Giants gave this city a great gift last year. I have been grateful all year. And when I see another team later this week hold the Commissioner’s trophy, I will tip my hat to all those who can say they are from the city of the 2011 World Series Champions. Enjoy every minute of it.

Photo Credits
2011 World Series
Giants as Champions
Thing of Beauty