The coldest week of my life in San Francisco. Not quite what I expected as the ultimate week in sunny North California but then again it is winter.According to Mike Pechner (a Bay Area weather man) “This is one of the heaviest and lowest snowfalls in 25 years”. Such infrequent extremes certainly make you think more about climate change, every year brings new records. Snow, hail and rain have arrived in varying degrees over my last seven days and it looks to be a fantastic season for snow sports in the Sierras, almost double the total snow fall compared to the same time last year.
A trip through Caldecott tunnel, under the Berkeley hills, often welcomes traffic arriving on the East side with much warmer weather. Not so on my recent journey along State Route 24, instead of a temperature climb I’m hit with a sharp drop, frost twinkles on either side of the road as I’m greeted with a view more at home around Lake Tahoe. Many of the “peaks” appear snow capped, Mount Diablo slides into view, frozen, and I can’t help but think that’s real snow up there (3,557 feet/ 1,084 metres). An impressive sight, sparkling and glistening in the sun. Thoughts of missing out on a decent season snowboarding are hard to keep out of mind. A surprising cold snap indeed.
Aside from the weather, this week has been full of other surprises. Most have provided a refreshing perspective on how limited our time can be and what it means to most. These surprises have resulted in numerous distractions and productive procrastination has been a sought after commodity. Soon the time will come to give up on that approach but not yet.
Many things will be missed, mostly the people. North Beach, a place I have come to call home, will surely be missed.
Good coffee, good food and good service. My favourite bars for reading books and drinking beer (The Adler Museum to name one) will be there when I return - I hope! I'm already craving Cal Italia pizza from Tony's Pizza Napoletana, a craving likely to stick with me for many a month to come!
Sitting on my beautiful bar stools or standing for a closer look out of my window filled with wonder at the changing view - mainly from the absent or present fog. It will be missed.
One final photo in a first blog entry that seems too full of words. It's not easy to say good-bye. Here's Golden Boy Pizza (now home to my bar stools) and easily the best spot for a slice in North Beach. I regret not having time to take a photo of the neon sign...
