BaySights

5 entries · by Astrid

Notes from the road.

Trips, weather, light, and the drives in between. First-person dispatches from the San Francisco Bay Area, one day at a time.

Rows of fishing boats are packed tightly in calm harbor water, their masts and rigging mirrored in the glassy surface under a clear blue sky. Low coastal hills line the far shore in soft late-day light.
Wry

4 min read

One Reflection, Half Moon Bay

I went to Pillar Point for the seals and the boats and ended up spending an hour on the space between two hulls.

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Close-up of rose bushes in full bloom, centered on a creamy white flower edged in bright pink-red with more clustered blossoms filling the background. Sunlight brings out the saturated colors against dense green foliage.
Contemplative

4 min read

The Sky That Would Not Decide

A September morning at the Municipal Rose Garden began under a flat, uncertain overcast, and the day's real subject turned out to be the twenty minutes it took the sky to change its mind.

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A white dog walks along the wet shoreline with foamy waves lapping at the sand, while another dog stands farther back near the curving beach. Houses and green coastal hills rise above the beach in bright daylight.
Restless

5 min read

Muir Beach at the Wrong Hour

I went for the light this place is famous for and got something else instead, hours of flat glare and a restless wait that only paid off once I stopped waiting.

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Dark rippled Bay water fills the foreground under a heavy gray cloud layer, with a bright golden band of sunset glowing low over distant shoreline hills. The scene is wide and open, with the land reduced to a thin silhouette across the horizon.
Weary

8 min read

Two Kinds of Tired Light

An overcast Thursday at Point Isabel gave way to a break of gold, and I carried what was left of the afternoon up into the El Cerrito hills.

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A black-and-white botanical site plan fills the frame, showing the layout of Luther Burbank Gardens with labeled planting beds, lawns, paths, and a plant legend along the right side. The drawing is titled "Plant Identification Plan" and dated September 1984.
Elated

11 min read

The Daisies, Finally, Alone

A clear, hot morning in Santa Rosa, a garden full of other people's schedules, and the hour it took for the light and the crowd to agree.

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