Apple tree and abandoned apartment building
This apartment building on 15th Street has been abandoned for months and perhaps years, and for just as long I have been photographing its pale west wall and open windows. Unlike the building, the apple tree is thriving–heavy with fruit at the height of summer. Someone has now cut down all the weeds in this vacant lot beside the building, which makes me think that something is about to happen. My guess is that this is not good news for the tree.
White chair – Saturn Steps
The Saturn Steps are the quickest way on foot to get from my home down to the Castro District and the subway to downtown. A few weeks ago, this chair appeared outside one of the cottages along the steps. I’ve been re-exploring film lately, carrying my old 35 mm film camera to and from work. Hiking up the hill on my first afternoon of this regime, the light seemed right to grab this shot.
Monterey cypress – Fitzgerald Marine Reserve
The tidepools are the main attraction of this county nature preserve on the San Mateo Coast. But the cypress groves on the bluffs above the water are fascinating. Many of the trees seem stunted, their bottom limbs as dead and leafless as matchsticks. This may be because they were all planted too close together–or maybe the soil is too poor for them to thrive.
Circle of remembrance – National AIDS Memorial Grove
Delavega Dell, in Golden Gate Park, sat abandoned and overgrown for years. Beginning in 1991, hundreds of volunteers began renovating the 7.5-acre space as a memorial to those who had died and suffered as a result of AIDS. Today, the Congressionally authorized memorial is one of he loveliest and best-tended corners of the park. The circle is inscribed with the names of those who have died of AIDS.
Masonic Street mansion
I have always loved the detailing on this very large, elegant home, which sits on a steep and graceful section of Masonic Street around the corner from my own much more modest condo. This is the second time I have photographed the home’s architectural detail through the scroll of fence and front garden. This time the light was favorable — sun forcing its way through the last of the early morning fog. Also, the last time there were no purple flowers, which my wife tells me are called butterfly bush.
Parking sign and tree house – 20th and Sanchez
Twentieth Street is one of the many streets in San Francisco where steps take the place of pavement in steeper stretches. I have often admired this cage-like platform in the leafy garden planted along and at the foot of these steps. There has to be a story here, but I don’t know what it is.
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