Daily Life in San Francisco #1

Since Year 5 began, our daily life in San Francisco has been a routine of a few repeated activities. 

One daily activity is walking.  Each day, our goal is to take two long walks--morning and afternoon, totaling more than 10,000 steps.  Most days, we pass our goal.

 

We start our walks at our apartment building and walk in whatever direction suits us. Usually, we have no destination in mind. We wander aimlessly enjoying all that we see along the way--architecture, street art, views of San Francisco Bay, historical sites, etc.  Occasionally, we have a destination in mind, such as City Hall, Telegraph Hill and Pier 39. 

Here are a few random photos from our many walks during the past 6 months. 

The baseball stadium, Oracle Park, is located not far from our apartment building.  So, we walk by it often.  

A selfie at Oracle Park.  Can you name the great pitcher in the background?

Many of our walks involve walking along the edge of the Bay.  

Some random hottie with the spire of the Ferry Building in the background.

One day, we took a long walk to the Civic Center, where City Hall is located.  Completed in 1915, the dome closely resembles another famous dome.  (Hint: We saw it many times during Year 4.) 

Recently, however, our outdoor activity has been limited or eliminated altogether.  Smoke from the many large forest fires near San Francisco and elsewhere in California hangs in the air.  The air quality deteriorates to the Unhealthy or Very Unhealthy levels. So, we avoid long walks outside and instead walk indoors in our apartment and the common areas of our building. (Unfortunately, the gym in our building remains closed.)       

Below are two views of smoke-laden fog on recent days.  

A few days ago, the smoke was so thick in the atmosphere that the sky was orange all day long.  In fact, it seemed more like nighttime than daytime all day long.  It was eerie.  Below is a view of the Bay Bridge from our apartment (around 9:00 a.m.), along with an article and photo from the New York Times.   

 

The NYT photo above was taken just a half block from our apartment.

We are hoping for clear skies soon.  We especially hope the best for all of the people in the West impacted by the fires, including family and friends in California, Oregon and Washington.