Heat Wave in the City

Over the past 4 or 5 days, San Francisco has experienced a crazy heat wave. I mean, we hardly ever wear short sleeve shirts at night here; but, in the past few days, shorts, skirts, and tank tops have been a must in order to stay cool. In fact, we even took out the fan and had it on all night last night!

The warm weather has been fabulous! So much fun to be had in the sun! And, over the weekend, we wasted no time and ventured outside to enjoy every minute of this lovely weather!

On Saturday we headed into the Valley, to Modesto, to visit a good friend of mine. It was then when the temperatures got warmer for us! With about 80 degrees, Modesto was as nice as it could get on a summer day. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos that day. I was having so much fun with my friend and her family, catching up and hanging out, I totally forgot I had my camera in my bag! But, take my word for it, it was a lovely day!

On Sunday, we walked around the city. We love our urban walks here in San Francisco because there is always more to be discovered!

It was so hot on Sunday that we thought it would be a good idea to head towards the water to enjoy the ocean breeze. We walked there via Telegraph Hill and through Levi’s Plaza, where there is an awesome waterfall and a stream that runs through the grassy area. Bomber loved soaking up his feet in the water there! Perfect for a hot dog on a hot day!

While walking down on the Filbert Steps, we went into the garden that is hidden there, and we saw the most gorgeous flowers. The sun was hitting them, making them glow. I took a lot of photos of them. These flowers are particularly nice at night, when they become very fragrant to attract insects.

 

After walking for a while, we arrived to Pier 19, where you can get fabulous views of the Bay Bridge and of downtown San Francisco.  Instead of walking on Pier 19, we decided to walk on the Public Promenade that runs all along the waterfront. The walk is quite lovely, especially on a warm day.

When we reached the Ferry building, we decided it was time to head back home. It had been a lovely, LOVELY walk. I would have loved to go to the beach, but a walk in the city, with the sun shining and an overall sense of cheerfulness in the air, was a pretty good option too!

Monday was a cooker! Hot, hot day.

Tuesday was even warmer. You couldn’t even escape the heat by sitting in the shade. I wanted to go to the beach badly. I was picturing myself walking around, enjoying the sea breeze and the cold ocean water on my feet.

 

Pushed by this desire, I convinced Joe to take a couple of hours to go to the beach with me. We jumped on a Zip Car and drove to Crissy Fields. When we got there, the sky was clear, the water was as blue as it gets, and the Golden Gate Bridge looked as red as I’ve ever seen it (in reality, the bridge’s color is International Orange, but it sure looks red!)!

We walked on the beach. Bomber bounced up and down, meeting and greeting every single dog that went walked by him. He loved every minute of it!

While our dog was joyfully running up and down the beach, we were walking by the shore, feeling incredibly grateful for such a lovely day and for being so lucky to be out enjoying it. When we reached the end of the beach and we turned around, we saw the city in the distance and felt very happy to live here. Such a cool city!

Back in the car, we drove home. We both had work to do.

In the evening, our neighbor told us that Joss Stone was playing a concert at Union Square for the Oracle Conference that is happening here in town. We headed down there to check it out. and were pleasantly surprised to see that the barricade was only waist-high, and that we could actually watch (and hear) the show from just a few meters away. When the concert was over, we went back home.

I can vaguely remember having heard of Joss Stone before, but I thought she had a pretty nice voice.

To be totally honest, I have totally loved these past few warm days. They have brought gorgeous sunsets, lively evenings at the park, open windows at night, and lots of happy people. But, I am glad this is not the way it always is here. I’m more of a mild climate type of person, and I don’t really like extremes—hint hint, that’s why I moved out of Minnesota!

The heat exhausts me! Funny for a girl who was born in a tropical country, right?

And speaking of Minnesota, I have been thinking about all the times that people told me they put up with the harsh winters because the terribly cold and crummy days make them enjoy the nice days more. I disagree. You don’t need to have really bad weather in order to enjoy really nice days. I learned that in Santa Barbara, where it was always nice, and people were always out, enjoying the gorgeous days.

Well, no matter what your take on weather is, what really matters is that when the days are beautiful, everything seems to be better. We can all have different concepts of what beautiful is, so it’s up to us to enjoy our days in whatever way feels best!

In other news, I've started knitting a scarf! As it turns out, I really enjoy knitting! I have also included a photo of an orchid. This is the first orchid I have, not only managed to keep alive, but the first one that has given me more flowers other than the ones it had when I first got it! Hurray!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s photos. For more fun photos, visit my Etsy store at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WorldPhotosByPaola