Be an explorer to withstand hard winter
It’s going to be a long slog of a winter with coronavirus cases surging yet again, businesses forced to shut once more and no new federal financial assistance on the horizon. But here in San Francisco, we’re far luckier than those in many other pockets of the country despite our unfortunate fall into the purple tier, the state’s worst.
We have leaders who believe in science and facts. We have topnotch hospitals that haven’t been consumed with patients. We have fellow city residents who mostly wear masks and play by the rules. We have sunny, warmish days as far as the forecasters can see. ( Rain would be better, but if there was ever a winter when warm, clear weather was appreciated, it’s this one.) We have beauty all around us.
And we’re in a city with endless discoveries to be made. Nobody could ever see all there is to see in San Francisco, and if you’re bored here, you’re not really trying. While our days can feel endlessly repetitive during the COVID19 pandemic, they don’t have to — not here.
I kept this idea in mind over Thanksgiving with several days off and nothing much planned. Here are some ideas for safely filling our free time — for free! — as we await a vaccine and the return to semi-normalcy it will blessedly bring.
Parks: The San Francisco
Recreation and Park Department manages more than 220 parks, playgrounds and open spaces, which are more necessary now than ever. And there’s a new addition to the pack: Crane Cove and its 7 acres spanning a sandy beach on the bay.
My boys enjoyed climbing on the rocks next to the water, and we spied swimmers, paddleboarders, kayakers and lots of happy dogs. It’s fittingly in Dogpatch, and you can have more fun there for free than you can have at the formerly very pricey, currently very empty Chase Center just to the north.
This being ever so slow San Francisco, Crane Cove took nine years to come to fruition. But, hey, at least it’s here now.
Another park that’s much older, but I’d somehow never visited before, is Hilltop Park in Bayview. It has stunning views of the bay, the city’s oldest skate park, a small amphitheater, cement slides built into the hill and a super fun playground.
Most notably, Hilltop Park is home to a giant gold sundial stretching 78 feet into the sky — far higher than the city’s other sundial in Ingleside Terraces.
My younger son demanded a return visit to Hilltop Park in the same week — a sure sign of its superiority in the strong field of San Francisco playgrounds.
Slow Streets: The idea is to close some residential streets to through traffic to enable people to exercise while keeping their distance. The side benefit? Neighbors are turning some of these patches of concrete into
absolute gems. There are music concerts, pickup basketball and soccer games, and even a new Christmas tree in the middle of Page Street.
Sara Barz, a product manager for Apple, spent Friday and Saturday bicycling every Slow Street, clocking 66 miles.
“I’m a completist,” Barz said with a laugh. “When there’s a list of all the things to go through, I like to go through the list of all the things.”
The successful Slow Streets, she found, have neighbors walking, biking and playing on them to create a sense of vibrancy — and drivers who obey the signs rather than rudely blasting past them. Barz said her favorites were Lake Street in the Richmond, Page Street in the Haight, Kirkham Street in the Inner Sunset, and Mariposa
Street on Potrero Hill.
I’m not one to bicycle 66 miles, but I did manage to walk from the sun to Pluto on another Slow Street. Poet Mc Allen, who lives in Dogpatch, wanted to enliven Minnesota Street, so he and his wife and kids created the Dogpatch Planet Walk.
Start at 22nd Street and Minnesota where you’ll find a big yellow circle representing the sun. Walk north to find the rest of the planets spaced in proportion to how they’re actually spaced in the solar system. It’ll take you a mile to get to Pluto, which is included despite its isitorisn’titaplanet status.
Each planet has a sheet with interesting factoids about it affixed to a fence or light pole.
“The best one is Neptune,” Allen said. “Neptune is so dense that it
forms diamonds in its atmosphere, and they sink to the ground.”
That’s definitely more interesting than staring at Netflix.
Hikes: There are countless gorgeous hikes in San Francisco — long and short, steep and flat, urban and parklike. One I somehow never knew about until last week winds its way to a labyrinth at Land’s End. Park behind the Legion of Honor or near the Cliff House and follow trail signs to Mile Rock Beach.
The beach by itself is worth the trip, but climb up a cliff to the right and you’ll find a labyrinth made of rocks. It was created in 2004 by artist Eduardo Aguilera and has breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Vandals destroyed it at least twice, but it’s been rebuilt — a good symbol
for our city that has risen repeatedly from literal and metaphorical ashes and hopefully will again.
Of course, the best hike of all — if I do say so myself — is the 49 Mile Makeover created by me and Chronicle pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub last year when our biggest problem was deciding whether to leave Twin Peaks on the route.
It’s more relevant than ever seeing as how we were clearly fortunetellers and included newly closed to cars JFK Drive, the Great Highway and Twin Peaks on the map — plus beloved small businesses that need our help such as Green Apple Books, the Toy Boat Cafe, the Balboa Theater and Beep’s Burgers. Check it out at sfchronicle.com/totalsf.
Volunteer: The other suggestions are all about having fun and taking care of yourself, but it’s crucial these days to take care of each other, too. I needled you a few weeks ago about volunteering at the San Francisco Marin Food Bank, which in October had just half the volunteers it needed.
I figured I better practice what I preach, so I volunteered for two shifts last week including one at the new, temporary warehouse on Illinois Street. You get to listen to fun music while walking an assembly line to pack various items into grocery bags, an almost meditative experience that’ll make you feel good, too.
It was more fun to work side by side with my older son at the longtime warehouse on Pennsylvania Avenue. A small team — all in masks, of course — sorted massive piles of cans by category including vegetables, fruit and soup. Two hours later, we’d organized 18,000 pounds of cans.
Keely Hopkins, a spokeswoman for the food bank, said volunteers have picked up as they often do before the holidays — but the staff is worried about filling slots in January and February. Go to sfmfoodbank. org/ volunteer for information.
Remember, better times are coming — we just need to get through the admittedly bleak winter first. Get fresh air, get exercise, offer help to others, wear your masks and avoid gathering indoors just for fun. We can do this. We’re San Francisco.