San Francisco Recap #1:  USE CAUTION!

Traveling to California took nearly a whole day of sitting on planes and waiting in airports, but having a window seat definitely made it a lot more fun. In one of the best decisions of the trip, I grabbed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on the way out the door, and it kept me from going mad with boredom through an hour-long plane ride, a three-hour layover in Chicago, and a four-hour flight from Chicago to San Francisco. I came up for air just as the clouds cleared and we flew over the snow-bound peaks of the Rockies, but by the time I extricated my camera from the bottom of my backpack (which was wedged under the seat in front of me, of course), the mountains were far behind.

Luckily, we flew over some other really sweet landforms, so I got to see some bad-ass ridges:



another set of mountaintops:



and a completely wicked alluvial fan:


The coolest thing about this view is how clearly you can see that the sediment on the valley side has been eroded off the mountains. I felt like the mountains were wearing away before my eyes. Geology is at its heart a big-picture science, but since humans aren't built on a scale where we can easily observe it, I don't get to see the effects of my chosen science in person very often. It was pretty awesome.

While I was wandering around on Google Earth, I spotted a familiar feature:



Turns out that the lake I saw from the plane is Mono Lake, a 760,000-year-old hypersaline alkaline lake. Cool.



Once I checked into my hotel, I took a bus to Golden Gate Park so I could visit the Japanese Tea Garden. I was ridiculously excited about this, ever since realizing that the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco is the very place that inspired one of my favorite Laurie Notaro essays*, in which Laurie and her best friend Jamie learn the importance of using caution:

"As we walked up to the entrance of the Japanese Tea Garden, it did look grand, indeed. Everything was manicured and perfect, breathtakingly beautiful. We paid our admission fee and entered the first portion of the garden, where we were met by a big sign that informed us immediately to USE CAUTION!"

Upon seeing the sign, I called Danger on the phone and said, "Use caution, Danger! Use caution!" I stopped for a snack of jasmine tea and strangely spicy crackers, since the last thing I'd had to eat was a giant Cinnabon at the airport in Chicago at 8 AM.




Thus fortified, I continued on, the words of Laurie Notaro's essay running through my mind.

"We kind of shrugged, as neither of us sensed that we were in imminent danger, and continued up the path for several feet where there was a large, decorative wooden wheel about fifteen feet in height. The wheel did not turn, as it was stationary, and clearly was not intended for park guest interaction. It was just there to look at. Curiously, however, there was a woman on top of it, who had somehow apparently scrambled up the side like a cat or lizard, all in her three-inch heels, what looked like very expensive pants, a glittery halter top, and toting her Louis Vuitton satchel, rivaling Jamie for best dressed. Now, however, it appeared that she was stuck, as she stood at the top of the wheel and looked down while she shook her head at her husband or boyfriend, who was speaking to her very quietly, yet very firmly in Japanese and motioning toward the ground."

DRUM BRIDGE

Shinshichi Nakatani

Jigozen Mura, Hiroshima-Ken, Japan
1846-1922
Master Builder
Commissioned by the government of Japan to create a Drum Bridge (Taiko Bashi) for the 1894 San Francisco Midwinter Fair,

Designed and built the bridge in Japan, had a Shinto blessing for it and brought it to San Francisco,

Sold the Nakatani family fields to complete the Bridge and create the Belt Gate (Shore-no-mon) through which visitors enter the Japanese Tea Garden.

Asked his son to remain and work in San Francisco for nearly half a century, earning money to repurchase the family fields...

San Francisco gratefully recognizes the dedication and expertise of Shinshichi Nakatani for his unique contribution to the City and to the charm of the Japanese Tea Garden.


There weren't any high-heel-clad tourists on top of the drum bridge on the day I visited, and though there were photos posted nearby of children smiling happily from the top of it, I decided against climbing up it myself.

"After standing and watching the lady continually shake her head and do nothing else for about five minutes, things got a little boring so we continued a little way down the path, where we were met again with another sign that emphasized, USE CAUTION!

'You know, is there a wall of fire, free-roaming crocodiles, or a lava pit that I'm missing here?' Jamie mentioned sarcastically. 'I mean, we're on a path! The most dangerous thing that could happen is that I step in a freshly chewed wad of Bubble Yum.'

'Yeah, as long as we're not scrambling up a giant wooden wheel like a squirrel in stilettos, I think we'll be okay,' I added. 'But just in case, Jamie, use caution!!' "

The Tea Garden was quite lovely, and it was easy to see why Jamie and Laurie found the warnings to USE CAUTION! a little ridiculous.


Peace Lantern

This 9,000 pound bronze lantern was purchased with contributions from schoolchildren of Japan as a symbol of friendship to the United States. Yasusake Katsuno, the Japanese Consul General, formally presented the peace lantern on January 8, 1953.

The gift was a commemoration of the U.S.-Japanese peace treaty signed in San Francisco in 1951.

"As she walked slightly in front of me, Jamie took a step with her right foot, and as she picked up her left foot, I saw that Jamie was heading straight while the bridge curved.

'JAMIE!!!!' I screamed as loudly as I could. 'USE CAUTION!!' "

The Pagoda

Pagodas are Buddhist shrines usually made of stone, brick, or wood. They derive from the stupa of ancient India, a funeral mound erected over the remains of a holy man or king. Japanese pagodas were based on Chinese prototypes introduced into Japan in the 6th century. The first story in larger pagodas was generally furnished and contained an altar. The upper stories were plain and unfurnished. This pagoda was from the Japanese exhibit of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915.

"But it was too late. Way too late. Her left foot was already out over the water of the pond, and I watched it happen, as if she were walking over a cliff in slow motion. My best friend stared straight ahead and upward toward the wooden wheel, smiling pleasantly, her pearls gleaming, her skirt flowing, having no idea that she was a millisecond away from disappearing in a blur of wool pleats to swim with the koi fish in the much-deeper-than-it-looked reflecting pool.

I did the only thing I could do, which was reach out and grab her bra strap from behind, but as she went over, I heard my effort SNAP!! as I lost her to the water below.

It was a tremendous splash. That water just swallowed her whole. She had not, in any way, used caution."

Luckily, I heeded the warnings of Laurie Notaro's essay and used caution throughout my visit, and thereby avoided Jamie's fate.




On the walk back to the bus stop, I decided that palm trees are really, really weird-looking:



I also stumbled across the most adorable lion statue EVER:




Saw some cool plants:



And came upon a really pretty bridge:



If you'd like to see more views from the plane and more Tea Garden pictures, visit Shutterfly via the links.


*Laurie Notaro excerpts from "Swimming With the Fishes," in I Love Everybody, and Other Atrocious Lies:  True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl


Reading:  Coast Redwood:  A Natural and Cultural History