Buena Vista Park
July 22, 2026
As I sit in Mellow Cafe, drinking my Blueberry Hibiscus iced tea, I am (relieved? maybe?) to say that this is the first coffee shop I have visited here in San Francisco in which I am overhearing a conversation that is not about AI or job loss. It’s true that it seems to be about high school drama, but at least there are people talking about other things in this city.
After ranting about pollution during my visit to Alta Plaza park, all of our things arrived from our cross country move, and I am reasonably embarrassed by the extent of boxes that we used. Right now, they are sitting on the patio in our garden, and I wince every time I walk out of our house, wondering if our neighbors think we are hoarders. It seriously looks like we moved an industrial facility across the country.
I recently watched a documentary called, ‘The Plastic Detox,’ about the harmful effects of microplastics on our heath, and it has got me really thinking hard about the things we surround ourselves with. Based on the way I have been evangelizing lately, I suspect my friends think I have assimilated awfully quickly to living in California.
This is especially on my mind today because I spent the morning dropping off a few returns for things I had ordered on Amazon, and then walked directly from Whole Foods to Buena Vista park, chastising myself the whole way for how much I had purchased in my angst about making sure we had what we needed in the new place. Moving stresses me out.
I arrived at the park from the North East corner, and climbed steep steps and switch backs high into the dense forest. It is really very wild up there, and the trees are ancient. It’s not a hot day, but sweat dripped down my chest. My shirt stuck to my back under my heavy backpack.
I could smell wood chips and heard the occasional bird chirp, but it was quiet under the towering conifers that lined both sides of the shady steep paths. Small yellow and orange flowers speckled the woody earth, and an occasional set of old looking stone steps diverted from the path straight up through long grasses, disappearing behind foliage as they climbed.
As the oldest official park in the city, I expected to find some old growth there, and I was still repeatedly surprised by the scale of the trees. This was especially pronounced when someone appeared on the path ahead of me. People look so small next to these towering needled trees.
Towards the top, facing North, and saw the city in glimpses. A two-towered church building in the distance was perfectly framed between boughs and glowing in the direct sunlight. It was so beautiful. I was reminded of Hiroshige paintings, with their partially obscured foregrounds, and the glimpsed landscapes beyond.
