Tales of the City ~ April 22, 2012

We went down to San Francisco this weekend to meet up with some out of town friends and do some exploring. It was 90 at home in Sonoma County and a pleasant 75 around the bay, one of those magical, windless spring days you don't often see.

We checked into our hotel on Lombard about 4pm and walked down to the Marina to meet with our friends for dinner at Pompei's Grotto on Jefferson St. The food was fabulous. I was looking at some vintage photos on the hallway wall and was thrilled to see one of California Street after the 1906 earthquake that had been taken by my great grand uncle, RJ Waters. Some places like this delightful little restaurant never change, but the world around it does.

The flip side was that there were about 10 low riders (fabulously creative beasts from the 50's and 60's in pristine shape) parked on the street out front. At least four of them had the bass on their space age stereo systems cranked up to 11 (ala Spinal Tap) and the windows were rattling. Several herds of Harley's came through in full dress with dragster volume pipes. All fun to watch, but a bit of a damper on ambiance and conversation for some. We just took it in as part of the free entertainment.

After dinner we walked back on a path that takes you around to the back of the small park at Ft. Mason and saw some stunning views of the Golden Gate and Marin Headlands at dusk.

Sepia tones of a great view of the Golden Gate

However, the next thing that came into view was the aftermath of Earth Day in the park at Ft. Mason. The place had been wall to wall people in the late afternoon when we first walked by. By dusk all that was left was the garbage, tons of it everywhere. San Francisco is at the top of the green cities list, but apparently some of the citizens haven't gotten the message. A sad commentary.

Earth Day Aftermath at Ft. Mason

After a fair night's sleep (we live on a dead end lane in the country so it is a stark and loud contrast being on main street USA) we walked down to Chestnut Street to meet up for breakfast at the Squat and Gobble, a spur of the moment choice that turned out to be an excellent decision. Walking back on Chestnut we noticed a fire truck parked in the middle of Pierce St. A cadre of firemen abandon ship and walk in our direction. We laughed and Carol facetiously said they must be on their way to Starbucks for coffee. Imagine our surprise when that's exactly where they were headed.

Next stop the Exploratorium ~ a place that makes you realize you're always a kid ~ all touch, visual, sound, mind, play, science and make it. I grew up in Mill Valley, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, I'm 67 years old and this was my first trip. Holy Hands On Fun Bat Girl! Put it on your bucket list. They will be closing down next January and moving to their new location on Pier 15 and re-open in April. I don't think it will be as convenient (free parking now at Crissy Field) and the amazing Palace of Fine Arts no longer be next door. So I'd go before the new year.

Favorite I: Icy Bodies ~ thin shavings of dry ice are injected onto the surface of a shallow pool of water where they careen around like comets. 

Tiny jets of gas shoot out from the individual ice fragments causing them to spin and tumble as they drift about. Side-lighting brings out the detailed structure of the out-gassing jets, much like our solar system.

Favorite II: The Living Bacteria Exhibit ~ colors to delight the artisan in all of us.

This was an amazing adventure to say the least ~ we took a stroll through the Palace of Fine Arts and then called it a day and headed back to the north country. Cereal and bananas for dinner and early to bed, brain dead from all the sensory input. Next adventure will be to the Legion of Honor for the Cult of Beauty: the Victorian Avant Garde 1860-1900 (through June 17th) and the San Francisco Zoo. 

Martha, Carol, Rod and Me

April 18, 1906 - The Great San Francisco Earthquake

April 18th is the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.  While working on my family genealogy I discovered some interesting connections to that day.

My maternal grandmother Hazel Hobson was senior at UC Berkeley in Spring 1906. The earthquake happened just weeks before graduation. Classes and finals were canceled, and it was decided that the publication of the Senior Record would be put off until their 1st reunion. Though the leather cover has started to succumb to time I have her copy.

From the Forward "It is the record of the earthquake class, a class that was shaken away from contact with books and papers and hurled unawares into the turmoil of life, and there assigned to active service. Our men and women were sent forth into the land in the hour of her sorest need. We graduated alike without final examinations and without the customary celebrations of Senior Week....As our class stands unique among the classes, so must it's Senior Book have no counterpart among college publications. It is designed to have no place in and form no part of any series: it bears no title, no volume number to link it to commonplace records. We desire it to be a unique record of a unique senior year. It's preparation has been a labor of love".

My paternal grandmother, Olive Waters, grew up in San Francisco. She and her father were in Europe when the quake hit, but the family home at 1976 California Street survived unscathed. In 2007 I sent a letter to the "current owner" at that address. He contacted me and I was delighted to find out he's a history buff. He provided me with more pieces of the puzzle about the house. He also discovered there was a photographer's studio under the name of RJ Waters listed at the address. I knew that my great grand uncle had been a photographer, but little else, so at his suggestion I did some research on the web.

RJ Waters was born in Virginia City, NV and worked out of Gold Hill, NV until his move to San Francisco. His outdoor views of Tahoe, Gold Hill, Virginia City and the Sierras ranked him among the best photographers of his time. He became well known for his photos of the SF quake and did some innovative work for the Pan Pacific Exposition in 1915 by launching a camera in a balloon contraption to get the first "aerial photos" of the exposition. 

I also found reference to a book entitled "1906 The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire" by Darrell Heppner. I contacted Mr. Heppner and he told me the story of how he came into possession of some of RJ Waters' photo negatives. In May 2000 he and his wife were at the Alameda flea market and discovered a vendor with black boxes containing 4"x5" glass negatives of the 1906 quake along with an old typed list of information about each negative. They purchased the lot and it became their passion to publish a book about the quake, its aftermath and the rebuilding of San Francisco. I have a signed copy of the book and Mr. Heppner gave me permission to use some of my grand uncle's photos. 

Our lives are tapestries, threads woven from generation to generation. I had no idea my grand uncle had lived and worked in Gold Hill, NV until this week. The connection? I had always wanted to be married in Nevada and a high school friend living in Reno suggested a couple of places for us to check out. With he and his wife, and two friends from home as witnesses we were married by the Justice of the Peace at the Gold Hill Hotel in 1986. Make the time to talk to your elders, ask them about old pictures, ask them about the times they lived in, record it or write it down and begin a dialog for generations. It can be a fascinating adventure.