Bethany:
"Why drive an hour to take a walk when we could just stroll down the street here?" I said.
"Because I want to take this particular walk," my mom replied. "Do you want to come or not?"
This was on Monday, and it's not often that my mom has a Monday off of work. Trying to keep in mind that under the right conditions, detours can be seen just as opportunities for more quality time and unexpected adventure, I packed up Jack and went. And was greeted by this.
You definitely won't find anything like this right down our street. The detail is incredible, the colors delicious. I never knew the a simple straight up and down staircase could be such a work of art.
The vast mosaic starts from the ocean and works up through fields of flowers, stream, and night sky, finally reaching the sun.
I'm pretty sure I even saw a cupcake in there somewhere. But of course I took a picture of the bat instead.
If you stop partway up, you can see down into the city, the distinctive housing, the ocean. On a clearer day, you would even be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge.
While we were not able to appreciate the full splendor of the view, we did have a chance to meet one of the women responsible for arranging this amazing community project.
Years have passed since the project was completed, but she still walks up the stairs with a bucket to make sure that the plants on the hill beside it are tended.
"At the top, you can take a picture of yourself sitting atop the sun," she said, so we did.
But my favorite section of the mosaic was the night sky, studded with stars and bits of mirror for an ethereal glow.
Pretty much any of the star steps would make for perfect decor in a nursery.
The stairway instantly made the whole trip worthwhile on its own, but it was only just the beginning point on our map, taken from and inspired by Stairway Walks in San Francisco, by Adah Bakalinky. And thus we climbed to the sky, braced ourselves against the wind, and set off through the curling mist in the Sunset District's Golden Gate Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
The breathtaking artistry of the steps ended with a view of the likewise breathtaking natural beauty of Turtle Hill looming above us, too close to capture in its entirety with my camera. That we should climb it seemed impossible, but countless stairs awaited to convince us otherwise....
July 16, 2010 at 5:32 AM
That. Is amazing. One of the most breathtaking public art pieces I have ever seen! I was just in San Fran in April....am so sad that I didn't know about this...we would have totally gone there. Just have to go back sometime.
July 18, 2010 at 9:54 PM
Wow! Lets have and adventure too... what is next on your list?
Kristal
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