I count myself extremely blessed to live the San Francisco Bay Area. And I consider my being a native of this beautiful place to be even more of a blessing. I’ve lived and visited other places and if it’s been farther inland I begin to feel this landlocked feeling like I need to get back to where the land meets the sea. I don’t have an everyday view of the water (very few of us in the Bay Area do), but I always know it’s there. I’m only a short 3 mile (4.82 km) drive to the marina and then I can see the water.
When I want to see the ocean and the surf in all it’s splendor I have to drive a bit farther. Stinson Beach (pictured above) is a lovely scenic hour’s drive away while Pacifica State Beach (pictured below) is a little less than an hour’s drive in good traffic. I can’t usually just bop down to the beach for a quick walk in the surf in the middle of my day. It’s an excursion that has to have a larger block of time and usually more forethought than my quick jaunts down to the marina.
Sometimes I can feel “landlocked” sitting here even though I’m in California—like today when I’ve had to do things in my studio. It’s days like today that I’m really grateful for cameras and the technology of taking photographs. I can bring up an image from my last trip to the beach… bring it up nice and big on my iMac monitor… and suddenly I don’t feel “landlocked” anymore.
