Sam Franks Disco, there is an old joke about a guy who left his harp in Sam Franks disco, an extrapolation from the Tony Bennett song. Judyann and I didn’t leave anything in San Francisco except a few bucks. We took the ferry from Tiburon and I had fun photographing the gulls that were following, their sleek bodies outlined against the stark blue sky was beautiful. The area lining Fishermans Wharf was utter chaos, one loud noise competing with another. We went through one store with very expensive stuff and a bronze I was looking at cost $32,500, a foreign sounding guy said “you could have this today for $4,500”. This would look really great sitting in my passenger seat the rest of the way home but I said “I don’t think so” and he turned his nose into the air and I thought ‘another one of THOSE guys’. The only interesting person of note to cross my path was a young man I asked for directions from. He had an accent and said “I have no idea, I’m from far away”. He is from Ireland, so I told him about my Irish cousin (by marriage) who tells great stories, he said “Irish stories sound even better after you have a pint of Guiness in you”. I’ll remember this next time I see Lew.
We have lunch and I ask about Judyann and Neil’s courtship. It is a story about his pursuit of her and then her pursuit of him. It is an old human story and I suggest a title to her memoirs of “Two Doors Down”.
I was drawn to a beautiful church and knew that Sue was working through me. In our travels together, if we passed a church, we had to either photograph it or go in it. I am not sure of the appeal for her but it was strong and consistent. As I look at the shops I know which ones Sue would have liked, her power over me can’t quite get me to go in. I photograph architectural stuff and then we head back and have a pleasant evening.

Some observations: On my trek I have passed four prisons. Some in desolate deserts and some in choice locations (San Quentin). I love America, it has given me a great life but one of our greatest failures is the amount of people we put in prison. It is a social and cultural failure where we put a much greater percentage of our citizens away than any other western country.
Judyann and I came to a stoplight on our way to Tiburon and a homeless man is sitting on the corner, we both instinctively reach for our wallets but the light changes before we can get some money out. As I pass by I look him in the eye and he gives me a knowing nod. That vision will be with me for a long time: Jesus said that if someone asks, you give. Unspoken is the assumption that you don’t ask why. Jon