Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Monday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face. The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of maintaining a permanent Democratic majority. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. Consider this an open thread.
One of the things I learned recently in New York City is that Golden Gate Park in San Francisco is actually larger than Central Park in New York. I also discovered that Bethesda, the most beautiful fountain/statue ever, sits smack-dab in the center of the island of Manhattan. There she is, below, center of the photo...
Sorry for that gratuitous use of my cool photo of Bethesda from last month, but I figured if I didn't use it now, chances are I'd never use it.
Golden Gate Park photos after the jump
Now over 130 years old, Golden Gate Park (in my home city of San Francisco) is an amazing park to explore. Built on top of what used to be sand dunes and the likes, the park is essentially a man-made endeavor. It's where the Human Be-In of 1967 took place which kicked off the Summer of Love. The Jefferson Airplane played here in the late 60s where now Emmylou Harris and others host the "Hardly Strictly BlueGrass Festival." And the park is about 20% bigger than Central Park in New York City.
As often as I can I get out to the park -- one express reason being because I sit on the board for the National AIDS Memorial Grove, which is located in Golden Gate Park, and am often photographing an event or volunteer work day or what not there.
I also bee-line for the park as often as possible because it's the calmest, most quieting place I know.
And is perhaps the most photogenic park I know, where every turn of the path brings you something or someone new, be that a hawk, a rainbow, a wild orchid, dahlias, steller jays, hummingbirds, bison, geese, tourists, and even just plain solitude.
SO, Got A Happy Story about where you go to find calm and quiet?
I'll stop now and let a few of the miscellaneous photos I took over the past three days tell the story far better than could I.
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(a wild orchid, known as the "weed orchid")
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And, I wasn't joking -- you might even run into a rainbow...
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So, do you have a Happy Story to share?