I'm used to walking alone in the early hours to the youth homeless shelter I volunteer at in Berkeley so I felt it would be safe enough to jog to the bus stop at 5am on Sunday morning. I caught a transbay bus (no BART operating that early on Sundays) into San Francisco and arrived at 6ish while it was still dark. I'd planned this trip carefully so that I went to the most urban beach and didn't get there earlier than I needed to be. Walked a few blocks to catch another bus. There were enough people getting ready for work, especially in coffee shops, for me to feel safe. Got to Aquatic Park Beach at 6:40. The sky was just starting to get red in the east and some joggers were already out. Walked around the harbour and waited and waited for the sun to rise. I've never intentionally waited for the sun to rise before. I was freezing and it seemed to take forever! Eventually, at about 7:15, it did and everything went bright and gold. I was on the tip of the harbour wall at the same time so I announced "Christ is Risen!" out loud to the bay! From where I was standing I could see the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge behind me! As the sun rose and it got a bit warmer I sat for a quite a long time on the steps that lead to the sand. I saw someone else with their Bible who obviously had the same idea as me! That was the first, very memorable part of my Easter morning...
