Nature Journal #6 - Harbor Point

 

Over Thanksgiving Break last year, my mom and I took the newest addition to our family – our black lab puppy, Gracie – to Harbor Point for the first time. Harbor Point is a quiet path winding along Richardson Bay, which leads out to the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Harbor Point has been a favorite spot for my family ever since my brother and I were little. On the weekends and after school, we would bring our bikes and ride along the path as my mom played fetch with our childhood dog, Bailey. We would play for hours while Bailey would go back and forth between the rocky beach and the cold water. I remember searching around the tide pools with my brother, Cole, and my childhood best friend, Elizabeth, for shells and treasures; I remember making small bouquets of honeysuckle and ceanothus (California lilac); I remember thinking that I saw a small stingray skimming underneath the surface but no one believed me. So, last November, it was an exciting morning for Gracie to be making her grand introduction to Harbor Point.

That morning, my mom and I stopped at our favorite coffee shop, Sweet Things in Tiburon, to pick up mochas. Having a mocha at Sweet Things has been a tradition for my mom and me since I was old enough to drink coffee. But, even before then, Cole and I were just happy to peer through the case of colorful cookies and cakes and enjoy a Black & White cookie and a Rocky Road cookie. That morning, I remember there being a Fall chill in the air; the sun was shining and sparkling on the water, the grass was covered in dew, and the fog was rolling across the bay in the distance. There was a cool breeze, and I remember feeling thankful for my sweatshirt and hat. Gracie was a trooper for her first walk at Harbor Point, darting between my mom’s and my legs to look at the water and the plants and other dogs. Eventually, however, she grew tired and wanted to be carried. So, we sat with our cups of coffee near the rocky beach and the tide pools; we watched the water and welcomed the day; we made our way back to the car and wrapped Gracie up in a pink towel before heading home. She fell asleep in my lap on the way home. It was such a special, quiet morning – just the three of us and the Bay.