65 & Sunny

June 2026

I had been to San Francisco a few times, but never decided to stick around for long enough. Previously, it has been just to pass through — on the way to this or that, or to see another beautiful places right outside the city. This time we had the chance to slow down and see what SF had to offer.

After walking Lizzy to work in the morning, I walked through the colorful neighborhoods and eventually found my way to SF MoMA. The art and architecture was incredible, but I really just wanted to be outside enjoying the California sun. I didn't have much of a plan, but I’d given myself one goal: shoot the transition into summer. Not the calendar version, but the feeling. The one where you walk out the front door as a kid and the days stretch forever. Nothing calling you back other than the shout of your Mom when dinner is ready.

It was finally June and the days were starting to get longer, but without the sun on you and with a breeze off the bay, it didn’t really feel like summer. So the transition that I ended up finding was the way that I understood the city — it reminded me that my expectations needed to be dropped.

As we crawled up Nob Hill and passed by all the beautiful old buildings I began to understand the deep fabric that makes up SF. It’s one of many cultures and generations. It felt gritty, like it couldn’t really be boxed. The people were kind. The food was good. You could feel the promise in the air. This was a place that people have come to in search of riches for many years, but it’s also a place where we saw many people struggle.

The next morning, we couldn't believe the blistering wind coming off the Pacific, proof that we weren't going to get the sunny, summer California day we had been led to believe. What it gave us instead was an excuse to sit in a café with nowhere to be. A luxury that feels hard to come by these days, or maybe one that just needs to be chosen.

We fueled up on espresso and breakfast sandwiches for the first chapter in Lizzy's impeccably planned weekend. Looking woefully underprepared next to everyone else on the trail, we crossed Land's End, and eventually found our legs in the sun.

And then without planning it, the summer feeling arrived. It wasn’t the warm California kind, but the feeling of wandering around the neighborhood with no sense of time. It was chasing a hummingbird as it looks for it's late afternoon snack. It was the way the sun reflected off the ferris wheel. The way Lizzy laughed when the seals would push each other off the dock.

We came looking for summer and were reminded of what the season is actually about. It’s not about endless summer days, it’s the freedom of those days and someone you love next to you. Through all of the transitions that life throws at us, I’m always reminded of the things that matter the most — like watching Lizzy accomplish a big milestone or just sitting in the park with a delicious sandwich and nowhere to be.

San Francisco didn’t give us what we came for. We came chasing summer and found something quieter; a reason to put everything down and just be with each other. The transition was never about the season. It was about coming back each other.