The views from our shelter-in-place walks

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I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.
– John Muir, influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America

When the county issued a shelter-in-place order on March 16, 2020, I was finishing up working out at our local gym. We were told the order would last for three weeks. Without a structure in place, especially for someone who is so reliant on routine, I fell off of my exercise regimen. Soon, suffering from cabin fever, I started looking for a different form of cardio exercise. We decided to go on long walks with our dog, Sammy. First it was a threesome with my husband, David, and my daughter, then it became just David and me. In the beginning we walked to Memorial Grove in El Cerrito, but the downhill walk was a little treacherous with the gravelly and pebbly path.

We started our walks after our work day, and we headed up a long, uphill road and took meandering streets to get back to our house in the flats. It was about 3.5 miles, which took us a little over an hour. Sometimes we walked all the way up Moeser Avenue to Arlington, which wound its way through the towns of Kensington and Berkeley, and then to El Cerrito. That walk often took 2.5 hours. This walk was mostly with my daughter and me, which was a really peaceful and leisurely time for us to connect. Soon we developed a routine when my daughter stopped walking the rigorous uphill climb. At one point, we timed the uphill climb to 11 minutes and 55 seconds in June, but we haven’t been able to beat that time.

Along the way, we saw some great views, fauna, and flora. I knew at some point, wherever we were with shelter in place and the pandemic, I would put together a collage of photos from our walks. With autumn here and daylight savings looming a month away, our routine will once again change, but for now, here are memories of what I call our “shelter-in-place” walks. Enjoy!

Black birds on a bare tree in March.
A late end to our walk results in a beautiful sunset.
At the top of Memorial Grove, a view of the bay, San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Marin.
A closer view of the City.
Tangled tree branches at Memorial Grove.
This is a closeup of a tree at Memorial Grove. This reminds me of a Georgia O’Keefe painting.
Another closeup view of the tree. This is more O’Keefe!
A field of poppies.
A majestic cloud, like a bust, in shadow and light, near our house at the start of our walk.
A blustery March view at the top of Memorial Grove of San Francisco Bay.
Looking upward at the trees at Memorial Grove.
Another view of a Memorial Grove tree.
An iris near the high school.
I need to download the app that identifies plants and flowers on your phone. This bloom looks like a bouquet of tiny flowers.
April sunset from behind Sunset Cemetery.
Another view of the sunset.
The sinking sun at Sunset Cemetery.
We are all familiar with the turkeys that rule El Cerrito and the hills. This is up Stockton Street.
On the longer walk along Arlington Avenue, I recognized this house that I had seen years before and admired for its beautiful landscaping and details, and the traditional Colonial-style house, of course.
A closeup of the house.
A delicate bloom in a garden along Colusa Avenue.
The ferny bush and blooms.
Tangled tree branches dark against the green leaves at Memorial Grove.
Another view of the tree branches and leaves.
Closeup of a giant succulent.
A very plump turkey.
This turkey is strutting in style – belongs in a fashion magazine for turkeys.
Birds on a wire and tree branches.
Is this a monkey flower?
A May view of the City from afar, along Terrace Avenue.
A very elegant raven posed for me on rocks, iron benches, amid poppies. Surely, it deserves four photos!
Strike a pose, Raven!
Another shot of the raven.
The last raven photo.
I’d love to know what this beautiful flower is!
David spotted this hawk in a tall tree along Terrace Avenue.
A crane seen along Moeser Avenue.
A mid-May view of the City along Terrace Avenue.
A beautiful May late afternoon of the San Francisco Bay.
This is an otherworldly plant and its blooms.
A small park along Arlington Avenue.
A deer in someone’s yard along Arlington Avenue.
Turkeys rule the front yard of this home in early June.

An amazing bloom of an unidentified plant in late July.
A bucolic front yard with a steel bird bath at a house along Arlington Avenue.
This has been a terrible firestorm season and we’ve had some really bad bouts of heat waves, which all point to the impact of climate change. The one day where the sun didn’t come out, it was completely dark outside, and when the sun did show up it was an eerily orange disc, it felt horrifically Apocalyptic. I didn’t take any pictures, although I’ve seen many that have captured what it felt like that day. Instead, I’m going to end with two photos of the view from Terrace Avenue in El Cerrito of San Francisco Bay and the City. So clear on that Friday late afternoon. This is my home.
I leave you with this one image showing both the City and the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny and very clear day, a rarity this summer and fall. Had we not gone through shelter in place, I don’t think we would have taken this walk for our daily exercise and seen this gorgeous view. Once daylight savings hits, we’ll be limited in taking the walk up Moeser and winding down Terrace on weekends and fair weather, but we have these great photos and memories to keep this view in our hearts. May some good come out of your shelter in place.