Having run out of French-speaking places to visit for our wedding anniversary (within reason; we hadn’t been to Bora Bora) my husband asked where I would like to go to celebrate our third which was in 2010.  Since I love St. Francis of Assisi I thought it would be cool to visit the city who bears his namesake.  On our first day Burk really wanted to visit Alcatraz.  Oh the DREAD; I would have truly — and I mean this — rather have had a root canal than go to some horrible old prison; I could not think of anything worse!  But in a marriage one compromises.  I want him to go places with me with a CHEERFUL heart — not just begrudgingly go just to be going — and so I resolved to do the same for him.  Alcatraz:  WHO KNEW?!  I had so many beautiful pictures I could not choose one for this blog.  The first thing in the morning we went down to the docks, got our tickets, and boarded the ferry that would take us to the island.  As we approached I saw all these Native American signs and symbols.  Graffiti was scrawled in greeting saying, “Indians welcome” and “Free” was written into the stripes of the American flag painted underneath the wings of an eagle.  I was confused and intrigued.  When we landed, I found myself anxious to look around.  The small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, military fortification, military prison and eventually a federal prison (the only thing of which I knew).  But beginning in November of 1969, for more than 19 triumphant months, the abandoned island was occupied by a group of Native Americans who were part of a wave of Indian activism across the nation, with public protests throughout the 1970’s.  Now managed by the National Park Service, it is the site of the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast and has, to my utter amazement, become a protected sanctuary for seabird colonies of western gulls, cormorants, and egrets!  And therein I found my joy.  My husband thought the tour inside interesting but I chose to stay outside with the tangy sea air blowing my hair, white waves crashing against the rocks, and the sounds of all kinds of seabirds creating a sort of soothing cacophony.  Rising to heights of nearly 100 feet, the cliffs provide nesting and roosting sites for pigeon guillemots, cormorants, and several different types of gulls.  I took an incredible photo of a nesting Great Black-backed Gull (the largest gull in the world!) but she did not take too kindly to the invasion so I quickly moved on.  There is also a nesting habitat of agave that provides for night herons.  Gardens planted by families of the original Army post and later by families of prison guards were discovered and are being restored to their natural state.  In clearing out the overgrowth workers found many of the original flora were growing right where they had been planted more than 100 years earlier.  Numerous heirloom rose hybrids, including a Welsh rose believed to have been extinct, have been discovered and propagated.  There were a lot of different types of roses, succulents and more growing among manicured gardens of cutting flowers as well as wild sections of native grasses with blackberry and honeysuckle.  It was a nature lover’s delight and a true treasure all out of what was once solid rock.  The world renowned German born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein once said:

“Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”

Little did I know at the beginning of our day I would have such a wonderful experience with the beauty of nature and Native pride all on what I assumed was a God-forsaken island in the middle of San Francisco.  I left my heart…