subtly august beginnings

[ ...being, a luminous digression. ] One of the best things about living in the lower Russian Hill neighborhood above Ghirardelli Square is the proximity of Fort Mason. I’ve come to cherish the oasis that is the Community Gardens there, a singular spot of tended nature containing personal history in the form of garden beds and plots, many of them minor monuments to whimsy and imagination. The views of the Bay from the Generals Quarters and the promontory at Black Rock, a spectacle I never tire of. Walking through the green of the Great Meadow, the sight of the Presidio, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Golden Geat Bridge and Mt. Tamalpais in the distance, a visual antitoxin. Then there’s the Fort’s repurposing as a Center for Arts & Culture. The old piers and military docks — from where American sailors and soldiers embarked for wars in the western Pacific, including the Philippine-American War at the turn of the last century in 1899 to 1902 — are now spacious pavilions for exhibits,…