City Lights, Grace Cathedral, and the Last Days of San Francisco

This was my final San Francisco week before heading east, and it became a surprisingly full and deeply spiritual one. I spent time with my friend Natasha, visited the Flower Market and Botanical Garden, wandered North Beach and Chinatown looking at street art, returned to City Lights for the first time in decades, and ended up inside Grace Cathedral for a tea-centered peace gathering that I knew almost nothing about going in. This dispatch is about stories, memory, books, ritual, and the kinds of meaning cities keep tucked inside them if you walk long enough. 🎵 Music licensed via Epidemic Sound: “Glory Bound” — Roy Williams “Encontrei a Paz” — Clara Mendes “No Lies” — First Timer “Song of Hope (Kigan) (Instrumental Version)” — Isaku Kageyama Some brief archival/interview footage and photos are used contextually to help tell the stories of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Dr. Sen Genshitsu. → Previous San Francisco dispatch:    • My San Francisco Nomad Routine | Work, Run...   → Bookish Nomad playlist:    • This Is Bookish Nomad   📚 More writing + behind-the-scenes: https://amyleewheeler.substack.com/ 📸 Instagram:   / author.amy.lee