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Old Men
4 February 2025
We rode the 28R up 19th Avenue to Park Presidio and Geary Blvd. where we caught a 38R down to 40th Avenue for a tour of a room-and-board for people who need 24-hour care. We were a bit early for our 4 p.m. appointment.
Balboa Theater. iPhone 15 Pro Max back triple camera at 15.7mm, f2.8, 1/274 second and ISO 50. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
So we walked down to Balboa and took a look at the neighborhood we haven't visited in decades when Joyce and I used to drive out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant whose ceiling was painted dark blue with little lights for stars and an Italian restaurant that played opera music (and served a memorably affordable veal piccata).
Who would have thought then that we would return now on such a sad errand?
The marquee on the old Balboa Theater seemed to say it all. "No Country 4 Old Men."
We thought the image would serve for the day's blog entry for Joyce's family and friends, so we lined it up on our phone camera. It was really a vertical shot but we persisted in lining it up as a horizontal because we knew we'd have to live with it later where the blog like horizontals.
We got the Rubicon of the crosswalk in and some parked cars (showing signs of life), the marquee itself and a bit of the theater sign.
What we liked most about the image was the light. The sky was still overcast from the edge of the atmospheric river crossing the state. But not out of character for the neighborhood, which sees a lot of fog.
What puzzled us in the edit, though, was the verticals. If we got one thing straight, something else would be off. Was the garbage can level? Were the utility poles leaning?
In cases like this, we rely on the buildings, which have a moral obligation to exhibit straight walls.
That left everything else leaning. Including the old man walking up the street. But this is no country for old men anyway.