Kelly and Jeremy Joslin had their red 49ers tailgate party wagon fully loaded with beer cups, bottles and snacks and were racing from their Russian Hill home to Washington Square to meet a group of 20 they’ve been gathering in the park with since San Francisco’s COVID-19 lockdown.
It was not yet noon, but the temperature was already pushing toward 70 degrees and the preferred spots on the green were starting to populate fast. “They are already here,” yelled Kelly, who was already pink on her shoulders and looking for shade when she spotted her group, the SF Brunch Bunch, from the intersection of Union Street and Columbus Avenue. “They’re in full sun. I’m going to die.”
Sunday was the first day of what is expected to be a “marathon” heat wave, with highs in the 80s or higher expected in the city Tuesday. The usual morning fog was absent Sunday, and so was its accompanying onshore breeze. Sunbathers got there so early that the early morning tai chi class was still midway through its 24 movements.
“There are going to be a lot of people out here in bikinis,” said Madi Hirsch, 25, who was so intent on getting a spot that her boyfriend, Nick Gardetto, came from home with his scrambled eggs and avocado toast on a plate. “No time to waste,” he said. Hirsch had walked by Saturday afternoon, and “it was too crowded,” she said. “So I’m marking my territory.”
Anjali Shute, 23, and Meghan Olson, 24, had moved to North Beach after graduating from Cal Poly and lived through last summer, which was extra foggy in the city. “I can still remember how cold it was,” Shute said. “I just wanted to wear shorts and not be freezing.”
She arrived in a tank top and jeans Sunday but by 11 a.m. Shute had left the park to change into shorts at home. “I’m hoping for 73 degrees,” she said before walking off. “It feels refreshing to actually touch grass.”
Shannon and Brian Lockrem arrived from their Benicia home with his and hers Tommy Bahama recliners. Their needs were specific — a spot where his chair would be in the shade and hers in the sun, which required constant movement to stay just on the edge of a grove of poplar trees. At 11:30 a.m. they both got up and left their chairs unattended so they would be first in line when Tony’s Pizza Napoletana opened. Their standard order is a Paulie P. California-style pizza with a side of garlic bread, which they planned to bring back to their beach chairs.
“We’ll probably be here till 3, people watching,” Shannon said. “Maybe grab a nap.”
Nap time was expected to end promptly at 3 p.m. when an anti-war march from the Embarcadero was to reach its terminus in Washington Square, site of a rally. Sama Agh of Russian Hill had customized a cardboard sign with a double meaning in its message, “Their heaven is our hell. Is it Hot?”
“It’s a hot day, so I think I’m going to suffer,” said Agh, 37, who was dressed in black. “But I’m going to make a point.”
Suffering was expected to be widespread by Monday morning, when a heat advisory from the National Weather Service takes effect. Kelly Joslin was looking forward to going to work at the East Bay school where she teaches.
“I’ve got AC in my classroom,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”
Madi Hirsch also had a plan for dealing with the heat. “Everyone is going to be at the beach on Monday after work,” she said. “That’s my plan.”