Did you know the WWII peace treaty between the US and Japan was signed in San Francisco in 1951? We read that information today on a sign at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. I remember seeing a photo of MacArthur and a number of Naval officers watching the Japanese foreign minister sign a document on a ship in 1945; but I looked that up and found that was the Instrument of Surrender signed aboard the USS Missouri. The peace treaty came six years later, involved 48 nations, and was signed at War Memorial Opera House. When Laurel heard the name of the opera house (opened in 1932), she asked if the building planners consulted a gypsy when naming it – some fortune teller who predicted the future signing of the peace treaty. It turns out, the opera house was named for the veterans of the first world war.

Our neighbor’s calla lily

Japanese Tea Garden

On the walk home…