Twice a year, San Francisco pulls off something genuinely spectacular — and for once, the city government had absolutely nothing to do with it.

It's called "California Henge," and it's the biannual phenomenon where the rising sun aligns perfectly with SF's east-west street grid, flooding corridors like Market Street, Judah, and Irving with a blazing golden sunrise that looks like something out of a sci-fi film. Think Manhattanhenge, but with better burritos and worse parking.

The spring alignment is happening now, and if you haven't dragged yourself out of bed early enough to catch it, consider this your nudge. For a few precious mornings, the sun sits so low and so perfectly centered on the horizon that the city's rigid grid geometry turns into an accidental temple. The light pours straight down the streets, painting everything amber and making even the grimiest MUNI bus stop look like a cathedral.

Here's what we love about California Henge: it costs taxpayers exactly zero dollars. No committees were formed. No environmental impact reports were filed. No consultants were hired at $400 an hour to determine whether the sun's alignment was equitable. The Earth just tilted, the grid just existed, and beauty happened — the way things tend to work when bureaucracy stays out of the equation.

It's also a reminder of something San Franciscans forget amid the daily grind of housing costs, transit delays, and supervisors arguing about nothing: this city is breathtakingly beautiful. The bones are extraordinary. Someone, over a century ago, laid down a street grid that accidentally created one of the most photogenic urban phenomena on the planet.

So set an alarm. Grab coffee. Walk east on any major east-west street just after sunrise. No reservations required, no $47 ticketed experience, no app to download. Just you, the sun, and a city that occasionally reminds you why you put up with all the rest of it.