The Palace, built in 1875, survived the great earthquake of 1906, but was consumed by the fires that engulfed the city in its wake. It reopened in 1909, and its interior was completely restored eighty years later. My abstracted image features a plume of steam rising into the cold morning sky. The steam recalls the smoke that once poured from these same walls. The most important aspect of this image is the sign bearing the name of the hotel. Without that sign, it could be any building. With that sign, and some knowledge of San Francisco’s history, that steam becomes symbolic smoke.