Love locks on Golden Gate

I love The Golden Gate cause it combines two things I can never get enough of - bridges and water. 

A couple of couples however seem to take their love  onto The Golden Gate. 

Found these on my second visit to this world famous landmark, a dozen odd locks attached to the fencing. 

First thought : Ohh..wishing locks, why dont I have a lock on me, where is a lock when you need one! :P

Closer revelation on zooming the picture at home: There are names on these - two names to be accurate. Hmm...

The Red One with hearts made the purpose of these much clearer - love padlocks.

A little google-ing revealed that its a tradition (thought to have started in Europe), where people engrave their names onto padlocks, fix them onto a fence or bridge and throw away the keys to make the "lock" permanent!

I always find (and add) to the many coins at a fountain, but there were surprisingly few locks on here - either the tradition isn't that popular in the US (first time I ever saw this) or the authorities don't find the need for the bridge to be burdened with additional love :-)

------------ Present day, 2013

Since that first discovery of locks last year, I have visited the Golden Gate umpteen number of times to find those lost loves again. The bridge though eternal, the locks are very mortal. Today as I walked I discovered a fresh new set of (rather disciplined) loves! 

Is that why poets always say, no matter what the world does love can never die and will always come back!