Lavender squirrels smoking cigarettes. (See, commas are important.)
I still forget, or maybe just don’t believe, that I actually live here now. Live someplace now. How is that different from visiting it? Should I buy a map and study the streetplan? Do I walk around it less than if I was a visitor, or more?
In all honesty I can’t imagine I will walk as much here as I did in Bangkok, Kuala Lampur, or Istanbul (I wanted to say “BangkoKualAmsterdaMardIstanbuLampuReykjavik” but that didn’t turn out as intelligible as I’d hoped), but I can still take a wander around town.
Especially while the weather is this divine.
I’m not sweating, but I can still wear shorts and flip flops.
I never realized how little of Earth’s surface permits this behavior.
I stop for a cup of iced tea and leave feeling like the barista is my best friend. And I think the last time epoch when someone got customer service this good at breakfast, it was a Roman emperor. “Bring me everything I could ever ask for, right now, and with a smile.”
So I walk around with a belly full of eggs benedict (with avocado, tomato, and local red onions). The sun of an Indian Summer looks good on ginko leaves and lavender stalks, keeps hip art students warm while they take smoke breaks on their “Tobacco free” campus, and glows on the squirrels gathering nuts on the streets of Rockridge.
I can’t remember what a Bay Area winter is like, and it’s all so new it’s hard not to love it, but for now, this place is mighty comfy.
You won’t believe but today only I was thinking about you..hadn’t seen anything posted by you lately..
You seem to be at peace here..:).. Where is tis place ?… Where are these squirrels smoking cigarettes :)?
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I’m in Oakland, a town just across the bay from San Francisco. So far, it seems to fit me really well. I have two siblings close by (barbecue tomorrow!) and a bunch of old friends within a couple hours trainride, and to my surprise, I am really enjoying having a fixed place to stay. I’m looking at this big closet and thinking “Maybe I will buy some clothes this year after all…”
But still, every time a plane flies overhead (which is a lot, since we have three international airports around the bay) I find myself wondering where it’s going, wishing I was onboard, and occasionally (when I’m particularly un-self-conscious) throwing up a hitch-hiking thumb at it.
Tim
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😉
Anchor and sail
Anchor and sail
Anchor and sail
While anchoring, have fun, do the materialistic things.
When sailing, focus and tend to the rough seas
Have fun buddy!
Sonal
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Exactly! I am going to do my best at this stationary thing for awhile, but it’s reassuring to know the ship will sail eventually.
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You are nomadic for sure 🙂
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I may need you to remind me of that, if this place gets too comfortable… Check back in, say, six months? Four? Twelve? I love uncertainty.
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:). Keep posting though of the local ventures and the stories.
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Yeah? I wondered if they were too boring, next to Malaysian rainforests, Sri Lankan mountains, and Turkish cave houses.
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Turkish cave houses sound fun!
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So vagabond has ultimately settled down!! 😀
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For now…I still can’t hear about a country without wondering when I’ll go there, and putting my backpack on the shelf was difficult; I can hear it whispering any time I’m in the house…
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Make the most of being stationary for a bit in a place that feels comfortable. But don’t get carried away buying a bunch of new clothes. I’m convinced that too many clothes create baggage. 🙂
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I completely agree, and I find the desire to buy stuff an interesting push and pull. I think the deciding factor is that I have had the same clothes for so many years, and even though I still think they’re fine, I would rather like to wear something interesting now and then, which has never been a criterion for me before.
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Tim, You sound so at peace – appreciating the moment. And that’s a good thing no matter where you are. And at some time in the future when your feet start itching again, you’ll know if the time is right! All the best, Terri
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It’s an interesting sensation to have itchy feet at the same time as…what’s the opposite? A sedentary bum? But at this point, the two apparently contradictory impulses are coexisting with surprising harmony; I credit the new town and the dogs for my peace of mind.
Also, your blog is amazing in its reliability, both in terms of quality and quantity, and I completely agree with all your selections for color representatives.
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So it sounds like you are living in the Rockridge area of Oakland. I used to live nearby in Montclair – and took the Rockridge BART to San Francisco to work. Now I’m down south in San Jose.
Yeah, fall is my favorite weather in the Bay Area.
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Really? Ha, I sort of assumed everyone on here was scattered across the world. Hello neighbor! And happy Indian Summer Autumn tidings.
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Yeah. I thought so too, especially with your travels.
Another blogger who lives in the South Bay actually showed up one day in one of my classes (he’d told me a little before that he was trying to figure out if he had time to take one of my classes). Here’s a link to his blog, of you’re curious: http://everydaygurus.com/
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Nice, thanks for the referral. If I can stay put, I’ll have to try and take one of your classes too, I am extremely confident I would enjoy that very much. Cheers!
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