Monday, February 27, 2012

this place...

it took me nearly two years to love this place.

moving here was so hard. the first year i was miserable. before we moved, i’d been to berkeley once. we got here and nathan immediately started a program that required more of him than either of us had imagined. he was gone and i was lonely, unemployed and painfully homesick for nyc and my community there. i couldn’t picture happiness in this place.

some where along the line it started to change. the first real connection i felt to this place was the farmersmarket. every sunday the temescal farmers market fills up the oakland dmv parking lot and brings a feast of the most gorgeous produce you’ve ever laid your eyes on. it is a the perfect size (read: small) and the vendors remember who you are. it is a weekly staple in my life. i was nervous about going without nathan, but have made a little ritual of going and listening to whatever musician happens to be playing and sipping my coffee.

the next part of this area that won me over is the mountains. being from nm, mountains are the key to my heart. these mountains aren’t the dry, high mountains of santa fe, but they have their own amazing qualities. i started to open myself up to this land while hiking in deep redwooded ravines and crossing the sweeping grassy hills.

also, have you seen this ocean? as a desert girl i can never get over living close to the water. it blows my mind each time i visit. and while i sometimes wish it was warm enough to jump in, i feel most inspired by the cold, violent and powerful water of the northwest.

the final step in finding happiness here was building a new community. i was adopted by my sister's close friends and i refer to them as my bay area gardian angels. they take such good care of me and their generosity has helped me extremely rough times. we've also made lifelong friends who i feel so lucky to know.

it’s hard to know where we’ll be in the future. a job or school could take us somewhere completely new. i’m not sure where we’ll end up, but i can see this being our place for a while. it's a nice thought.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

life these days


valentining
card from my brother
h.y.j. taking advantage of the guest bed in the living room

life these days has been good. my brother came to stay with me for a month (!) when he first told me about it i was really nervous. i'm not used to sharing my space with anyone besides nathan. everything has gone amazingly well though and both of us are doing great. oakland provides a nice break from santa fe for him. and he's helping me out with my life here (mainly harlo.) it's the most time we've spent together since i was in high school. i'm pretty proud of both of us.