Monday, June 15, 2009

Missing NorCal

Spent a great weekend in Northern California, the place my heart calls home. Haven't been in 3 years!!! How on earth did I let that happen??? I guess it's an example of 'life getting away from you'. I don't know how it's possible, but I'd totally forgotten how incredible it is there - the air, the mountains, the landscapes, the weather, the flowers/trees/plants allowed to grow all year round, all those familiar places that consumed my life for over 20 years...oh how I miss it! Maybe I didn't get home as some sort of self-preservation, maybe I knew if I went home I'd 'leave my heart in San Francisco' only to return to KC heartbroken. Well, now that I'm back in KC, I realize that I HAVE left part of my heart in that city by the bay and I miss it terribly. And let me tell you...once I got off the plane in KC and my lungs were suppressed by the humid air, my brain confirmed what my heart has been feeling for sometime now...it's time to go 'home'. Or time to try anyway...

Mark had a great time in NorCal and I think he was loving the area that I call home. As we drove through twisty Canyon Road over the Oakland hills, lined with conifers and ferns, I could almost hear his mind wishing he was traveling this road on his bike rather than in a car. When we drove the short distance from my father's house to my brother's house down the main 2-lane road (with ample bike lane space I might add) and passed literally 20 cyclists each time we took this short, jaunty car ride, I could feel his urge to join them. And on more than one occasion, I caught him standing on my brother's deck looking out at the views of Mt. Diablo and it's sister mountains, wondering about all the trails he could explore on them.

Soon we were having dreamy conversations about 'downsizing' and not having to mow a ginormous yard. About renting and not owning. About living on the fringe of town where it would be more affordable (sure! we'd take a shack in Napa! why not?!?). The trade-offs where flying...and I'm still not sure it's out of our system. NorCal will do that to you. It has so much to offer that people 'find a way'.

Perhaps it's time we 'find our way'...

3 comments:

Mark Studnicki said...

Ball is in your court. I'll follow you there if the right opportunity comes your way.

krislars said...

Yah, I know you will ;-)

dirtdobber said...

Carolynn and I just had the same conversation about moving to Colorado. Her company actually has an office in Denver, so it would make it much easier if she could transfer. This awful heat makes me think about it more and more....