Because we can

Carpe diem! Seize the day! How many times have we said it, read it, applauded it? How many times do we DO it??

Believe it or not, it's been hot in the city for several days. We were parched at the Festa Colioniale Italiana and the Polk Street Blues Festival on Saturday. Took it easy yesterday to recuperate. Today, I woke up and saw a crystal clear sky without a shred of fog, and the weatherman said it was going to be the warmest day all week, even at the coast. So I pushed aside all the research I was going to do on target companies, and said Let's go to the Beach!

We went to Point Reyes National Seashore once, years ago, with our dear friends Rhonda & David. We never got all the way to the lighthouse, because it took so long to get up there and around, and we just ran out of daylight. Today we made it. We did a great hike down the Laguna Creek trail, walked the beach along to Limantour, and hiked back up the Coast trail. The trails were HOT, but we had them to ourselves (passed 1 guy with his 2 kids). The beach was amazing. Endless stretches of sand, a seal bobbing in the waves, warm balmy breeze. I could have laid in the sand and read a book for hours. Except I was already getting sunburned, and we still wanted to make it to the lighthouse. We drove back out to Olemma, took a short break for ice cream, then drove on up to the lighthouse. We actually had to put our jackets on up there, it must have been 20 degrees colder! It wasn't a front that moved in, when we got back to Point Reyes Station it was back to almost 80. We had a lovely dinner (best oyster stew I never dreamed of!) and headed home. Perfect day.

How many people just stick their nose in their computer every day, beating out meaningless words and numbers, while a beautiful day like this passes them by? I realize it's a luxury that I am able to seize a day like this and savor the best it

can be. It makes me think about other days when I truly could have and didn't. I know this much for sure. When I'm breathing my last breath, I will be much more thankful for days like today than for all the days at work.

It's days like this that give me the fortitude to buckle down and work on finding the next great adventure.

Perspective

How many times have I counseled team members about the value of changing your perspective to see things in a new light? Couldn't begin to count them. It's one of the reasons I travel. Every time I come back from a new place I see "home" differently, notice things I didn't before or hadn't thought about in a long time. So I'm not really surprised to be realizing that right now, but I'm noticing it and learning it all over again.

There's the obvious new perspective on this magical place. I've been to San Francisco a dozen times before. I'm not at all surprised that living here has helped me to see it / know it differently. I've always been intrigued by the "slow travel" concept. Inspired by the Slow Food movement, slow travelers believe in longer vacations where you stay put and experience the place like a local, savor it like a good meal. No "if it's Tuesday this must be Belgium" tours for this crowd. Most Americans don't have the luxury and/or don't prioritize vacations like that. If you're intrigued, check out their website at www.slowtrav.com. But I digress.

How different this city is up close. No less charming or beautiful. In a short time I feel like I'm really getting to know the neighborhoods, and their unique character (and characters). I'm finding hidden nooks and crannies, parks & lanes & beaches completely empty of tourists. The Golden Gate Bridge is stunning from the viewpoint on the north side - it's a hell of a photo opp if you can photoshop out all the tourists. But the view of that bridge from my window, with a hawk hanging in an an air current about 30 feet away - now that's something special to behold. The "squiggly" block of Lombard is cute, but it's even more entertaining to sit on the hill leading up to it and watch the tourists burn out their brakes & clutches.

The much more enlightening change of perspective is more personal. The way we've lived since we hit the road is so different than our lives have been for a long time. Not better or worse, but different. Camping out in the spare room of a friend or relative, or even living in a 1-bedroom apartment, really makes you look differently at what stuff is required in your life. Hanging out with our niece the recent college graduate in her first job reminded me what it was like when there was nothing but possibility and adventure ahead, and 10% of what I now earn seemed like a fortune. Living in a place that takes my breath away and makes me smile every day is a constant reminder not to settle for someplace that doesn't.

Sonoma Valley Crush

That's the name of the harvest festival in the Sonoma Valley. 16 wineries participated, and you could visit any ones you wanted for tasting (all for one low, low price!). We had a lovely day with our dear friends the Cantwells.

We started our Crush with a flashback. We had to pick up our tickets at Landmark Winery, and when we got there I realized I had been there before, for an ARAMARK meeting. They have a beautiful hacienda in a park-like setting, with a pond and bocce ball court next to the vineyards and views of the surrounding hills. We played a game of bocce and then, alas, time to hit the road and the next winery.

I tried barrel samples at Kaz - yuck! I like grape juice, and I like wine. The stage in between is pretty rough. The stuff we tasted will probably be bottled in the next year. They had great meatballs there though, and the people were great.

Not all the stops were very memorable. Some were more notable for the surroundings, like wine caves, the "temple of oak," or their views than their wines. I loved VJB, which specializes in hard to find Italian varietals, made in the old world style.

I really love the wine country. Make no mistake, a vineyard is a farm and that means hard work at the mercy of the seasons. I decided pretty early in life that I didn't want to farm for a (try to scratch out a) living. But when I think about the type of place I can see myself retiring, a place like Sonoma doesn't sound half bad. You get the idyllic setting, gorgeous weather and a year-round growing season, about an hour from a major international airport (important for gypsies). I could be pretty happy with a little cottage at the edge of town with a little garden and views of someone else's farm!

Another day in the City by the Bay

Just back from the "Pig Out" at Betelnut, a very trendy PanAsian restaurant on Union Street. On the way, a young woman sweeping the steps of her store stopped to let us pass without being dusted and said "Sorry, please go in peace." Toto, we are not in Philly anymore!!

The Pig Out was tonight's special, roast suckling pig - tender and juicy, complete with little crunchy cracklings. It was served with romano beans sauteed with tofu and ginger, rice, and a sauce of soy sauce, chicken stock, and ginger & chilies steeped and removed. Asian Pear Kimchee was a menu addition that we took advantage of - a delightful sweet, tart, spicy combination. And I enjoyed the spicy Pinot Noir they chose to pair with the meal. Portions were perfect - we left very satisfied but not stuffed. And we only spent $40. Who says everything's expensive here?

This afternoon we wandered the Russian Hill neighborhood. We found McCondray Lane, a hidden little alleyway of adorable homes that used to house very famous people (Jack Kerouac for one).

When we got back this evening, the fog had rolled in and swallowed up our views. No new pictures for this post!

City by the Bay

Yipes, so much for writing regularly.
So we've made it all the way to the west/left/best coast. After hanging out in my friend TJ's cottage while we looked for rentals,

we've settled in the city of San Francisco.

We're renting an apartment in the Russian Hill neighborhood. It's small, which is good, because it's confirming for us that we don't need such a big place to live. It has amazing views of the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Marin County across the Bay.

We are really fortunate to have so many wonderful old friends in the area - it's really made it easy to feel comfortable, and more at home than I did in 3 years in Philly.

One of those friends, who's also relatively new to the area, suggested I make a point to record my observations about the city daily. I'm not sure I've got that kind of discipline at this point, but am at least going to use this blog to do it a little more frequently than I have been! So here are some of the things I've noticed in my first week in San Francisco.

The fog is a living creature. We often sit and watch it, gape-mouthed, as it sneaks with amazing speed into the Bay like a cheetah after a gazelle. It can seem to swallow up the bridge & Alcatraz.

The city actually feels bigger to me than Philadelphia in some ways. It feels more spread out. I think it's because the parts of Philly I'd be caught dead in are a relatively low percentage of the total city space, and I probably spent 95% of my time in a very compact center city. San Francisco is a little more spread out and most of it is quite habitable and lovely. It's actually quite a bit more dense than Philly, but doesn't feel as crowded or stressed out. It's cleaner by a long shot, and has wider streets. I will say that it often smells like pee - a combination of a large dog population and water restrictions, and a preponderance of multi-unit buildings that don't have someone taking charge of hosing off the sidewalk every morning. But hey, at least there's no one puking on the doorstep (that happened to my neighbor in Philly). There are homeless people, but they're not taking up the whole sidewalk like outside my office in Philly.

You can't walk very far here without encountering something beautiful. It goes without saying that the city's surrounded on 3 sides by water, and since there are so many hills you're often at a vantage point that provides a great view of some section of the bay. If you're not looking at the Bay, there are beautiful buildings in a variety of architectural styles. There's a pretty fair amount of green space. It's not Denver, but every neighborhood has a park of some sort. Thanks to the US military, there's a ton of great park and open space around the Presidio and Ft. Mason.

The produce all around this area is incredible. The farmer's market in San Rafael is as big as every other farmer's market I've ever been to put together. The organic produce available at Whole Foods is more than the whole produce section at the Whole Foods in Philadelphia. Even the little neighborhood groceries have gorgeous local tomatoes and organic fruits.

Can I say how nice it is to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner at the grocery store, rather than traipsing to some special (not in a good way) state controlled lame selection???

Well that's it for today. I'll try to make my updates and observations more frequent.