"But stories you need to tell have weird claws. They make their way back up to the front of your skull, or wherever it is in there that gets the most attention. So eventually, years later, the boy, his father, and everything those few seconds had shown, climbed out onto more and more pieces of paper."-Paul Hornschemeier
Hello from San Francisco. The flight was super long and so was the playlist I constructed. Watched, "Maybe He's Just Not That Into You." And read and wrote for the rest of the time. We landed and found Eve Lom waiting almost in tears because they'd lost her bag after her transit in Sydney. Quantas assured her they'd track it down and deliver it tomorrow afternoon. Dan and Trista took us out to Santana for dinner and I may have had one too many oysters. The weather is a lot colder than I expected it to be, so am glad I remembered leg warmers and rabbit of course. We are all saying goodnight now so must get out of Dan's study where him and Trista are crashing on a pull-out. The apartment is very comfortable and I love the floors because they remind me of my dance studios. Have switched off my BlackBerry into flight mode because my reoccurring phone bill fiasco's have me on alert being in California again.
Jump. Am back from California. Loved the weather, the corner of Haight & Ashbury, Santana Row, Peet's coffee, the container store and sleeping on the couch. But the very best thing about California is the fact that I get to be around Dan again. Riding shotgun and shooting the breeze with him as if time hadn't passed since we were kids. The flights both ways were super long and I woke up sprawled across one too many seats in the waiting lounge at HKG International, and nearly died of embarrassment with the 50 pairs of eyes staring at me.
The Hottest Day Of The Year burned me and I lost track of time. Saying goodbye to everyone (my mom and Eve Lom are staying for the 4th of July) at the airport was hard. I told Trista to take care of my brother, because she's the only one who can. Seeing how they manage living together showed me a lot about how two people can successfully make it work despite different work schedules and lifestyles. I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon, however as Jenny's house is taking shape and am getting ready for the Big Move.
Went swimming with Eve Lom and made some friends by the pool with a local version of Kate and Jon plus 8. Got locked out (what would summer be without that happening to me every time?) and drank a lot of coffee. Felt like I was constantly on the wrong side of the road and wrote a lot. The first few nights were jet-lagged laden and then Burt's Bees sleep balm took over (which I have now passed onto Patches for an organic aid alternative) and finished reading Brennan Manning as well as "My Sister's Keeper," which was tragic and sad and controversial and everything I wanted it to be. "The Ragamuffin Gospel," hit me hard and made a set of cliff notes on it for anyone who is interested on not living as a legalistic Christian, but as a sinner saved by grace and grace alone. Will share more about this but it's 3 in the morning California time and we've still got initiatives to churn this evening until I crash.
So I got back, unpacked and was up at 5am before giving up trying to go back to sleep and making it through the morning traffic. Being back at work, I feel refreshed and back in my bubbled-up-world that doesn't have such friendly Americans everywhere. For more about the Bay Area, watch this space.
