Chance = Change

Letter to Momma

Wednesday, May  11, 2011

San Francisco

Momma-

Another gorgeous day here in this new city of ours, which will soon be a city that we have lived half a year in!  We Came here to meet our moving truck right after Thanksgiving in 2010, so, around May 26 , son in another couple of weeks- so soon! -  – we will have officially been moved in as San Francisco residents for 6 months! 

It’s incredibly true how quickly time flies when fun is being had, and Peter and I are having new and surprising fun every day that we live here.  Almost daily, I have to remind myself that I am not on vacation here, but that I am, rather, living here full time, and that those palm trees I see as I walk through  Ft. Mason Park are actually my palm trees now – that the fine weather is indeed mine to enjoy all the time because I LIVE HERE !!!!  The gorgeous scenic views as we explore Presidio Heights, and the fabulous Marin Headlands – all that natural beauty belongs to me!   It’s 5 minutes away, whenever I choose to get in our car and drive there!  Or walk along the Bay and enjoy the fact that those fat, gorgeous gulls are now MY sea birds, right in MY backyard.  That I can enjoy lunch in Sausalito any time I want, and can go get fabulous food  n any neighborhood, or chocolate at G Square right down the hill,  or whatever I want  that this town has to offer, and I don’t have to get on a plane to  enjoy it because I  LIVE HERE NOW!

Of course, the best part is that we are finally beginning to settle into rhythms that make our lives work in what is fast becoming a more familiar hometown.

At first, I despaired that I would ever know and understand the streets, the way they fit together, the traffic patterns , etc. But now, it’s all falling sweetly into place, and the more I drive around the city, the easier it becomes to now where I’m going.  I’ve fallen into the pattern of taking Peter to his office downtown every morning, and picking him up at the end of the day.  On my way home from dropping him off, I roam, and let myself get lost and simply remember that the Bay is always north, so I do always find my way back to 1320 Lombard again, but in the meantime, I’ve learned more about how the city fits together, which streets follow which, what traffic is like in various neighborhoods at various times , etc. And the city begins to feel more like mine.

I travel it like a fascinated tourist.  Then come home to our sunny apartment and sit at this desk and write.  The book is in its planning stages and actually has a shape. If it were a baby (I imagine, never having had one myself), it would just be beginning to show up as a shadow with a shape in its sonogram, with its little heart faintly beating with the urge to grow and live.

I love you Momma…….as ever, Ev