[Musings] General ramblings from a far off land...

I am a terrible blogger. I do not update as much as I should, but I only feel a little bad, I move at my own pace on my own time.

I have been on vacation for the last week. Welcome, blessed vacation. The last truly big vacation Nerdwife and I had been on was our honeymoon. Others have been too short or for very specific reasons (i.e. work, visiting family, etc.). This one was for fun.

San Francisco has been a muse.

San Francisco is like no other city.

San Francisco is dirty, it smells, yet is also clean and refreshing.

The vast diversity of peoples from all parts of the world is simply amazing. From the loud vendors of Chinatown, to beach bums on Stinson Beach. From the ubiquitous homeless to the morbidly wounded pigeons that scratch out livings. The million dollar condos to majestic redwoods, this place is simply awesome.

We have spent the better part of a week (six days) getting to know San Francisco, the touristy sides to those off the beating path. We've witnessed the change in flavor of downtown, the shift from the ebb and flow of daily worklife during the week to the energetic nightlife of Friday nights to the tourist choked swells of the weekend.

We soaked up the sun. Waded in the Pacific Ocean. Looked out of the deck of a fully rigged windjammer. We ate Dim Sum in Chinatown. We touch redwoods. We felt the wind on our faces, the salty tinge to the air. We rejoiced in the liberalism of this great city. Its tolerance of all. We had a quiet dinner in a small town called Fairfax that we happened upon by accident while meandering along and off of Hwy 1. Fairfax, a liberal, progressive, green-eco friendly town. We sipped coffee in Union Square. Supped while overlooking the Bay. Wandered through Wine Country. Ate at a cheesy, kitschy restaurant in Sonoma. Sat and contemplated in the Poetry Room of the City Lights bookstore, where the spirits of Kerouac and Ginsberg still echo. I have sipped Illy espresso in perhaps one of the coolest Internet Cafe's (http://www.goldengateperk.com). We've watched the fog roll in to engulf downtown. We have seen the Sun set on the Bay. Our minds have been altered by SFMOMA.

The salty air and the rolling ocean has been a salve to sooth the wounds of my mind and body. I feel alive.

I have come to understand parts of myself.