CHANGE IN THE WEATHER

Day one of the first heat wave:

I used to love the first day of an early heat wave in the East Bay with still enough moisture in the air to be manageable unlike summertime when the temperature stays above 100 degrees for days and sucks the moisture out of the air and energy out of my body. During the first day of the first heat wave, I got on my gardening clothes and my clogs and relished digging in the garden when it was 90 degrees. I liked the heat on my back and the sweat that came as I worked to pull out dead plants and replace them with new ones. That first day brought the knowledge that California's rainy season was over. When I finished, I liked to stand in the shade admiring my work as a slight breeze wafted across the yard.

Day two of a heat wave:

Enough of the heat. I pulled the shades and windows closed till late afternoon. I stayed inside in darkened rooms hoping that the heat would cool down at sunset as it often does in California. I was in an endurance race with heat that drained me, and I dreamt of sitting in a metal tub of cold water like my sister and I used to do as children.

I don't miss gardening (except when I step into a friend's lushly planted garden by the Carquinis Straits) or when I walk through the plant selection in a gardening store. (What am I doing in a gardening store when we have no place to plant a plant?)  I don't miss the upkeep of a big house. Our apartment with two bedrooms, two baths, kitchen and living room is just the right size for now (but without a room for a studio or a balcony for outside sitting). 

Our new place will have sunny windows that will give us a place for a plant or two. I carried two indoor plants from our old house throughout our moves this year. One, an Areca Palm, has been with us for almost 30 years and is a survivor. I had to place it outside our old house because our cats loved to chew on its leaves. The plant stayed under an overhang, facing east, all year long through freezing cold and heat waves. It has adapted well to indoor life in San Francisco throwing out new shoots and flower buds. If you look closely at the palm, you will also see the remains of a bird's nest tucked into the middle of the stalks of the plant. A finch attempted a nest there for several years. All that is left is the carefully constructed nest. I've thought of re-potting the plant but decided against it. It is doing fine without my meddling.

We are coming up to a year of being vagabonds. We sold our house last June, wandered to the beach for a while, considered Minnesota and Colorado, moved to San Francisco, bought a condo, traveled to Portland, and discovered a city that might be a better place for us or maybe even Seattle, which made us think over our San Francisco decision for a minute.

We are glad we have had the time to consider and discover where and what we want at this point in our lives. We are staying right here in the Bay Area. If I'm repeating some themes in my posts lately, it is because we continue to rethink our priorities, interests, and assumptions each week, each day. Just like during the days of the heat wave, our minds are contemplating the good and bad of each decision. A couple of friends suggested that we have carried our home on our backs like snails and turtles and that we will make a home wherever we decide to stay.