Migration Home

First frost has arrived and I’m feeling like a bird just a bit behind on migration while my flock already headed out.

I’m savoring the sharp northern air, when the sun drops out of the clear sky at night, stars shine brighter in the cold.

I never thought I’d leave Seattle but, I also never imagined I would have been here in the first place.

Now the citrus is about to be ripe and it feels like a welcome home, to a place I've learned about life but, never known.

Because I spent those 27 years six hours south of here.

California I'm back.

What was that?

The above is a short reflection on my last days in Seattle as the autumn cold started to creep into the area. Fall (and spring) are such awe inspiring times for me in Seattle and I'll miss watching the dramatic changes of the season.

In California winter is citrus season. There' still many trees of navel oranges, limes, lemons strewn about any given neighborhood. I also notice the last blooms of lavender and plenty of rosemary.

It's hot here, even in the Bay Area.

More about my move

The drive down could have been worse. About 12, maybe 13 hours on the road in a 15' truck wasn't too bad. Mostly because I have experience driving a large vehicle through mountain passes. Without that prior confidence it would have no-doubt been a white knuckle drive all the way down.

I really thought I would cry more. I cried more moving from Kenmore to Bothell to be honest. There was something in my heart that just felt complete regarding my time in Washington. I'll still miss living there immensely. Everything in California is sun bleached making houses, building, cars all feel old and quite dirty. Dirty because literally everything is covered in a light layer of dirt from hot winds and seeing rainfall but a few times a year.

Moving into my partner's apartment was a chaotic day. Though he did a lot of clearing space for me...I have a lot of stuff. Funny considering when I moved to Washington I had hardly anything. What made the process slightly comical was that I had packed most my belongings in banana boxes from the grocery store.