San Diego

I seem to be here in San Diego for a while. I've been hanging out with Jon and Vanessa and their friends (one of whom I actually knew in college! We did a seminar term at the Newberry Library together -- how strange it that!), buying last minute things for my trip, and going to puppy school.

I've also been checking into the "ideal job" -- I'll say more about that in a minute, but first, a tangent. "For those who came in late..." (as the film The Phantom starts -- I love it by the way -- such a bad film, but a sweet story) this summer, after my retirement, I told people I would hang out in Chicago and look for the perfect job, and if I did not find it, I'd head out around the world: the trip I am now on. Well, somehow the job did not manage to fall into my lap (as I am sure you are aware because I am -- theoretically -- going around the world), but the idea of it did. The week before I left (or thereabouts) I had lunch with a friend who suggested exhibit design. It's perfect! it combines art and science (in a science museum), education, and my continued interest in learning new things! Unfortunately, I had already given up my apartment and possessions, and bought a ticket to NY, etc. So, it remained an idea. Until now (sort of). Vanessa has contacts in the museum field, and one (at the Historical Society) has offered to let me shadow and/or participate in putting together an exhibit. Very Cool. If it works out. If it comes together I may be here longer than I thought -- though I've already been here longer than I thought -- so I'm not sure what that says. (This is a photo of the lemon tree that grows just outside their kitchen window. It has the best lemons I have ever tasted -- "almost like fruit!" and not a bit like the song.)

Christmastime in San Diego is odd. I'm having a very hard time realizing how close it is to the day itself. The weather here has been very warm (though we are in a cold spell at the moment -- highs in the low 60s, and record breaking temps at night -- it actually got down to 32oF a day or so ago!) -- at least by Midwest standards. The grass is green and the jade are all still blooming -- as are the Birds-of-Paradise (is that the correct way to pluralize it?) and various other flowers. The ornaments, however, hanging from the cactus just seem bizarre. And I can't quite reconcile seeing inflatable snowmen and light-up reindeer on beautifully manicured lush green lawns, or strips of cotton batting draped over bushes to look like snow. Too strange for my Midwestern brain. It's also funny to see the full range of clothing, being worn outside -- people are walking around in flip-flops and parkas -- sometimes simultaneously. I suffer from cold feet (no pun intended) and have begun wearing socks and sandals. It looks very strange. But I'm hoping it will start a new trend!

I miss everyone in Chicago (or returning to Chicago, or nowhere near Chicago). Enjoy the weather where ever you are and have a good, happy holiday -- whatever you chose to celebrate or ignore!

And here is one last comment, to ponder until the next installment: I found a transition hair the other day -- hairs that actually show the change from brown (or whatever) to white -- but this one (oddly enough) went from white to brown. The only conclusion I can come to is that I'm getting younger! Somewhere or other I came across the fountain of youth!

And finally, for real this time, I just found this quote that I copied from somewhere at some time. Just a reminder...

For if every true love affair can feel like a journey to a foreign country, where you can't quite speak the language and you don't know where you're going and you're pulled ever deeper into the inviting darkness, every trip to a foreign country can be a love affair, where you're left puzzling over who you are and whom you've fallen in love with. All the great travel books are love stories, by some reckoning...and all good trips are, like love, about being carried out of yourself and deposited in the midst of terror and wonder. -- Pico Iyer, "Why We Travel"