Something Wonderful Happened on the Way to Today

“Today is the day! Today is the day everything begins!” Something wonderful happened on the way to today that unequivocally told me I made the right decision moving to The Left Coast (aptly named for so many reasons).

Do you believe in signs?

Anyone who knows me even remotely knows that, while I don’t share an ounce of the athletic talent baseball players have (well, maybe an ounce), I do share their sense of and belief in superstition. I believe wholeheartedly in karma and destiny, and that we are the creators of it, though I also do believe at times we are just surfing its waves. In looking back, karma & destiny were two of the major reasons that prompted a move from a comfortable and wonderful life in Chicago to the unknown in the Bay Area. One doesn’t start a new life at my age; instead one is settling into who they are and what they’re supposed to be doing at the time. I confess, no doubt I must still be a work in progress. That being said, I love adventures, especially the kind where I don’t know the ending.

In so many ways, the move has been incredibly uplifting, helping me realize things about myself that I’ve only just now come to know and stretch me in ways I could never have imagined. In so many ways though, it has been difficult. As a lifelong 49ers fan, I fully expected to be living in a classic San Francisco home in a classic San Francisco neighborhood. Apparently, rental properties in SF don’t have the same affection for and appreciation of a certain 100 lb American Bulldog that I do. In a city touted for its dog-friendliness, Taylor wasn’t welcome. For them a “big” dog was 50 lbs. In the Midwest, we call them Mini’s. Apparently the dog-friendliness applies only to mortgages and not rentals. In a town where the demand for housing far outweighs the supply, Tay and I had to look for other answers.

Meanwhile, we were staying in a hotel in San Rafael in Marin County for several weeks. We grew to love the weather and love the outdoors. What’s not to love? Walking and hiking daily in Marin had replaced our nightly visit to a bar in Chicago. I started to ask myself more and more, “did I need to or really want to live in a city?” And if I did, would San Francisco measure up to Chicago?

Working in Sausalito every day reminded me of a promise I made to myself a few years ago when my cousin Julie got married in a small, incredibly beautiful church nestled away among the hills in Sausalito. “Someday, when I am old, I will live in Sausalito and/or in the mountains of Colorado.” Sausalito is quaint with an abundance of culture. Sausalito is sleepy in the way sleepy is good. Sausalito is beautiful reminiscent of towns along the Mediterranean. However, Sausalito does not have much of a night life, at the very most one that shuts down significantly before SF, which in turn, shuts down significantly before Chicago. (My 5 AM nights, for the most part, is becoming a part of the distant past.) Europeans love it, as Sausalito is consistently one of the top vacation spots for them.

This morning I picked up the truck at the U•Haul place, greeted in the front by nine men looking for work to move belongings. I picked three lottery winners, as it turns out, all from Guatemala, haggled over price, picked up my 17′ truck, and the four of us drove to Oakland where the storage facility with my things were located.

The first of the three cubes was opened when an 8×10 piece of paper serendipitously flew out, having been locked up for seven weeks. Chasing after it, I finally caught up only to find of all things, it was a printout picture of my adorable and beautiful niece, Beatrix.

Rightfully, the picture of Bea was the first thing I saw. While I should have recognized this sooner, that’s when I realized my things did not matter.That’s when I knew I made the right decision to come to California, up until that moment my life in a state of flux. “Bea” made the entire journey cross-country to keep watch over my stuff till I would take possession. But really what she was doing was keeping watch over me.

And now that Bea had done her job, it was time to make good on my promise years ago and move into my new home in Sausalito.

Interestingly, I’ve moved in, but thankfully I do not feel any older.