Beachhead

The first place in which I ever lived completely alone was on Laguna Street in Santa Barbara, not far from the park. It was an old but well-maintained Victorian house with a classic garden, and I had the small front upstairs apartment: a small room, a kitchen cove, a bathroom the path to which was blocked whenever the front door was open, and two large windows looking out into the street. I loved that apartment, the only furnishings of which were a short bed and an old butcher block that my family had passed on to me, where I ate and wrote music.

Much more recently: my girl and I have had a fairly crazy year, and are now just settling into our 3rd address here in the Bay Area since we moved from NYC a little less than a year ago. And though I grew up here, I haven't lived in the Bay Area since leaving for UCSB, and I haven't lived in California full-stop since moving East in 2001. My Redhead on the other hand has visited once in the past. In the the end though, in one way or another it's been new jungle altogether for both of us.

Our last apartment in SF was on Fell Street near Alamo Park. The dog -- Ozwald, Ozzie, Oz -- loved this, and Mike's Coffee (no, not it's real name but though I love the food and people I think the name is ill-fitting) has a a breakfast that can lead to a La Mancha addiction. It was a great location for us, and in front of the window in our bedroom was the butcher block that my Redhead's family had given her and we had brought with us. I would sit and write here when time permitted, which it hasn't so much in the last year -- but I can't complain as the last year has been an incomprehensible education, and the one piece that I have managed to finish made me incredibly happy to hear. Counter)Induction, by the way, is fantastic. And though I have a lot left to do, I know, still it has taken me a long time to get to this sound as it is.

So here we are, figuring out what will happen next. And her butcher block is sitting in our new place now, patient, amidst a number of items still left to be unpacked and put away.