Last week I took two days off work and, combined with the three day weekend, uprooted my San Francisco existence to date, relocating to the Dogpatch. Not coincidentally, Richard did the same thing, on the same day.
It’s sort of hard to believe it was over two and a half years ago that dad and I drove cross country, spending three days in Motel 6’s and a 16 foot Penske truck along with Maddie. When I was in Indiana for Thanksgiving he said, “Well, I guess you’re coming up on two years in California; how does it feel?” “It feels like I’m coming up on three years,” I said dryly. He was silent as he did the math, realizing that the time has flown, and hopes that life in California is just a phase are just that.
400 Duboce Avenue was a great place for me to land back in 2007. It was close to the Castro, without being in the heart of the Castro. It was convenient to the grocery store. I had plentiful transit options just outside my door. And it turns out lots of people I made friends with were often passing through the neighborhood. But it’s been time to move on for a while.
So I moved to a loft in the Dogpatch on Saturday. I love it, whole heartedly, inside and out. We saw a friend on New Year’s Eve who said, “Man, you should be moving to the Mission, where I am. You just go outside your door and shit’s goin’ on; there’s nothing going on out there.” I simply smiled and said, “Yes, exactly.” Walking Maddie in the evenings, I am delighted at how quiet it is, how non-confrontational. For the first time in two years, I have a kitchen table that isn’t doubling as a desk†. And I have a kitchen with actual counter space. It’s like I’ve graduated from the race car bed to the big boy bed; I sort of feel like an adult again‡.
I made a roast on Monday night for dinner. Richard and I sat at the table — as opposed to on the sofa — with Maddie sitting next to us, patiently waiting to be rewarded for her inherent, obvious goodness. Sitting down to that meal, sitting at that table, I had this feeling of belonging and of home. This is exactly where I want to be right now, and I’m looking forward to seeing San Francisco in a whole new way this year.
† Although now I don’t have a desk, so I guess there was an obvious trade off there. But I do have room for both, now, which is a change.
‡ I think the last time I felt like I had a really adult residence was in my house in Fort Wayne. I don’t think I really appreciated that feeling until this week.
| date: | 2010-01-21 21:29:51 |
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| wordpress_id: | 1374 |
| layout: | post |
| slug: | san-francisco-habitation-take-two |
| comments: | |
| category: | my life |
| tags: | 400 duboce, dogpatch, move |