Heading back to California to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family has me thinking about the concept of home.
Sure, NYC is my home for now… as a temporary New Yorker, I have taken to wearing a lot of black and can surf the subways like a pro. But having grown up in Southern California, I can’t help that the smell of ocean, sand in my flippy floppies, and yes- even the snarl of traffic will always signal ‘home’ to me.
In fact, ten years ago, Mr. M & I both would have sworn you couldn’t take the ‘southside’ out of our LA swagger… that is, until we moved to San Francisco. And found home. Or at least a second home and a brand new concept of what the word actually means.
Looking back, I should have seen the signs: my penchant for recycling… my love affair with “Full House” in the early 90’s… my insistence that A Bike is, indeed, a viable mode of transportation.
Despite only living there a few years, I never feel more immediately comfortable in a city than I do when I’m in San Francisco.
So in honor of Thanksgiving and the people and places that make you feel ‘at home,’ I’m dashing my whole blog concept of looking at one day at a time (can we call it my non-conformist San Franciscan spirit?). Instead, here’s a smattering of some of my most favorite pictures of my most favorite home-city in the world: San Francisco.
The opposite of tract home homogeneity, San Francisco oozes character from every nook & cranny.
Not content to contain vibrant splendor to their Victorian row houses, personal expression often spills out into the street.
While it’s true New Yorkers are pretty darn tolerant of anyone’s beliefs, San Franciscans take it one step further and celebrate the unique.
While we’re not particularly known for our religious conservatism, all are welcome to stay & play in America’s most liberal city.
This being San Francisco, even the evangelists don’t seem to mind sharing space with the transgendered beauties of Asia SF.
The home of Blue Bottle takes its coffee quite seriously.
Cover your ears, aforementioned evangelists… Because brunch is the Sunday ritual the bay area adheres to religiously.
And one of the best parts about living in this city- nature is literally a Golden Gate Bridge away.
It was the best of both worlds getting to live in the hubbub of the city and being a bike ride away from Sausalito and the redwood hiking trails of Muir Woods.
If I could only get my friends & family to migrate north, me & my reusable shopping bags would be all set to stay in the city by the bay.
So am I the only one non-committal enough to lay claim to multiple ‘home towns’? Do you have more than one ‘home’?
**Once again, a big huge thank you to my amazing photographer pal Ms. Ralen Gao, who took some of these photos during a girls’ weekend I hosted in SF. Ralen clearly knows her way around a gorgeous photograph, no? More of her work is featured in my post on New Orleans!**
Great photos. Love it!
Why thank you! San Francisco's such a colorful, photogenic city... if cities can be photogenic. :)
Great photos! Looks like such an amazing place!! I definitely have more than one 'home.' The small town of Montoursville, Pa will always be my first home. Now, South Jersey is my new home. I fought this one for a while, and it took me two years of living here to admit that it was home. Others include Hershey and State College, Pa. Also, at Penn State, there was a guy we called the 'Willard Preacher' because he'd stand outside of the Willard building doing the same thing your Owen Dias does. One thing that stands out in my mind is the day he said, 'there are no prostitutes in State College because the girls give it up for free.' People would debate with him, and he'd stick to his beliefs so well. I had two classes in the same building a half hour apart. I'd sit out on the steps watching him debate. Very entertaining!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who just can't be tied down to a single 'home!' I know what you mean about fighting the idea of a certain place being 'home'... I still keep NYC at arm's distance and recoil when people suggest I'm a New Yorker. This one'll take time. Your story about the Willard Preacher made me quite happy indeed. Good for him for at least thinking through his position well enough to hold up in debates! Whether or not I agree with them, Willard Preacher & Mr. Owen certainly add some local flavor. And I actually kinda miss him now that I've left... which doesn't seem right because you should never miss someone calling you a whore. :)
I visited San Francisco once while visiting a friend in Berkeley. I loved San Francisco and I have never forgotten that day. I loved the buildings, the cable cars, the seals, Fisherman's Wharf, all of it. I'd like to go back one day.
I'd say Berkeley is a pretty wonderful place, as well! Both cities by the bay are so rich in character. Don't know how I missed a cable car picture! I'll have to do another SF-related post soon.
Welcome again to my adopted city...Great photos !! My favorite coffee is Blue Bottle indeed..Have fun !!
Oh, I like that! I might just steal your term 'adopted city' because that sums things up perfectly. :) Mmmm... Blue Bottle... a trip to the Ferry Building is in order!
Pingback: You Can’t Go Home Again… Or Can You? | Spend Your Days
[…] to California to visit with friends & family (yay!) and thought it was time for another post on the places I consider to be my ‘hometowns.’ Consider it an impromptu and slightly disorganized mini-series. […]
Pingback: Take ‘em Downtown, Boys | Spend Your Days
[…] for work, I was Bummed-capital-B to leave San Francisco behind. As I’ve said before, San Francisco is the place that’s always felt the most like home. Taming the frontier before bringing his woman to a savage land, Mr. M went ahead to New York to […]
Pingback: An Odyssey of Japanese Oddities - Spend Your Days
[…] cat cafe- called KitTea- is allegedly coming to San Francisco this year (yet another reason why SF is my favorite city, anywhere), I can’t NOT do this. Let it be known that Mr. M would rate this a 0, and shall be […]