One Shy of Seven: 5/1/11

Ode To Northern California

Some of you may gag when you read this blog post. I won't go on forever and ever on the subject. I arrived back in my native San Francisco yesterday to beautiful sunny blue skies and a warm mid-seventies temperature. I couldn't have had a larger s*it eating grin on my face! Stepping out of the doors at San Francisco Airport I filled my lungs with the cool eucalyptus filled air and felt all of my frustrations and fears of the past six weeks melt away. There is something to say for the cleansing feeling of knowing your place.

And that is exactly what I cannot stop thinking about today. This is MY place. I keep saying it. This is MY place? My home? My life? Today I woke up and headed over to the presidio to meet with my physical therapist. My tail was between my legs when I left the house and by the time I got into the presidio that grin was back on my face again. I bust through the doors at Presidio Sport & Medicine and was greeted by one of my trainers, Andy. He could see how excited I was to be back. Now that I think about it this might be the most "excited" I've been since I've been back in the US! This wasn't really an "exciting" detour if you know what I mean.

Anyway, so I rip through some preliminary exercises and am transported back to the four or five months I spent at PSMT prior to the beginning of this journey. I was working through some recurrent sciatic nerve pain. That experience wasn't only physically beneficial to me but also mentally beneficial. When you're surrounded by professionals who actually care about their patients and invest themselves into their work its hard not to have some therapeutic benefits from taking time to focus on your body and in turn your mind. As a quick side note, Erica Moody, at PSMT is one of the most talented Physical Therapists I've worked with over my tenure of knee, spine and now shoulder injuries. She not only understands her job but she understands people. It is the combination of her advanced therapeutic skills with her personal touch and approach that makes her stand out in my mind. If any of you ever need someone to look at an injury or work on physical therapy in the San Francisco bay area I'd highly suggest you stop by and see her.

Well that was a tangent. But a necessary one.

So where was I? Oh yeah, my love of San Francisco! Well lets just say I've spent the better part of my twenties traveling. Through my former position I spent time in every major city in the continental united states along with a trip to Istanbul and Athens. As I departed and started exploring Asia & the Pacific I found myself looking fondly back on my time in San Francisco. While I was away I chalked a lot of my emotions around San Francisco with my friends. I had for the first time in my life since college developed a social network of friends in a city. I had close friends, work friends and family friends to rely on.

It wasn't until I got off the plane yesterday and kept smiling this morning as I drove around that I realized this place feeling has just as much to do with the actual city as it does the people within it. I can't put into words what I'm trying to express but surmise it to be something magical about what this city does to me.

I'm lucky to have found this at my age in my life. I'm not necessarily ready to settle down and lay deep roots in any one city but I now know the one thats at the top of the list.

Below are a few of my favorite places from my travel the eighteen months prior to me leaving for my trip.