A wise man once told me that if I had an idea which I thought would be for the benefit of humankind I should sit on it for seven years, and after this period if the idea still seemed to have merit, I then should communicate it to the world. While I haven't had an idea worthy of sitting on, it was seven years ago (and a few months) that a woman saddled up to me at a bar in Pensacola, Florida, and after a few beers and some idle chat revealed that she was planning on moving out to San Diego.
"California?" I asked.
Several months later, in June of 1998, this woman and I packed all of our possessions, her cat, and my dog into her Honda Accord and we began the what turned out to be six-day journey* across the United States to San Diego in California.
I had no idea how long this adventure would last. Maybe a month. Two or three years at the most. At the time, I figured I would stay as long as the relationship with this woman lasted.
Seven years later, that woman is now my wife and San Diego is still my home. I've lived here longer than any other place except for the city in which I was born. I still wonder how long I'll be here, never really feeling that I've fully settled into being a San Diegan, or a Californian, that moving back to the South or to some place closer to my family is a matter of days, not years. I've always said that you shouldn't consider a place your home until you know enough useless trivia about it so that you can impress a native. Well, natives are hard to come by in San Diego, but I've managed to pick up a few things here and there. For instance, did you know that WD40's home office is in San Diego? Or that Buck Knives got its start here?
Most days, I'm happy I'm here. I credit this city with helping me get my life together, with giving me enough distance from the bullshit that my life was becoming in Pensacola. I've made some good friends, found rewarding work, had some great adventures, and who knows what lies ahead.
I say all of this not just to celebrate an anniversary, but also to announce that very soon I will be writing for the San Diego Blog. Joe Crawford has done a great job establishing the site as a "go to" place for San Diego-related content. Now that he's moved up the coast, he's asked for others to pitch in and keep the blog afloat. After giving it some thought and realizing that I am, indeed, a San Diegan, that seven years of living here has given me the right to call myself that, I decided to add my name to the list of contributors.
Who knows how long this will last?
*Includes three days spent in Beaumont, Texas, waiting for some car repairs.
Congratulations on the new gig. I look forward to reading!
Posted by: Geoff | June 20, 2005 at 12:11 AM