Anniversary

Almost exactly a year ago today, I had loaded up all my earthly possessions into my moving truck or my Saturn, and was roaring westward on Interstate 70 en route to California. This was a deeply exciting time, and one also filled with all sorts of overtones for me. These stretched from the literary - thinking of Steinbeck and the Grapes of Wrath - to the historical - the many generations of American before me who moved west in search of opportunity and a better life. There's even some personal history there; my paternal ancestors moved to California during the Great Depression, and their descendents still live there today.

Having lived here for 12 months, it's pretty amazing to look back. I'm thinking about all the differences that seemed so unusual when I first moved here, that I now take for granted. I look at myself, and the way my mind and body have been changing during the last year. I look to the future, and smile when I realize I could be spending many more years of my life here.

I'll probably do a few debriefing posts over the next week or so as I hit upon certain milestones. Please forgive my sentimentality.