Another Move

While I am fairly certain that I have terrorized Montana the House Cat enough to necessitate years of Kitty Psychotherapy for that poor pussy, I'm not sure how psychologically prepared I myself am for tomorrow's move. I finally have Erika and Martin perfectly trained to open the front door within 30 seconds of my first or second "I want to go out NOW meow" and I'm not sure I'm ready to become a full-time indoor cat again.

After spending the morning supervising movers who filled up our new San Francisco apartment with boxes, Erika too became a little wistful. Especially after realizing that this is her 4th Autumn Move to SF. It's becoming something of a tradition.

First there was the move in November 1997 from Mountain View to a charming studio on Jones in Nob Hill. It was exciting to finally live in the Big City, but parking a 4WD truck in one of the hilliest and most competitive parking areas in the city soon lost its charm. Hosting dinner parties where two of the seats were on the futon bed and the other guests had to bring their own chairs finally convinced Erika to move to a 2-bedroom with a roommate in Alamo Square.

After a brief hiatus in Sunnyvale, Erika's next move to SF was in November 2000, to a drafty old Victorian on Waller in the Lower Haight. The broken heater was a hardship (a theme to be repeated in several New York apartments), but it was the crazy roommate who kept re-arranging the kitchen in passive-aggressive/obsessive-compulsive rages who finally forced Erika out. She asked Erika to leave so that her boyfriend could move into Erika's room (and pay only half of the rent that Erika had been paying!).

After living in New York for 2 years, Erika moved back to SF in December of 2003, into a gorgeous Arts and Crafts-ish one-bedroom on Steiner in the Lower Haight. It was perfect, but the neighborhood was not. The gunshots, drug addicts, break-ins, and stolen cars got a little too frequent, and Erika decided that she would be better off in NOPA in yet another drafty Victorian, but this time with two great roommates.

Fast forward 4 years to the last days of October 2007 and Erika finds herself moving back from New York yet again to SF for probably the last time, this time to Bernal Heights. Another beautiful Victorian - time will tell whether or not it is drafty too. This one has 2 bedrooms and a tiny half-bedroom in the front, just right for the Baby who will be joining us at the end of April. We are ALL hoping that our Next move will be to a place in the country that is big enough for our growing family to thrive and put down some roots...

Calling all Birds of Prey

While I've been hanging out in the backyard, avoiding dive-bombing humming birds, Erika has discovered a new hobby - counting ground squirrels on the Stanford Dish Loop. Monday she counted 52 and today - a record 76 SQUIRRELS! It's a veritable All-You-Can-Eat Buffet for some lucky hawk. And for those of you skeptics who think she might be counting the same critters twice - Erika has strict rules methods for confirming that each squirrel counted is a bona-fide unique and individual animal. She doesn't count non-descript rustlings in the bushes either. 4 legs and a fluffy little tail on each one.

Ok, others of you may now be thinking that Erika needs to get a job. She is making a tiny bit of progress in that area. Ironic, serendipitous progress, but progress nonetheless. Tomorrow she will forego rodent counting to sign a very short-term contract at the advertising agency whose client is the very same company where she worked in New Jersey. In fact, she will be working on the very same project that she was working on in New Jersey, albeit from an entirely different angle. Funny.

In other news, the Audi has been christened. She is now Maude as in "Maude, the crotchety old lady who did NOT like her parts messed with for a California smog check". For two full days after her idle was adjusted, she refused to run right. She would stall every chance she got, and rev up her engine at the MOST inopportune moments, such as while waiting at a stop light next to some souped up hot rod. Turns out she was lying about her age, too. Her birthday was actually in 1986, not 1984. After 2 mortifying days of this behavior, we drove 4 hours to Tahoe on freeways and nice curvy mountain roads. She's run like a serene grande dame ever since. But the name stuck. If Erika ever gets a new beloved Subaru, I supposed it will have to be called Harold.

Autumn in California (or whatever)

It's hard to tell that the seasons have changed in the Bay Area. It's officially fall, but things don't look or feel much different. Some days there is a chill in the air that wasn't there a month ago, and there is certainly more moisture threatening, but the hills are still sun-bleached, and the only fall color that we have noticed appears on a few Japanese maples that are planted on a freeway overpass in Mountain View.

So, Martin and Erika journeyed to "Apple Hill" in the Sierra Foothills this past weekend to really experience autumn. Apple Hill is a collection of apple growers just outside of Placerville who celebrate apple season in a big way for a few short months. You can drive from farm to farm and pick or just purchase all kinds of different apple varieties and apple treats like apple cookies, apple pies, and caramel apples. There is also the Jack Russell Brewing company, which brews all kinds of seasonal beer and hosts a BBQ and a band on the weekends. Makes for a lovely way to spend a sunny fall afternoon. In addition to The Best Apple Pie Ever, a couple of antique Polaroid cameras, and (of course) some delicious snacking apples, Erika and Martin also collected two perfect pumpkins in preparation for the Great Jack 'O Lantern Carving Contest, which will take place on October 27th. I won't be taking part in that since I lack opposable thumbs, but I *have* been practicing my Scary Cat look, making my tail all bushy and raising the hair along my spine. Makes Montana the House Cat run every time.

Ode to Tomatoes

Ok, so at this time last week Erika and I were resolute Manhattanites. But after only one short week, we are falling quickly under the spell of California. For me, it's being able to lay around in the sun, outside, where I can keep a close eye on those birdies and the House Cat, Montana.

For Erika, it's the tomatoes. She and Martin made a trip to the California Avenue Farmer's market on Sunday and could not resist loading up on all kinds of organic fruits and vegetables (And eggs! And black cod!). Artichokes, broccoli, yellow wax beans, dried slab apricots, fuju persimmons, Watsonville strawberries, all kinds of weird green and yellow summer squash, cherry tomatoes, and... heirloom tomatoes. It is a crime to give the name of "tomato" to those hard, salmon-colored orbs that they sell in most supermarkets. Tomatoes can be so much more! We got little green zebras, big yellow-red "pineapple" tomatoes, early girls, some unnamed dark purplish variety, and everything in between. Erika slices them up and eats them with salt and pepper, or gently places the tomato slices on top of cheese on top of bread and pops the whole thing under the broiler for a few minutes. Today's tomato cheese toastie got the added benefit of a bit of fresh oregano from the Lins' garden. Martin just pops the cherry tomatoes in his mouth one after the other - yellow, red, orange, red, yellow...this is the way to live! I'm not crazy about them myself, but I am enjoying nibbling a bit of that California lawn each day to get my greens...

Sunning in the Suburbs

We made it!!! Flying first class is Not Bad, especially when I get to ride on Erika's lap instead of the sub-zero floor of the aircraft. I was certainly not crazy about waiting in the airport, or actually taking off in the plane, but once I treated my fellow passengers to my full range of vocal expression (at top volume), I settled down and was happy to just doze, with an occasional glance out the window. Martin was at the airport to greet us with a box of chocolates and a fully functional automobile. (How about that German engineering?) His trip was very enjoyable - they decided to blow off Vegas in favor of camping out by the hot springs on the East Side of the Sierras and driving through Yosemite Valley. Highlights of the trip were apparently the hot springs and of course the Memphis barbecue.

We are now quite comfortably settled in a lovely cottage in Palo Alto with a large yard and flower garden, humming birds, squirrels, and even another cat (Montana). We are not friends yet, but have established a truce which involves daily staring contests from our respective doorways. Erika has spent the week remembering how to get around the Bay Area and taking long, sunny walks in the Stanford Hills. Martin is learning all about his new job and how people do business differently in California. Example: No 9am meetings. If engineering is involved, no meetings before 11am. He is already quite enamored, mostly by the free mochas and the casual dress policy. California is Cool!

With thanks again to the Lin family, who found our current abode, we are signing the lease on an absolutely lovely flat in Bernal Heights (San Francisco) on Friday and will move at the end of the month. Yay!!! You can read more about Bernal Heights here and here.
The commute from SF to Sunnyvale is actually not bad. Martin has 3 options: the train, the company shuttle (complete with wireless connectivity and free snacks!), and driving. From here, we will start our search in earnest for the goat farm and attached dream house. Life is good. Now I see a butterfly I need to chase if I can tear myself away from this sunny spot...