Vallejo - outside the bubble

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Leaving the bubble of Japan, where illiteracy and almost non existent Japanese renders the world a warm, unfathomable soft haze of obscurity, is shocking. Every word in print and voice is like an assault, too much information about absolutely everything. It takes almost a week to tune out every casual conversation at the next table, and skip over all but the bold print. Returning to San Francisco after 11 years is delightful, so much is familiar, yet of course places change.

Dear welcoming brothers brothers Andy and Johnny have a new home (of 7 years), a comfortable, lived in, sprawling house packed with Johnny's pottery, souvenirs from Oz, mementos from relatives gone, and one of my mothers paintings on the wall. We estimate that our guest suite filled with vases of flowers, is bigger than our Okinawa apartment and that their entire house could easily hold all 5apartments in our building. Paddy, my nemesis poodle has mellowed with age and deigns to ignore me now, and Frizby, the enthusiastic Jack Russell is everyone's best friend. Denby the cat manages to avoid us for the duration.

San Francisco has people from all over the world, and their food. Greens, overlooking the bridge must have the cheeriest waitstaff on the planet and the best vegetarian food. Vallejo farmers market, Thai, Asian and Indian eateries, Mi Pueblo supermarket and the best Mexican take out stores, meant we ate well. Johnny's breakfast omelets stuffed with jalapeño chillies, freshly baked cakes served around midnight and bags of bagels after Andy's night shift were an absolute treat. We did not have to cook once for our entire stay.

Vallejo and the Napper Valley have a Mediterranean climate, wide blue skies, a drought, and are achingly similar to Adelaide. Raccoons, gophers, squirrels and circling turkey buzzards were reminders that I was in California, but walking the dogs through sun browned, gentle hillsides covered with familiar weeds made me feel homesick. San Francisco Asian Art Museum, filled with beautiful Japanese screens, precious Chinese jade and many Buddhists statues evoked a different nostalgia. Ten days flew by too quickly. Days filled with friends, favorite places, dog walks, ferry rides and fabulous food.

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Comments

[Andy]

Best blog evah!
What a delightful read to wake up to. Feeling the love❤️❤️

[enid]

Sounds fabulous