Back to Reality (Sort of)

I know. I know. I promised daily blog postings during a giddy pre-vacation moment, and I have yet to deliver. Thank you to all of you faithful readers who called me and asked for a new posting. Here it is at long last.

We returned to sunny California after experiencing a brief taste of Tennessee winter, and were glad to have a few short sleeve days before the cold snap hit here. Even though the weather men here have announced it is VERY cold, it is actually in the high 40s, and feels nothing like the middle of December. Since we have been back, we have been on several hikes, partied in San Francisco, strolled the streets of San Jose, and enjoyed dinner parties with friends old and new. Increasingly our life here sounds like something out of the movies, and I have found it gratifying to take a step back and examine where we have been and where we are planning to go. I offer as an example of my movie star existence the following conversation:

"Guess what?"
"What?"
"Several people from work are planning a trip to Tahoe next month. We're all going to rent a cabin and ski for the week!"
"Tahoe, really?"
"Yes, and my friend said she spent her last travel assignment in Cape Cod. We're thinking of spending the summer there. We'll just rent a beach house and play by the ocean for three months!"
"That would be great!"
"We were thinking of going back to Salt Lake City, but we'd rather go somewhere we haven't been before. My friend says there is nothing better than New England in the summer. What do you think?"

Tahoe? Cape Cod? San Francisco? I feel like an actress on an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!

As I stood in the middle of the dance floor at a club in San Francisco last Friday night, singing Brown Eyed Girl at the top of my lungs (very off key, I might add), with a girl from New Zealand, a girl from Las Vegas, a girl from Ohio, and a guy from Chicago, I suddenly realized how amazing my life was. I attempted to freeze the moment in my mind - the dim lights, the aging singer and guitar player, all the 20 and 30 somethings singing, "You're my brown eyed girl" while danicng wildly, the few businessmen in suits, a handful of women in evening gowns fresh from the theatre, and me - a girl from Tennessee. The incredible thing was, I fit right in! At that moment, we were the fountain of youth. The immortal symbol of joie de vivre. Even in the midst of war. Even in the midst of economic decline. People from all walks of life and different states and countries found enough hope and joy to sing, "Sha - la - la- la -la- la - la - la -la -" and mean it. And I was right in the middle of it all, just as I always dreamed I would be.

By: Rebecca
Photo By: Ted (Sunset at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in CA)