Hello, I’ve moved! I’m writing to you now from my new living room in Cole Valley. Moving, as anyone who has ever done it, which is everyone, knows, is exhausting. Yesterday, I spent my first night in my new room. Today, I am too tired to figure out how to write this intro, too spent to find other words than these, so I will let this list/poem stand alone.
Goodbye to my 1st apartment.
Goodbye to the house no friends came over to.
Goodbye to the cracked paint on the front of the house that I hated until I learned to ignore it,
Goodbye to the kitchen floor and its chipped tiles.
Goodbye to the arch above the bathtub that never got used, except for watering plants.
Goodbye to big bay windows through which I watched my neighbors come and go all day as I work,
Goodbye to sitting on the roof for lunch with a view of the coastline.
Goodbye to the gap under my door that lets in light and noise and cold,
Goodbye to my mirror wall I thought I would hate and ended up loving,
Goodbye to the big plant in my room that made it more than a room,
Goodbye to floor space to spare and the perfect layout.
Goodbye to the bright morning light, or dense grey fog, goodbye to never knowing which it would be,
Goodbye to the pink curtain I pulled back only to reveal a bright orange sky that one morning,
Goodbye to the shadow the light cast through my plant, arching across the floor throughout the day.
Goodbye to my weekly Sunday farmer’s market, although I will try my best to come back for you, actually.
Goodbye to the Trouble Coffee and Devil’s Teeth baristas I wish I’d befriended more, but then again, I don't really drink coffee.
Goodbye to walking to Other Avenues multiple times a week, just to pick up the one thing I’m missing, and then leaving with my hands full.
Goodbye to the boat at the end of the street that I used as landmark to guide me home, that’s actually already gone. Where did you go? Why were you there?
Goodbye to the wind blowing off the ocean in my face as I bike home through the park, so strong I have to peddle hard even downhill,
Goodbye to then catching a glimmer of ocean between houses as I ride on 41st, sometimes spotting the Farallon Islands on a clear day, and smiling wide, joyous at the sight every time.
Goodbye to just taking a detour to the beach after an outing because I’m not quite ready to go home yet.
Goodbye to walking down to the beach in the evening only to discover it’s much too windy to stay.
Except for today,
Expect for when I leave the house and it’s perfectly breezy and cool, but not windy or cold,
Except for all the times I’ve sat in the dunes or along the railing, watching the sun lower until it’s nothing more than a pinprick of light on the horizon,
Except for today, when I can sit here in shorts and watch the sky color from peach to orange to bright pink and marvel at the sight like it’s the first time.
Goodbye to the sound of the waves, to the sand in my toes and in my shoes,
Goodbye to the little surfers dotting the waves,
Goodbye to being so proud to say “I live in the Outer Sunset, near Ocean Beach”, and that being enough.
Hello Cole Valley.
What a beautiful piece to read while drinking my ginger tea. I love this!!