sonia | Old friends

I’m so glad I took this trip to the Bay Area. I circumnavigated the south half of the Bay via BART and rides from friends to visit several people I’ve known over half my life. It’s deeply nourishing to be seen positively and to appreciate them in turn.

I told one friend, “Thank you for reminding me to use the degree I already had, back in 2012.” That was my CS degree(s), rather than taking three years to get a psych degree. Overall it worked well to get a part time programming job then to supplement my massage practice.

Another friend thanked me for being the first person she knew to step away from an intense career path, back in 1999 when I started my massage practice rather than working full time as a programmer. It let her consider her choices and decide to retire at 50 from her high-pressure job.

I saw one friend who’s known me since I was born, and is a lovely warm Indian woman (from India). Sadly she repeated herself a lot and has been diagnosed with “mild cognitive deficit.” I hope for the best and fear the worst. Her husband and I discussed it a bit when he drove me to the BART station. He’s also lovely and warm in a shy way.

The friends I stayed with lent me their car, and a bike, as well as their guest room. A previous long-term guest was a heavy perfume user and there was still a residue, which led to a bad headache until we cleared out her remaining clothes and the dresser itself.

It poured down rain, but never when I was out on foot or by bike. I bathed myself in clear abundant sunlight. Walked around Lake Temescal for the first time despite living in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland for 10 years. Walked around Cesar Chavez park by the Bay. My friend is a birder, so we saw a burrowing owl, just hanging out on the ground, an American Pipit, two flying brown pelicans, and some white-crowned and golden sparrows.