i know a place

sometimes when i get back to california, i have this feeling that i never left.
perhaps because so many people out here are close to my heart, that my going away only feels like one quick trip across the continental divide.

anyways, in one whirlwind of a week, i have settled into my apartment, seen the newly married and newly pregnant, figured out the technicalities of my job and driven bill around to my old familiar haunts.

today doesnt quite feel like california. its has that wispy cool breeze that makes the trees shake their leaves (does it count if they are still green?) from their branches.
then instantly, i pine for east coast fall, where pumpkins really do seem appropriate and only spice chai lattes will fix that morning chill.
but as sister would chide (and i to her) it is in that nostalgic yearning that we are unable to find contentment where we are.

and i live in california.
where the grass is really greener.
where there is something in the water.
where the dress code is rarely appropriate but always comfortable.
where love has been born, marriages had and babies soon to be born.

i live in california. my home until i feel called elsewhere.
and dont you know, i might hear that calling come thanksgiving.