It turns out that doing a lot of traveling and taking a lot of pictures does not in fact make me more likely to update this journal on a regular basis. The rest of my west coast road trip was a lot of fun, aside from the drive from Portland back to Chico, which is a bit long to be a good solo drive at the end of a trip. I drove close to 3k miles in November.
After a few days in Chico, I flew out to spend a couple of weeks on the east coast. New York was lovely, and I have a few pictures from my one day of all-out touristing (Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, and the public library). It was great to see K (who somehow has an apartment with a spare bedroom in New York) and the weather was a bit of a learning experience, but not so terrible an adjustment.
S was on her own east coast trip, so we met up in New Jersey and went on to Boston to stay with the falcons, who were really quite wonderful hosts. I found time among the cookie baking and pajama brunching to go see R in Somerville; we played games, braved the cold for dinner and drinks, and stayed up helping her neighbors with some vital Rock Band progress.
After a few days back in Chico, I went down to the bay area with my parents to see the Revels, as is our yearly tradition, and to join a pretty large group of extended family for a sort of holiday mini-reunion. I had a chance to catch up with my brother C on the way down, and my sister C’s family on the way back up. I also ran across a bunch of quakers in the midst of their evening festivities (and those quakers know how to party, let me tell you). I’ve missed the bay area. By which I mean the people in the bay area, although the place itself has a certain nostalgia for me.
Christmas was fairly relaxed and quiet, as it tends to be here, and C’s family left last night. I’ve been settling into my sporadic residence in Chico, enjoying the land and tolerating the weather.
My travels have been fantastic for my music collection. Thanks to S and K for the mixes and to everyone else for their recommendations and contributions. I’m listening to Priscilla Ahn and Sufjan Stevens right now.
Speaking of music, one of the local Chico papers has an article about my brothers.
Tomorrow it’ll be time to do laundry, pack and get ready for new year’s gathering, in the mountains of Oregon.
I hope you’re all well this holiday season.
