Eight Years in the Bay Area
On this day in 1999, I took up residency in the San Francisco Bay Area, moving at first to a hotel in Mountain View, then to a trailer court in San Jose, before finally settling in with my friend, Steve. In the last eight years, I’ve experienced a lot of wonderful friendships, unforgettable nights on dancefloors, painful injuries and heartbreaks, and great jobs. Friends I’ve met in California are among the best friends I’ve ever had. The one friend I’m missing here is, hopefully, moving out here soon to join the party.
I still get chills when I see the “CA” at the end of my address. I still can’t believe sometimes that I live right in the dead center of the Silicon Valley—the absolute epicenter of the technology industry. I really love living in Santa Clara County, despite the nudging of my large social circle in San Francisco. This has been a great eight years.
Occasionally, I miss my old hometown, Moscow, the sleepy liberal college town in the Idaho panhandle. The four biggest things I miss are:
- The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival — I’m coming next year, Moscow. Are you ready for me?
- KUOI FM — My college radio station, on which I hosted “House of Jazz” for a few years in the late ninteies.
- Lionel Hampton School of Music Jazz Choir I — I sang tenor in this group for 7 years. Every semester was wonderful. Crooning ballads across the circle at all the cute sopranos, second sopranos, and altos, was a great fringe benefit.
- Moscow Food Co-op — the best independent grocery cooperative I’ve ever seen.
The things I miss about my college town are eclipsed by the things I love about living in the Bay Area. I’ve had some wonderful opportunities to stretch and grow while I’ve been here. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
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