Bikes, sushi, road trips and the return of short shorts!

Sitting in the Richmond hills, reflecting about the last couple months in the states and feeling very full of the friendships and loves I have here...back home? It certainly feels more like home this time, less stress of income, less stress of what to come and where Ive been, and much less stress between who I think I am and who I am to those I love.

Its been a busy last few weeks to say the least! I sold my motorcycle in the nick of time, with 17 dollars left in the bank, to a guy from LA who really was excited to have it and who paid me decent for it, no hassles. I finished up a batch of bike builds at Adams Ave Bike Shop - a true hub of cycling community in San Diego, and home of the nicest bike shop dudes and gals I have ever had the pleasure of working with. There were dinners with old friends and late night conversations of the most sincere and honest kind, all feelings out, exposed, and feeling safe - the kind of conversation that leaves me feeling like despite the time I had getting here, I am in the right place with an open heart and working mind. The kind of conversation that leaves me feeling like I should talk less, cause my friends are BRILLIANT! There was a picnic that connected all the people I care about in SD, one in which I was content to sit back and listen and take it all in with a smile - knowing that the people closest to me are some of the nicest and most kind and most heartfelt people in the world, and they all get along with each other too! There was a bike camping trip, by full moon along the coast with Jessie, a train ride north and two days on bikes to get back, mountains of carnitas, beers and a lot of catching up. There was another killer sushi night out, making noise, and laughing our asses off. There were a few tears shed. There was a road trip to the bay area with a night in San Luis Obispo with bike activists and city planners who ride.

Now Im sitting here trying to catch up, trying to process it all, and trying to live between these two extremes; the one in Italy where I have a great job, adventure, and exploration, and this life in California which is home, full of love and caring, potential of so much more, and sunny most of the time inside and out. Its hard to describe the feeling, somewhere between full of promise, full of happiness, excited for whats next, secure in what I can always come back to, and a heart that feels complete. Its a great feeling, not sad, not worried, and as I flip through the picture perfect proof, I sit here laughing my ass off with the ones I call The TOP 5. (which is actually approaching 9 as I list names.)

Thanks Guys
I love you all very much!

BIKE CAMPING TRIP...






























wakey wakey, hands off snakey!












SUSHI GOODBYE PARTY....



everyone decided to dress up nicely, or elegante as Fede says....



thats Fede in the middle...



I of course had a different idea in mind...not sure but I think thats Tammy's hand.





Someone always needs change for the jukebox, Romel fishing for quarters much to the dismay of the table sitting right behind us.



LOOK I SAT IN GUM!!

















Pretty much everyone ended up dancing...even JESSIE!! and our table was an absolute MESS after a few hours.



next day...
Road Trip to SLO...



Which started with a stop at Johnny's Mexican food and a quick visit with Clay Porter



Bubblegum Alley...its as nasty as it looks.







This nice young Gal put us up on her floor, and showed us around, shes a city planner and bike fiend with a taste for DIY projects and steak breakfasts.



The rolling hills of California not so golden in winter...



Once in the Bay Area I got to spend some short but laughable and quality time with this Little Monster...Ladies and Gentlemen, Aavi Newton...2 years old and breakin hearts already!





thanks again you guys, see you soon.
CIAO!
S.

Its not "home"... but its where I'm from...

Been a busy few weeks here in sunny southern California. And its been filled with old friends, new friends, bike rides, and thoughts filled with memories. I grew up here in San Diego. L earned to drive here, to experience freedom and independence here with friends, and the outdoor activities that have come to follow me through my adult life. I've written before about home not being where I was but a bundle of feelings and memories of smiling faces that I carry with me no matter where I go, and thats still true. But I realized how tied that is to place this week. I am from California. From the beaches of So-cal, to the weirdness of the pits of LA, from illegible graffiti on the walls in the barios of LA, to the smells of bbq and grease in Korea-Town, and any other culture you can name. From the old long haired burnouts fighting to live in their motorhomes at the beach, to the sounds of helicopters and police cars I love me some California City life. But California is also Golden Rolling Hills, and crashing empty beaches, palm trees and deserts that bloom in winter. California is big groves of redwoods, and pot farms roped off with high fences and cameras in the middle of northern woods. California is piles of rocks higher than the trees, its chapparal that scratches at your knees and ankles, while predator birds glide overhead looking for their next meal. California is sand dunes, and cool clear lakes immeasurably deep.

There are monuments of nature here. And monuments of people, and monuments of history, a history that seems short when compared to the history I have seen in Europe, but one that is rich with stories, and experiences all the same. 10 Italians will tell the same history, but 10 Californians will have such varied accounts depending on where they are stratified. California is the furthest extremes on can think of (and sometimes a little further out there) and everything in the middle. It is all that it has ever been labeled and I love it here. California is who I am. This is where I'm from.

As I write this I look out the window: Spanish architecture, palm trees, scratchy native plants, bikes, buses, cars, murals, blue stucco, sunny skies, and a smile from a passerby.

take a close look, thats snow in the San Gabriel mountains as seen from the beach in Venice, an AMAZINGLY clear day for a bike ride around LA.

I think Loni is developing a thing for LifeGuards...

in Italy we say CIAO!

In Cali we say LATER!

later.

S.