April 2010

I am nearing the completion of a full cycle of Northern California weather. Its drastically different than back home. I decided to document it here so I can have a reference for thoughts times when I wonder when the weather will get nice again or when its going to cool off. Its beautiful in its own right and I’ve enjoyed it. Its just when I ask people that have lived here all there life they can’t seem to remember exactly when its going to get warm again.

I arrived here July 15th 2009. It was warm and dry. All the grass was brown from lack of water. It didn’t rain for the first time since I had arrived until 2 months later. It was hot but not too hot and the evening was just right. I didn’t need a coat or jacket that much at night. As the end of August early September came it stayed hot during the day and didn’t really cool off until early morning hours. At some point I remember a few nights that were so hot I couldn’t sleep under the covers and it wasn’t until just before the daybreak came up that I started to get a little bit of a chill.

October was still a little warm during the day and chilly at might. I started carrying my jacket more regularly. November is when the real cold came and it was even more cold at night. I started wearing my jacket and coat together pretty regularly since I only brought the two with me.

December January I think is when the rain started coming more frequently. February March we’ve had weeks of it. The rain here is nothing like the rain we have back east. We have monsoons were you can’t see feet in front of you for minutes or hours. The streets almost always turn into rivers and if you go out side for just a minute your soaked to the bone.

Here the rain is like a mist most of the time. Or a steady drizzle. Rarely do you get the big rain drops but it steadily comes down. The cold is also completely different but not as easily described. Its definitely dryer out here and I can feel the absence of the humidity in the air. The winter is dryer here than back home. I’ve felt it more in my hands I’ve had super dry hands all winter.

When I was back home I hardly ever put lotion on because it just seemed to make my hands feel greasy. Here it soaks into my skin almost faster than I can apply it. I’m trying to start the habit of moisturizing more often.

The saying April showers didn’t hold much meaning for me when I was back home. The rain would usually come more in summer than spring. But out here they truly do have spring showers and dry summers. Summer is around the corner and I’m slowly needing my jacket less and less. Soon the rain will stop and it will be sunshine and heat all summer.

This is mostly from the perspective of Berkeley and Oakland. San Francisco is a world of its own. It really dose have micro claimants. I haven’t traveled from one are of the city to the stark opposite side of it. But I have been in one place and step off the bus and its way colder or warmer than were I started.

Its all part of the adventure and I’m loving every minute of it. :0)

Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to live in a city that had public transportation. My love for public transit started with my first visit to DC, it was thanksgiving… not sure what year, my aunt was living there and invited us up for the holiday.  I think this was my first big city trip and she was going to show us around before we hit the Smithsonian museum.

I remember walking into the train station and being completely blown away. People were every were and I had never seen a train station terminal before. I was instructed on how to get my pass from the machine in the wall then we passed threw the gate and into the station to wait for the train. Architecture was so beautiful and I couldn’t get over the fact that this was all underground. After my first train ride I decided right then and there that I wanted to live in a city with this kind of system. Growing up in a small southern town you have to drive everywhere. This was so cool that you could travel so far with out having to worry about traffic lights and dealing with owning a car.

I’ve visited many other cities with public transportation. Paris, Boston, New York, Atlanta, DC again, Brussels. Becoming a subway connoisseur of sorts. And always dreaming of the day that I could have a city transit system all my own. July 2009 I made this long time dream a reality. I have moved to San Francisco and I can now call BART home. Since Boston the plan has been to settle into my life in whatever city I end up. Then one day just hop on the train and ride it end to end.

Last month I accomplished this goal. I took my time and savored this moment taking it one leg at a time on each line. Whenever I had time I either stayed on the line and rode a few stops up or If I was board just got on and rode the train for the sake of riding. I completed the last leg of BART not traveled one sunny day in March. It was the Fremont to Richmond line, one of the first warm days since the beginning of fall. I had hopped on the train to go home but didn’t feel like home yet. So I stayed on the train and kept on going. First I completed the south bay leg of the Dublin/ Pleasanton to Daly City line. Then I transferred and finished out Fremont.

The ride was beautiful and the hills were so green with grass and trees they looked like they were covered in shag carpet, it was such a pleasant ride. I remember it wasn’t the best day at work and because of this ride I forgot all about it. I just relaxed and enjoyed the chance to see yet another long term goal completed. If I keep this up I’m going to have to set more goals. lol

Now that this goal is completed I thinking of riding MUNI end to end. This is the system in San Francisco proper. After that maybe the bus lines. :0)

P.S. I do so want to ride the London Underground some day.