California Dreamin'

On such a winter's day. Oh, man.

Last Thursday, Patrick and I drove down to San Francisco with one New Hampshire native, five or six bagels, and one bicycle wedged inside my trunk. Our friend Harrison, who we met at UNH, is the kind of cyclist that bikes for 9 hours straight, the kind that wears "kit" (or "a kit" depending on whether or not you think "kit" is a non-count or count noun) when he rides, and thinks that the Tour de France is the most exciting televised sports program ever. Ever.

He's spending the next month in the San Francisco/Oakland area, training and riding on the California hills, at a time when his competition back in New England is still knocking snow off their car roofs at least once a week.

We're spending the next month underneath cascades and torrents of rain in the Pacific Northwest.

We stayed in Berkeley, with two of Harrison's friends from high school. I tried not to let the fact that Berkeley just rejected me from their comp lit PhD program and the fact that one of Harrison's friends was a current PhD in English student at Berkeley phase me.

(It did.)

We spent only one day in the Bay area, driving Harrison and his girlfriend Moe around the city, over bridges, down Lombard street, near City Light Books, to Golden Gate park. The sun was shining, it was March 9th, I was in a dress with bare legs and yes I did get cold at night but there was sun! On my bare shoulders! A bottle of wine shared in the park and a burrito at El Farolito later, and Patrick and I are moving to San Francisco, and living on a houseboat in Sausalito. If you'd like to come visit, please send your requested travel dates and a number to reach you at, and we'll get back to you as soon as we check the calendar.