Goodbye to the northwest

Those who know me have found that I always like to eat and live local - shopping at farmers markets, foraging around the neighborhood, growing my own and discovering all of the interesting little intricacies of life in Seattle and the northwest. Where the best croissant is. Where the blackberries and sweet peas grow wild on my street. Stuff like that.

It turns out that when one makes an effort to live local, it is much harder to uproot oneself.

For the last several years, I have moved to a new city every two years or so- for college, for jobs, for love. It is with great regret that I find myself moving once again, to San Fransisco this time. In the last few years I have completely fallen in love with the northwest, and despite the fact that many of my childhood friends and all of my family live in the bay area, this move is particularly painful.

I really hope that my husband and I find ourselves in the northwest again, someday.

I should be excited for many things that come with living in california - backyard lemons, for one. A much wider variety at farmers markets. A year-round growing season. Nearly perfect weather (where I am living, anyway). Great restaurants within walking distance.

It's not Seattle, though.
You might hear about Seattle N-ice, but the truth is that Seattlites have a heart and soul that you don't miss until you move somewhere else. They are profoundly connected, to the earth, to the seasons, and to each other. I'm going to miss it. I am already.

Let's put it this way - I've moved to a place on the peninsula with endless sunshine and big front yards, and I'm the only one growing anything that wasn't landscaped by somebody else.

I plan to give it the old college try as far as reconnecting - and I daresay that once I am settled living local is going to be a heck of a lot easier than it was in Seattle, for the reasons I mentioned above. At least I'll have oranges this winter.

Mark my words though, PNW folks - it may be a while. But, I'll be back.