I continue to be amazed by the natural surroundings here. The birds are bigger and their wingspans wider than the birds I grew used to seeing (...and ignoring). Every few days a large bird takes my attention away by soaring low overhead. Hummingbirds are common as well and I seem to be the only person still enthralled by them. :) The ocean views, bright turquoise water and blue sky or sunsets over the Pacific continue to amaze. An abundance of seals and otters and cranes and seagulls (also, hundreds of deer. EVERYWHERE) who call this peninsula home continue to make this area feel so full of life. Natural beauty is so undefinable as there are endless definitions of what we find beautiful in nature and I have my own list of un-rankable beautiful places I've seen, but when I lived on the east coast of Scotland four years ago and walked along the North Sea most days, I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen, and perhaps had ever lived. I have the same feeling here and many memories of the Scottish coast have returned.
I visited my brother over the weekend and we enjoyed an afternoon in San Francisco. It was the clearest I'd ever seen it!
There have been days and moments recently of feeling like I'm still so new to life here. The small challenges seven weeks after arriving are centered around the hassle of not knowing where a particular street or location is that's referenced, how to pronounce a Spanish word, or what new friend might be interested in joining for an activity. But they're small challenges as I've been reminded of the one constant that is nearly everywhere and can bring so much happiness and reassurance of belonging: conversation. When I've moved anywhere new, great conversation seems to be the biggest comfort and familiarity. Maybe I just really like people and expressing and hearing ideas, but having an honest, compassionate, engaging discussion with anyone feels like home. It feels safe and rewarding being able to share experiences and ideas, laugh, trade thoughts and meaningfully discuss anything with another person. It isn't dependent upon length of friendship or how well you know the person, but can be born of any social situation. Recently there have been many conversations that have felt this way, rewarding and happy and interesting. It's one of the new-to-the-area practices I don't want to ever end. Continuing to seek out friendship and ideas and conversation even when settled might be a new goal of mine.
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