The only constant is change

After several years of measuring the seasons from the changing plum tree out our back window at 221 17th avenue, we have moved on.

We traded the familiar sounds of the coastal fog horn, the hum of the California 1, and the bumpity-bump of highway 101 for the hum of the BART (off in the far distance), the whistling train, and best of all, the rooster next door.

Before we took the glorious trip to Montana we up and moved everything we own from San Francisco to a quaint island in the bay called Alameda. We are now happy homeowners in a neighborhood where neighbors talk for hours on their front porches and every holiday is a decorative affair. Eric has a backyard he can run in at anytime and a room right off the kitchen so Mom can easily keep track of his every move.

While we loved our neighborhood in San Francisco, it was time for a change. All the signs were telling us so. Our lovely landlords, Moses & Hatsy, sold our duplex, the coffee shop (California Grind) on the corner closed, and the daunting task of finding a pre-school in the city was right around the corner. So when the right house, in the right place, at the right price presented itself we put ourselves out on a limb and jumped in.

Alameda offers many of the things we have always loved in San Francisco, only it also has fewer cars and warm evenings. Our neighborhood suits us perfectly with a great coffee shop, emerging and established neighborhood markets, hardware stores, and odds-&-ends boutiques. The beach and two fabulous parks are also short walks. Eric loves his parks, yard, and new dog friends Bo & Jack.

After experiencing several moves over the years I have learned that "home" is not the walls, structure, or building. You bring home with you where ever you live because home is a sense of being; comfortable, happy, and surrounded by family and friends. We are home for sure.