I was born in Philadelphia, the place where this country was formed. It can be beautiful there. Fairmount Park has over 1600 acres of green. Old City has buildings that were made centuries ago. Sunset on Belmont Plateau is something I think most people would think beautiful. There is also the concrete and the mundane.

In January of this year I paid people to load a truck and I drove. I80 West took me through PA, IL, IA, WY NV. Indiana too and of course Ohio. Places I’d never seen before. Faces I am unlikely to see again. After Indiana it gets less populated and you see more of the nation. The land, the animals. The sun shines brighter and the air is simpler to breathe. Driving through it? Not what I would necessarily call fun. For hundreds of miles there is little to resemble a city, and when you do find one many of the inhabitants don’t look like me.

Utah was cool, the structure of the country changes as you wind your way through the Rocky Mountains.

Nevada was stunning in it’s absence of just about everything.

When you cross the boarder into California, you are near Tahoe. It was dark when I crossed, and it had snowed. There are agriculture checks at the border. They were empty and I had no fruit to declare.

My new hometown is small. Less than a quarter million people live here. It is diverse though. I’ve seen every race so far, including a Native. This town is large enough to have shopping malls and chain restaurants. It is not large enough to have what I would consider reliable public transportation.

My views and weather though are stunning. Even during the ‘cold streak’ this week, I went outside in nothing heavier than a cardigan.

As you travel the highways to get places here, the scenery is nothing that I ever grew up with and thought I would see daily. The loudest thing here most mornings are the sprinklers which go for less than 10 minutes. I did not think I would like the quiet.

As I learn more about this city, I realize I am in paradise of sorts. A chubby little girl on Limekiln Pike would not have imagined she’d be living this life, this dream, this way.

While I wake up daily in paradise the world still goes on. The surroundings are spectacular, yet the rules of life still happen in the happiest place on earth. Racism and sexism still exist. I’ve even encountered it but nothing like what I grew up to know it as. The racism here is yt people telling me about the 4 good Black people they’ve met, and how you can judge a Lyft passenger by their photo.

The bills still arrive on time requiring payment even if I’ve gone 15 weeks waiting for unemployment.

I could get bored but I’ve always been good with figuring out how to occupy my time.

I’ve even been doing things like having a shake [homemade] for breakfast and walking. My endurance and strength are returning and before long he will have me in the Dojo.

I worked one whole day at a temp job. The commute was not sustainable, but being up and out and coming home after the end of a work day felt ……right.

I can get anything I want delivered except cigarettes and I am sure if I were to scour the web long enough I’d be able to figure that out as well.

One of my neighbors is names Alex, and there is a white Chevy which hasn’t moved since the last week of January on the street. The dumpster and mailbox are too damn far away but everything else is within reach, including the future that I’ve wanted even when I did not know it was what I wanted.

It is not perfect by far. I had a mini meltdown yesterday and the Daddy had to reign me back in. As I think back to the trigger, and the solution I still have some work to do, but I already had that information.

The little one comes over and she walks about like she is home and that is the best feeling ever. Yes I have melancholy when I think of how Clyde would love it here, but my heart is super full when I can look into the living room and see the Daddy or the little one enjoying the space I am creating for us.

I cry sometimes when I think about how fortunate I am. Yesterday was one of those days. I almost did again today in the car on the way to an appointment. My thug wouldn’t let me cry in a Lyft though.

We are planning a trip to Napa, and I think I am getting another pedicure this weekend.

Many things are still on hold until the end of next month and my routine is set and known but today? I live in paradise, even if Keiv is on fire.