I was absolutely right about the juxtapositions. It's been 100% fine dining, expensive wines, BMWs, and all the works since getting here. My uncle's house is amazing. Small, but it's on the edge of a vineyard so his dining room table overlooks a huge expanse of grape vines. I have my own bedroom and bathroom. Basically, this is better than what I have at home. They have been so gracious I can't even handle it. I haven't purchased a single thing in almost 3 days which makes me feel a little bad. I want to give them something to show my gratitude but what do you get rich, retired people that live on the edge of a vineyard? Nothing. They have it all. My uncle and his friend want me to design a wine label for them. They make wine. Maybe I will pay them in art. Such is the beauty and also the plight of an artist.
The farmers market in Sonoma was absolutely adorable. The place looked like Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. I couldn't believe it... And there was this band of old ladies who were freaking awesome singing songs the likes of Pat Benetar and Tina Turner. All of the old hippies were cutting some serious rugs.
The weather here is very different than LA but still very nice. They have this fog bank that comes in and out every day. It's there in the morning, recedes as the sun rises, and comes back at night. The weather and temperature here are entirely dependent on this overlord. People talk about it like its a living thing. "Ahhh, I haven't seen the bank this far up in a while!" "Man, it just won't go away today!"
All anyone talks about or thinks about around here is wine. Not that I have a problem with this.
I've spent most of my time not actually in or around San Francisco. We're going back for the day on Sunday but we've mostly spent time in the areas all around it. There is so much to do around here within about 3 hours in any direction. We're attempting to see it ALL.
I was able to meet up with my coworker friends who are in town for a wedding for a few minutes yesterday in Carmel. It was nice! I may end up going out with them a bit tonight but I'll have to figure out timing. My uncle and I are waking up early tomorrow to go to Yosemite so I want to make sure that I have enough sleep. This vacation is supposed to be relaxing me, not exhausting me. I appreciate the ability to see everything that I don't get to see every day. I can see my friends sing karaoke at home. That makes me sound like an old woman, but goddamn it, it's my vacation and I'll do what I want!
I want to stay here. Everything about this area is great. Napa is beautiful, San Francisco is SO COOL looking. I haven't even spent any real time there but the architecture and aesthetic alone are enough to make me want to live there. Ugh. Why is DC so ugly, boring, and filled with fat, rude people?! Seriously, we are doing it all wrong on the east coast. All. Wrong. If Robin Williams couldn't be happy here, he didn't stand a chance. This is what heaven must be like.
4 more days... I don't want to leave. Especially since I know how shitty it's going to be when I get back. I'm really, really trying to enjoy my time here but I have the dread of my return hanging over my head. I was thinking about it today in the car. My life has been like one of those seismograph machine outputs. Fairly jagged for the last several months, EARTHQUAKE JAGGED for the last few weeks, flatline for these 12 days of vacation, and then fucking nightmarishly earthquake-jagged when I return. The sad part is that there is no real endpoint for the return-maelstrom. Vacation always provided this light at the end of the tunnel thing for me but now it's just a black hole I'm walking into.
Uuuuuuuugggggghhhhhhhh...
Enough of my own depression for one day. I'm going to go read about Shadow's depressing life.
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