This is mainly to appease my wife

I recently wrote about what I’ll miss in SLO. I felt (and continue to feel) nostalgic about the place I have called home, off and on, for roughly seven years. This is a natural and, I believe, healthy emotion. It is important to never forget where you have been for this is one of the ways to appreciate where you are going.

My wife mistook my musings for a reluctance to move. I assure her and all Federal Cheese readers this is not the case. To put my wife at ease, I agreed to write about what I look forward to in our new home. Here goes:

I recently made the drive to Cayucos to bid farewell to the stretch of ocean I have been visiting for sometime now. I didn’t go surfing; I didn’t even go for a swim. I went merely to see. What I saw was a pod of dolphins coming out to say their goodbyes. Maybe they just happened to be there, maybe not, but they did look a lot like the dolphins that scared the shit out of me while I was surfing last year. See, with ocean water in you eyes, the dorsal fin of a dolphin looks strikingly similar to that of a shark. Anyway, this sight got me thinking. What am I giving up by moving?

It may seem that I am waxing nostalgic again, but seeing those dolphins made me think of all the beautiful and majestic wonders that await me in Washington. How many people can say they have seen dolphins jumping out of the water in Cayucos? I have. But what else is there out there that I haven’t seen yet? I’ve been rereading John McPhee’s “Encounters with the Archdruid” for the purpose that A) John McPhee is someone who makes me want to be a writer and B) no one describes the beauty of nature better than him.

The first part of “Encounters” chronicles the debate over copper mining in the Cascades, but also treats the reader to McPhee’s masterful prose along the way. It makes me feel fortunate that I will soon be able to visit the places he describes. I miss the mountains. I miss fishing, hiking, camping and swimming in the mountains. I’m at the point in which I am willing to give up dolphins in order to gain the mountains.

Cayucos will always have a special place in my heart. It’s where I learned (and am still learning) to surf. It’s where my first girlfriend at Cal Poly took me on one of out first dates. It’s a gorgeous place and I will visit it again someday, but the time has come for a change. I’ll always remember where I have been, because it makes me appreciate what I have yet to see.

It’s not all about the mountains. Here are some pictures of Seattle, which is a pretty cool town. The cell phones are almost set-up and that means our info is coming soon to all our friends. We hope you all visit.


The new library downtown


The skyline at night


This is the view from our new neighborhood