“Wow, man, I am actually in California!”

“Wow, I am actually in California!” Has that thought ever spontaneously occurred to you? Of course, it does not necessarily have to be “in California” – it might be in the middle of a bustling metropol, or in the hot sun on a sandy beach, or in the cool shade of a cozy sidewalk cafe, or in the middle of a blazing snowstorm in Sibir for that matter. The thing these moments have in common is that you are where you want to be. You don’t even have to leave your own house – good company have been known to trigger the same feeling.

The moment is always a sudden one. You’re walking down the street, humming a song, minding your own business, when something wakes you up. A voice shouting at the other side of the street,  a person passing by, a smell, the music you’re listening to suddenly changes – you don’t recognize what triggered it, you’re suddenly just present, here and now, all colors are so clear and the smells so unique and the air so vibrant, you can feel the ground through the soles of your shoes and the wind caress your skin, and everybody around you are so beautiful and happy, and you remember where you are and who you are, and you take a deep breath and smile, and through your brain runs a rush of “wow, I am in California, man!!” And you walk on, carrying the moment with you. It slowly fades away, but the smile on your lips lingers on for hours.

I’ve had a lot of these flashes over the last few months. One of the strongest ones caught me as I was sitting in the back of a car, driving up Dolores street,. I looked up at the massive green palm trees at the side of the road, and suddenly I realized where I am, what I am doing here, how utterly amazing the past six months has been, how cool a city San Francisco is and how thankful I am that this is my life. The summery wind through the window smelled so fresh, my friends’ laughter from the front seat was so pleasing and all the hippies scattered around Dolores park looked so happy.

A friend later told me that palm trees is not a natural flora in California – some guy planted them because he thought they were neat. I don’t care. They are pretty neat.

And hey, I am actually in California!

COMMENTS FROM OLD BLOG:

Oh, I just really like your blog and can’t tell you enough!

and i just realized what your picture is, haha. I like that too  How nice. And…. well, i haven’t got much more to say. But I enjoy writing in english, and since I don’t have that subject this year, I don’t get to write english too often. That is probably why i comment on your blog, because I don’t have much to say, actually, but look! I managed to write five lines of nothing. Good for me!

Hope you really do enjoy California as much as it sounds, and I’m looking forward to seeing you in not to many days 

xoxo

(haha, just wanted to try.. sorry)

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Du skriver skikkelig bra Anita, koser meg når jeg leser bloggen din…..den siste teksten var spesielt fin!
Tenker på San Fransisco ofte og har veldig lyst til å besøke deg i sommer. Håper alt er bra med deg! Håper å se deg når du er i Norge i jula!

Klem
Siri

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I get the same feeling when I’m walking down Valencia street. And by “walking” I mean “tripping”. And by “down Valencia street” I mean “on acid”.

Exhale. Life is good.