My ties to California is fading away...

[smilingcat]

I grew up living in lots of different places. Attended five different elementary schools, one Jr. high and two different high school even though I only went for year and half of high school before dropping out.

The longest I lived in a given region is California. Lived in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, and Hermosa Beach. All gorgeous places, a place you would want to visit on vacation. And I never realized it but I grew attached to the hype that was and is California. My co-worker once said, he heard a garage band playing on the beach of Manhattan Beach. It was the Doors... To other things which only happens in California and my involvement in high tech micro-electronics in San Jose/Milpitas(sp)/Mountain View... Lots of fond and exciting memories.

But now, I decided to sell my beach bungalow in Hermosa Beach. What a location!! Walk to the beach with a surf board, see King Harbor with all the yachts bobbing up and down and sailing masts swaying in the wind. You can see Redondo Beach Pier and Hermosa Beach pier from my house. Not just a peek but a panoramic view of the pacific ocean and it included an unobstructed view of Palos Verdes. I'll never own another property like that. I kept it even though I moved to beautiful Portland Or. Thought it would make a nice summer house har har ha.

I'm getting old. I'm not into that kind of lifestyle anymore. It's a place for those in their twenties and thirties. So my house is officially listed in MLS as of today. And all of sudden I'm feeling remorse and saddend with the idea of cutting my ties with California. I never thought I would have such sad feelings about leaving a place.

Too bad, I should have bought a lifetime patron membership (non-magician) to Magic Castle when Mrs. Larsen offered it to me back in the '90s. It's a one of kind place to entertain your guests/friends. Just an old fashioned dress code.

Thanks for letting me lament.

Cest la vie (snif snif)

[shootingstar]

Best of luck with the sale, smilingcat. Oregon will /has treated you kindly so far.

It's been a long adjustment for me, to live here in a prairie city after leaving Vancouver as my primary home spot. And when I go to Toronto where I used to live before also, despite what other Canadians say, I still enjoy the city for its dynamic, very diverse vibrancy and ...willingness to speak out. (Enough Torontonians continue to speak out against their bad-*** strange mayor...whereas Alberta..had for many years a provincial premier who became alcoholic, among other bad habits as a politician.)

[thekarens]

Good luck on your sale! Hopefully the sadness passes quickly.

Being a military brat I moved a lot at as a kid and I continued the tradition as an adult. I actually have found it harder to stay still than to move, but I met someone who has deep roots and is convinced there's only one state...the state of Texas :-) so I've had to learn to stay put.

[ACG]

Good luck on your sale, I'm sure it was a hard decision.

I grew up and still live in SoCal, but never did live on the beach. I know all those places and my ex was a member of the Magic Castle.

But home is where you are, and places you've lived are where your home was at that time. And I'm sure all those places you lived, are not as interesting because you aren't there.

[emily_in_nc]

It's difficult to leave behind a place that has been such a significant part of your life. I was born and raised and spent most of my life in North Carolina and miss it as a place, so many things about it. I have friends and family there that I miss as well. I think in my heart of hearts that I know I'll live there again someday...but it's not for me right now. I need to see different places and experience different cultures (in or outside of the US) while I'm still young and healthy enough to do so. I also miss Belize, where we lived for a year and a half and left because there were more things about it I didn't like than that I liked. But hindsight tends to bring out the rose-colored glasses -- it's easier to recall the good than the bad. And I think Facebook makes this worse as I continue to see photos and read blogs from people who live there now, and it keeps the memories and beauty of the place in the forefront of my mind. But again, it's not the place I need to be right now.

It sounds like you love Oregon, SmilingCat, but you will always have a special place in your heart for California. I sometimes wish I were wealthy enough to own homes in about eight different places (but not have to do the maintenance on any of them), so I could come and go here and there as I pleased, leaving when things got too samey or routine there.

Good luck with the sale -- I can imagine how bittersweet it is.

[Crankin]

I've lived in 4 places, and did, finally, return to my roots, just about 24 years ago. There are things I miss about AZ, but, when I stop and remember why we left, well, it doesn't last for long. I can still visit, and will always feel a strong connection; you don't forget about 16 years of your adult life very easily. And, that's where my kids were born, making them an unusual species, native Zonies. You know, up until about 10 years ago, I would have said I still miss my friends. But, that's faded, as my life has gone in a very different direction, mostly due to cycling!

[shootingstar]

Smilingcat, after going to Hawai'i on 2 different trips I realized that despite the beauty of the place and tropical fecundity with ocean views, I realized that I'm not a hot tropical climate kind of person. I can't even swim, so beach towns have an appeal up to a certain point.

But certainly I like balmier areas of Canada. Right now, it's snowing lightly again.. According to long time Albertans, it's normal to have several days of snow in May /June annually. It's freakin' tiring but hey, I could have ended up 1,000 kms. north in CAnadian far Arctic where I was once interviewed for a job.

Unbelievably we just had a BIke to Work Day ...yesterday. For strange unknown reasons, the guy who steers this annual event, always has it in early May. It took considerable effort by the municipality for him to stop hosting it in Apr. It's just still too cold to grow the event to a massive scale, if he insists on this early crazy date.

After living in 3 different regions of Canada....I feel as if I've learned abit more about the soul of Canada, where I've always been.

[smilingcat]

I was feeling melancholy about selling the house and having to put to sleep our elderly dog. We moved to Portland with two dogs and ten cats. One of the dogs died two years ago and the second dog died the same day I put my house on sale. And with it, there are lot less strings tying us back to California.

So I've been listening to music on Youtube... Just can't seem to get away from country music... I like music from Germany, Norway, Finland. German, because I understand enough German to butcher it Finnish because the language sounds so beautiful, melodic and Norwegian because of angelic voice of Sissel and pureness of Helene Boksle... So I was surfing... looking for happy sounding songs then I came across Anne Nordsti, Contrazt and few others. ???? what steel guitar twang twang twang... it sounded like I was going to hear Conway Twitty, Reba, Loretta Lynn. Just what I need to cheer me up. And instead I hear sliding steel guitar, country melody, guy in cowboy hat Steiner Engelbrektson singing in Norwegian. Now my head is really screwed in a funky place. Am I feeliing better?? I don't know. I'm just really confused. I just hope I get myself straightened out before I get offers for my SoCal house. If you don't believe me about country music in Norwegian here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS5yw-YhGtE

Is this some sort of twilight zone?

Hope to get few more offers by Monday...

[ny biker]

I'm very sorry about your dog.

I grew up on Long Island, in the house where my father has lived since he was 12. Since then I've lived in Philadelphia, Chicago, Manhattan, DC and norther Virginia. I still refer to Long Island as home. I visit often, because I still have family there. If they weren't living there I would probably find excuses to visit from time to time. It wouldn't be the same, but I think it would still be meaningful.

In a way I think you are giving a chance to someone else to build happy memories and a connection to a special place. And it will always be a part of who you are.

I hope the sale goes well.

p.s. I'm also a life-long Mets fan, which some would consider to be about as screwy as singing Norwegian cowboys...

p.p.s. Okay now that Norwegian country song is stuck in my head...

[lph]

Oh dear, smiling... you couldn't find something better? :-D Country music is big here, it goes with the feeling that all Norwegians are farmers at heart.

Louis Armstrong picks me up and calms me down if I'm feeling upset. If you like female Scandinavian artists, check out Susanne Sundfør "Running to the sea" and "The Brothel", Ingrid Olava "Her kommer vinteren", and Marit Larsen "Vår beste dag". Swedish: Lisa Ekdahl "Vem vet", "Oppna opp ditt fonster" and "Å gud", Lykke Li "I follow rivers". Ok, maybe not very cheerful, but lovely music to my mind.

Good luck on the move!! I get very attached to places, even though I love to travel, and I grieve for every place I have to leave.

[OakLeaf]

Smilingcat, I'm so sorry about your dog. That grief has to make everything else extra hard.

Good luck with the sale.

[smilingcat]

yayy!!! my SoCal house is in escrow with a backup offer. Sad to leave it but life moves on. That was pretty quick. 4 days on market and we started discussion on what was to be in the contract.

On slightly different topic, as I was surfing youtube for different musik and coming across Norwegian country music and other "odd" things, youtube popped up several videos on polyglots. Me neighbor is one of those though he claim he isn't. Speaks English (taught as a school teacher), knows Swahilli, German, Norwegian (Bokmal), Swedish, fluent in Itallian, Spanish (proper European) and god knows what else.

YES HE IS A NORWEGIAN with tales to tell of his youth in Norway. Really funny. And oh yes he did say that country music is very big there, though he did say that he never went to a western style bar in Norway...

Anyway, Listening to the polyglots talk about how they learned other languages got me excited about learning languages just for the fun of it. My neighbor says I'm a polyglot of sort. I don't think three languages count: English Japanese and German. But its a start. So I've asked him if wouldn't mind teaching me Norwegian and Swedish :-) And his face just lit up and says he has Norwegian text books. oh ohhh.... Scandinavian languages are pretty close to German so it would be easier. And I also know some one who is fluent in Dutch. It's a good way to get completely confused and have my head screwed in a weird way. Another spoke fluent Catalan but she is in So Cal. For now I'll just stick to the Germanic languages.

It's an opportunity I shouldn't pass up. And most of them says work on grammar, speaking and listening and rest will come naturally. That is the way I learned to speak English. Never fear make lots of mistakes is what the polyglots says. Give it a try. keep me out of trouble.

[smilingcat]

IT SOLD IT SOLD!!! YIPEE!!! My California house is no more!! It's been recorded and money in my account. Okay so I'm giving up a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean with a panoramic view of Mt. Hood. As I've said, I have a front row seat when Mt Hood blows.

One sad thing though, is that another house with old charm of Hermosa Beach will be erased within a year when the house, the foundation and everything will be scraped (meaning it will be torn down and removed to put up a multi-million dollar house like my next door neighbor). I might want to visit and see the new house in two to three year time frame.

I was going to do it, scrape and put up a McMansion, but plan changed when I lost my job about 4 years ago. At my age, I couldn't find another job so I just gave up and living happy because I could. Well I do have my angst about politics, economy, but foremost, about the health of my animals and those I care very much.

Okay time to be amused and entertained via Youtube.

[ny biker]

Congrats!!