Adios Arbole

I had a perfect drive today. Every song that came on the radio hit just right. My rolled-down window view of the Los Angeles  hills created the happiness found at home. The only thing out of place was the accent of sadness that chimed, "all is fleeting".

Thousand Oaks, California

Today is my last day in southern California. It isn't the first time I have left, but it's the first time I don't know when I'll be back. Instead of missing the place I know best, I am going to be grateful for bits of living that belong just here.

I am grateful for year round Pacific swims.

I am grateful for the smell of canyon trails and the chill of hillside shadows.

I am grateful for cars, and freeways and traffic.

I am grateful for mountaintops just beyond my driveway.

I am grateful for spanish courtyards, avenidas and fountains.

I am grateful for all my alma maters.

I am grateful for the big city over the hill.

And I am grateful for all 1,000 oaks, 

Like the tide rolls and retreats from the shore, my time in Thousand Oaks slips back into the ocean; an ocean that never fails to send another wave.