Life is Changed...

...not taken away. Those were the words on my blip a year ago (11/15/12) when I walked out of our Berkeley home of 45 years for the last time, climbed into my car and drove away. One year later, from the day we moved in, there is no moving van in the driveway, and it isn't raining. We feel fairly settled, and have no regrets about making the leap. We have wonderful neighbors, our daughter and her family have worked tirelessly to help us get settled, and we are truly enjoying our new life here.

We began the day with a walk on a new trail through the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a large flat area between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. Our wonderful neighbors Cindy and Bruce joined us at the last minute and we all fit ourselves into their huge car (big enough for their huge Newfoundland and their big Bassett Hound, OilMan, Ozzie and me) It was foggy and cold, but we didn't care because we knew we were going to go to the Taylor Maid coffee place in the new Bqrlow Center when we finished our walk. There the coffee was delicious, the building was interesting, and there was ample space to sit outside, where we had no chance to talk to each other because so many people came by to admire our trio of dogs that covered the spectrum of size, shape and color, and enjoyed all the attention they were getting.

Back at home, we enjoyed visits from other neighbors, and had a delicious "dry run" Thanksgiving dinner prepared by OilMan--coriander roasted pork loin with potatoes and onions, and a salad of lettuce from our garden, all of which we enjoyed with Dana and her family. It's hard to imagine a better life, unless it included the rest of our family, but we will have them all here for Thanksgiving, so we are truly blessed.