Our time in Orange County is quickly coming to a close. We just realized we only have about 5 weeks here, 5 weeks in our first home, 5 weeks with our friends, 5 weeks with our students, only 5 weeks... In any transition, there are a lot of emotions to process, but more often than not those emotions form some strange conglomeration that feels a lot like numbness. My first splash of mourning crept up on me Thursday when I started feeling sad about losing my go-to LA radio stations. I mean, I love me some Ryan Seacrest or Valentine to start my morning commute, but this was certainly a hint of deeper realities of my heart. It's easy to list things I won't miss - like inexplicable traffic on any day at any time, the trains that shake our apartment at all hours, the inability to see stars, having to filter our water, and everything about the 91 freeway - but I also want to record the things I've really come to love here. So, as I process my sadness in leaving this land that had become home over the past 6 years, I've written this tribute.
Dear Southern California,
The land of unseasonably warm weather and unnatural palm trees, you are a truly beautiful place. I will miss your gorgeous beaches, your pier boardwalks, your Ruby's Diners, the way you make my hair salty and wavy, and the way I feel when I snag a good, free parking spot in Newport Beach. I'll miss the freedom to get a donut at any time of day or night in your many 24 hour donut shops, should I get a craving. I'll miss your cultural diversity and killer hole in the wall restaurants. Ill miss your delicious traveling food trucks. I'll miss Groundlings Improv shows and exploring LA. I'll miss Monday night girls nights with my best friends - who can beat that? I'll miss your morning radio stations. I'll miss your lingo, like how everyone talks about how much time they saved by which freeways and roads they took to get to their location (I'm writing this on the 5 south, not sure if we'll take the 210 to bypass traffic in LA yet). I'll miss prefacing all freeways with "the." I'll miss the phrase 'carmegeddon', honestly, where else is that a real thing? I'll miss living blocks from your cute Old Towne Orange, full of adorable antique shops and eateries. I'll miss the first place Calvin and I have ever called home together. I'll miss seeing little red Biola parking stickers all over as I drive around. I'll miss hearing Disneyland's fireworks every night like clockwork, or catching the tail end of a show from the freeway. I'll miss recognizing normal places and landmarks as a film location for TV shows and movies. I'll miss hearing the familiar screams as our neighborhood kids play outside or hearing our neighbor greet his cats. I'll miss your warm sunshine that provides shorts weather yearlong. I'll miss the hopefulness of young aspiring somebodies in LA. And your, people, your picture perfect OC people -- once strangers to us, now family.
It's been a good run, So Cal. We hope to bring some if your sunshine and warmth to the city by the bay.
Sincerely yours,
Kenzie
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