A Touch of Homesickness

Marta-the-Tree-Hugger

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t move back for all the tea in China, but sometimes I do miss my old stomping grounds in California – the Bay Area.  Not the city per se (and for those who don’t know, “the city” refers to San Francisco) but the entire area – the weather, the golden hills, the oaks and redwoods, the ambient energy, and all the weird and wonderful surprises that seem to be around every corner.

Marta, my gorgeous and talented step-daughter still lives there.  For her “retirement job” she has created a pet-sitting service which sometimes (like now) involves a stint of house-sitting as well.  For a while she has been in Sausalito – one of the quirkiest and most gorgeous places in Marin County.  Today she posted this on FaceBook:

Performance Art in Sausalito – Photo by Marta LaRue

On my walk in Sausalito this morning w.doggy clients, I came across an anachronistic scene of a woman in 19th century dress selecting the perfect spot for an upcoming performance piece “Sewing Native Flowers,” where she will sit while people embroider on her dress & hat! Happening Sunday in Sausalito next to the Barge! Adventures in Wonderland!

It’s happening today!  I wish I could transport myself there for just a half-hour or so to stand and gawk and admire anyone who would sit quietly while people plied sharp needles to her clothing.  I do hope Marta gets a few pictures of the end result.  And I hope that my quilter friend Sue Grennan and her block-of-the-month group are picking up on this.  It’s taking the fiber arts and native plants to a whole new level…

I have fond memories of Sundays in Sausalito.  It’s where I first saw a young couple we later learned were called “Sonny and Cher.”  She was having a little flower or butterfly painted on her cheek as I recall, and he was standing by, watchfully, along with a small crowd who seemed to be ‘in the know.’  It wasn’t for a year or two that their television show appeared.

Sausalito – Photo by Marta LaRue

Sausalito was also where we used to go for lunch occasionally – to Juanita’s Gallery which was in the old and derelict ferryboat Charles Van Damme. The place would never pass any kind of code these days and probably didn’t then.  Juanita, whose language was beyond colorful, presided over the funky dining area, often with her rooster on her arm and periodically announcing that she “always wanted to carry a cock” around with her.

One of the last times I was in Sausalito was not too long after I had left the Bay Area. I had coffee with Stewart Brand, a friend from the ‘olden days’ before his Whole Earth Catalog and before I dreamed I’d ever be living anywhere but California. We did a lot of reminiscing and catching up and talking about ‘following your heart.’  I think I was trying to come to grips with having left a part of mine behind when I moved to Oysterville.

I have to say that seeing Marta’s FaceBook post this morning put me in mind of all those things and more.  Nostalgia or homesickness? Presumably, they are different.  I wonder…

One Response to “A Touch of Homesickness”

  1. Stephanie Frieze says:

    When I lived in the Bay Area I was desperately homesick for the Evergreen Dtaste (And I don’t mean the college). I couldn’t afford to live in SF, then or now, but occasionally, when the weather is soft and smells of flowers, I think of our CA days with a little nostalgia for the warmth and quirkiness.

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