Diaspora

Technological Leap Needed – a wind turbine that kills only pigeons.

I hadn’t told anyone about my plans for this, fearing they’d make a compelling case against it, but now it can be revealed that i’ve given notice at my current place and will be moving in September to an apartment in Petaluma.

Well yes.  See, my current apartment is the most luxurious place i’ve ever lived and is so well soundproofed that i can’t hear my neighbors, and when the double pane windows are closed, i can’t hear any exterior noise.  It is also perfectly situated, within an easy Segway ride of all my usual haunts.

Alas, a couple of downsides. It’s so expensive that it will gobble up all my savings if i live very long.  Also, while the management and staff are sterling, my fellow occupants include a significant percentage of entitled sociopaths like the young woman i caught dropping a bag of fresh, hot dogshit into the junk mail recycling bin in the foyer.  And others, who stuff oversize things into the trash and recycling chutes, thus blocking them for all eight floors and creating a nightmare for the maintenance guy.  Etc., etc. I do not fit in well here.

Petaluma made a good impression on me during my numerous visits over the years to its downtown.  Then last spring my Petaluma friend Armando was injured, and i realized that the best way to restore his health would be to deliver a selection of my jams and jellies.

So i drove up, and in the course of an afternoon discovered the real Petaluma, the neighborhood immediately west of downtown and mostly dating from the first half of the twentieth century.  It’s not grand Victorians, but quiet and charming in a downscale way, an area in which i’d feel very comfortable living.

And then i dug around and found that Petaluma has everything i need – three farmers’ markets, good restaurants, a branch of my gym, a good bookstore, and a Unitarian Church should i turn spiritual.  Oh, and easy parking everywhere, in case i want to drive.

Better yet, it’s only 45 minutes from San Francisco, so i can easily drive back here to meet with friends for lunches and dinners, go to my favorite markets, see all my doctors, go to Spanish class, and eat at Sushi Zone.

When i went up looking for apartments i discovered that people up there drive slowly and more courteously.  It’s a friendly little town more relaxed than the big city and more in keeping with my advancing age.

Alas, i discovered that hardly anything is currently for rent in the area just west of downtown and none of it suitable, but i found a very nice apartment in the Payran McKinley neighborhood east of downtown and practically on the bank of the Petaluma River, so it’s an easy Segway ride from downtown.

So now all i gotta do is pack everything up, which will be easier this time because i won’t be needing to get rid of stuff.

Meanwhile, a cement plant on the Willamette.