Beginning...again

Hi everyone! I am very excited to begin this new journey sharing my adventures here.

I am currently in Washington DC visiting my dear friend Karin. We have known each other since the 6th grade. That's almost 18 years! An incredible feat considering we both have moved across the country...to opposite corners, different climates and...moved back again! We both share Rochester, New York as our hometown and it became our mutual home again in the summer of 2006 when she moved back from Aguas Caliente, Mexico and I from Palm Bay, Florida. A few years of college under our belts led us back...and away again. I moved to San Diego and Karin to our nation's capitol.



Karin and I on our way to an Eric Hutchinson concert



What brought me to San Diego was a job transfer and vision for a new life filled with sunshine, trips to the beach and culture. For a little while I was happy...working harder and gaining experience in a high volume store. Soon, I realized I wasn't happy. I wasn't fulfilled. Hours and hours I would put into a huge corporation that I didn't feel gave back to me. Five years of working as a supervisor in a bustling retail center had worn me thin and I was craving a fuller, more rewarding life.

On November 11th of 2011 I decided to leave my job and move north to LA.

Having just completed 6 months of study I am grateful to say that I have passed! So begins a brand new chapter of careers. Karin has flown me out here to be with her as she completes her first year of graduate school at UW. It is like being home again. Isn't it amazing how being with such a close friend makes you feel that way? We literally spend the day in our pajamas spending time on papers, job applications and watching movies. Then we kick up the pace and go get supplies for her raised garden beds.

That's WATERGATE!

...water!

Surprise! Karin says. We are going to DC-raised and nurtured musician Eric Hutchinson's concert at the 9:30 Club. If you haven't listened to him give Food Chain a try. Karin urges you to listen to Back To Where I Was and You Don't Have to Believe Me. These are good sitting on the back patio with a bottle of wine or other cold beverage.

When in Rome...er...the DC area...do TRY wine produced in Virginia's beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain foothills. Just look westward and you will see purple mountains majesty in gentle ripples. These are ancient hills. I have grown accustomed to the ragged and dry Rockies...so the lush and forested mountains of the East are super romantic. As Karin and I sip a very velvety and perfectly supple Cabernet Suavignon we bought at Wegmans (another "back home" fave!) we toast to Virginia and this new secret slowly being revealed to the outside world.



Karin posing with scallions, red bell pepper and...TOMATILLO
for producing her famous salsa!



Now I will admit that I am not trying to run the tourist marathon and see every monument, every Smithsonian, every memorial...that's so 8th grade. This time around I want to see how my peers live in this city. I want to feel the music. I want to hear real shop owners that have been running the family business for 90 years discuss zoning laws. To taste fresh produce that I make into a sumptuous but humble meal and...get a chance to talk about life in California to the new friends I make who can only dream of landing on the beach at any day of the year.

MOST important: sharing precious moments of laughter with Karin. Picking out edible plants for her to grow this summer is fun for me as a horticulture enthusiast. Together we pose for pictures at this great little cornerside nursery called Old City Green. There we begin chatting with the very professional, albeit timid Jennifer who helps us pick out pea gravel and compost. We discover that she is normally working in gardens and not on the retail side, but I encourage her. We're all plant lovers so we can unite in this spirit of sharing garden experiences and the never ending passion for creating beauty and working the land we are given.

As a a ceramic magnet that I bought in Santa Barbara says...BEElieve. Thanks so much for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Mark