I really enjoyed Nam's Facebook note in which she talked about growing to love our new home (as she puts it, "things are finally diffusing into the spongey middle of that which is me") and thought I would do my best to follow her example. So here are some of the things I've come to appreciate about living in the North Bay in general and our home in particular:
1. Lizards. If I had the ability to communicate with my eight-year-old self, he'd be mildly interested in the fact that I'm about to marry a beautiful woman, or that I make a living as a writer. But he'd be thrilled to know that I live in a place where there are lizards running everywhere. There's more of that eight-year-old inside me than I'd like to admit.
2. I like that Nam and I have offices that reflect our personalities. Mine is dark and gloomy and full of books, with a giant wooden mace next to my desk; hers is sunny and bright, with a framed picture of ducklings on the wall. And I like that we're both constantly popping in and out of each others' offices to ask questions, or to rescue each other from the cat.
3. I like falling asleep at night looking at stars rather than streetlights, and hearing crickets instead of the thudding bass boom of passing cars (though I miss the reassuring rattle of the commuter train). I still wake up to a cat punching my face, but even he seems more relaxed these days.
4. I am amused whenever the cat tries to come to a stop on the bamboo floor — and keeps going.
5. I like living with a handywoman. I like coming home and finding a little pile of my grandfather's tools next to a newly-installed clock or shower head. And I like that Nam will occasionally ask for my help in opening a jar or eliminating a spider, so that I can continue to believe I am making a contribution to our household.
6. I love that our street leads to a path, and the path leads to a schoolyard, and the schoolyard leads to a tunnel, and the tunnel leads to downtown, and to the bay. It's so easy to go for a walk after dinner and end up at the ice cream shop on First Street (although Nam has gotten wise to my plans, and has started steering me toward other places instead).
7. I like living in a place with such a strange and quirky history. Benicia was the state capital for 13 months (legislators liked the fact that there was a ladies' seminary in town, as women were in short supply in 19th century California). The town was a backup route for the Pony Express, and always seemed to be just on the verge of becoming a big city before something bizarre happened (like most of the population leaving during the Gold Rush). And the Benicia Arsenal was where the U.S. Army put its herd of camels out to pasture.
Oh, and the Zodiac killer left his first victim here. I always forget about that part...
8. We are roughly half an hour from a drive-in theater, and less than 15 minutes from Six Flags. Score.
9. We are less than 10 minutes from the Vallejo ferry station (home of the Vallejo Pirate Festival), which allows me to travel to and from San Francisco Giants games by boat, passing Angel Island and Alcatraz along the way. There may be more pleasant ways to spend a summer afternoon, but not many.
10. Although we have only lived there for a month, I have already learned to pronounce the name of our city (Benicia) and our street (Suisun).
11. I had previously worried that my many, many anxieties about everything involved with buying, repairing and moving into a new home would get in the way of, or even overshadow, my fears and concerns regarding our upcoming wedding. I am pleased to report that this is not the case.
12. Nam and I finally have the counter space to be able to cook together.
13. Our shower heads are roughly five feet high, which make them the perfect height for Nam, and allow me to enjoy whimsical fantasies about the dwarves who apparently lived in the house before us.
14. I don't think I really know what it feels like to own a house yet. I don't think I will know until several years have gone by — several Halloweens, several Christmases, several unexpected repair projects and parties and crises, the establishment of traditions and the reinvention of ourselves. I can't really imagine how that's going to feel. But I like the idea that those days are ahead of us.
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