it’s a super nice day in Orange County.

I’m enjoying the cool overcast from an on-shore flow. Sitting out on the porch with Jesse napping is very pleasant. Knowing the most anything I might want to go get, is literally a few minutes away could really spoil me.

I’ll admit it, I like being in civilization. 

Don’t get me wrong, I liked living in the mountains. I liked my life and my other half and there was joy in our home. There were rough times to be sure, but any issues were offset by having silence, room, and a safe home. Those perks outweighed the inconvenience of having to drive a minimum of 30 minutes or more to get to a shopping center for stuff like clothes or a Costco. There were times when It felt like I needed a sherpa and we were planning an expedition to deepest Africa.

When I was working off the hill, stopping by one of those places, or as Jerry & I often did, meeting at a mall or whatever to take care of necessary shopping on our way home from our respective jobs, wasn’t a problem. We’d have a date night, have dinner, do our shopping and head home after most of the traffic was past.

Now that I’m alone and not working off the hill, being on the mountain is a bit more of a problem. I have little reason to leave and less reason to want to deal with nightmarish traffic getting to and from the various shopping centers.

Staying here in Orange County, with friends. I’m reminded of the advantage of being closer to a real city. In this case, an interconnected web of sprawling cities where the shelves are full and not every item is locked up behind plexiglass.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been struck by the difference in rite aid here versus home. Grocery stores, four within blocks of each other versus home where there’s only 1 or 2 within 20 miles.

Yesterday for example, was interesting. I dropped the dog off for a grooming appointment, drove 1/2 mile to a car wash, drove back to the plaza where I’d left the dog. Noticed there was a SportClips, got my hair cut, walked through a Trader Joes (hadn’t done that for years), compared prices at a Smart & Final, then got a message that the dog was ready.

Out where I live, that would have been an all day affair, possibly 2 days. The local SportClips closed during COVID. The groomer is 45 minutes away. The grocery stores and pharmacy are 20 to 30 minutes. There are 3 grocery stores within 35 miles, 4 if you include the Super Target and Walmart.

It’s funny. Before I settled down with Jerry, I was an Orange County boy. I knew my way around and  literally could lay my hands on just about anything I needed, anytime of the day and night.

Living in Escondido for the time I did, I was still out of the main urban areas of San Diego and honestly, I was glad of it.

This fire may have given me some direction. (Provided it doesn’t just burn everything down.)

I begin to remember what I liked about living here in OC and can directly contrast that with mountain life.

I know that I have too much stuff.

Being evacuated, I’m traveling uncomfortably light. The house on the other hand is uncomfortably heavy. There should be some nice balance in the middle.

Likewise much as I appreciate the convenience of OC, I don’t want to deal with the dense urban environment, the excessive noise and not enough open spaces.

This isn’t a criticism, it’s simply observing that moving back into a dense urban environment probably wouldn’t be the best thing for me personally. 

I think I need to search for a happy medium between the absolute rural out in the sticks places, and easy access to the niceties of modern life.