I Left My Heart In The Bay

After almost four years in Northern California, the wife and I packed our little apartment and moved further south, to tinseltown. We moved to be closer to family. That's code for going to be the uncle and aunt that will spoil the heck out of their niece and nephew. Life in tinseltown will probably be different. I won't be going to any tech conferences hobnobbing with other geeks. I won't be swapping ideas with friends on the next hottest app or tech trend. Instead, in LA I will be fighting traffic day in and day out, only to lose 9 times out of 10. I will be gorging myself with the finest foods, including frequent stops at the Father's Office where Pliny The Elder is always on tap. I will also secretly work on making my not-yet-released book "Confessions of an Ex-Pastor" into a feature movie. No more quick jaunts to Napa. No more geek celebrity sighting of Sergei Brin or Steve Jobs. No trek through Emigrant Wilderness or Yosemite. 

The truth is, I left my

 heart in the Bay Area (to the tune of Frank Sinatra's crooning). The period of living there was some of the worst times, and the best times. I've hit the lowest of lows, and the highest of highs. There was a point where things were so bad, seeing a therapist seemed like the right thing to do. It was a period of going through detox from all the years of being in ministry. There was also a moment where things were so good, wearing my deadstock Military Grey Jordan IVs seemed like the right response. I got married and celebrated by wearing my Jordans to much of my wife's chagrin. 

I've met some incredible people along the way and was privileged to experience some once-in-a-lifetime events. Old friends who understood my journey and opened their homes to me for some much needed home cooked dinner and deep conversation, not to mention some lessons in mahjong. An invitation to visit Ghana and join a friend in exploring the country side, drinking in the African spirit of community and hospitality, and roaming the streets of Accra at night like locals. A small band of misfit Christians who opted to do things differently by deliberately simplifying their faith to the core necessities, which simply meant loving God and loving others. Spending time in what felt like purgatory while working at retail for the first time in my life, and building deep camaraderie with them in the trenches. Finding my way to Corporate America and meeting incredibly smart, funny, and nice people. Truly a dangerous combination. 

But now lies ahead a new chapter in a new town. I imagine there's more to be learned, more to be experienced. More searching and more finding. Oh yeah, and more Pliny The Elder.