one year in Reno
Today (Sunday January 15), is the one year anniversary of my moving in Reno. It was a Saturday last year when Austen came over and rolled me out of bed at 5AM to put my last few effects into the truck and head out through the Mill Valley - Sacto Valley fog, through the 7 foot snowbanks along I-80 to the very strange ice fog (freezing fog, they call it) of the Truckee Meadows.
I must say I'm pretty happy with the whole thing right this instant, for three reasons I think:
In my decade of perfect San Diego weather (the 80's), I know I was missing real weather. In particular I missed water. Actually San Diego gets some pretty serious winter rain, somewhere around January's full moon there usually seemed to come a gnarly Pacific storm that combined with the high tide to create the dreaded storm surge, flood the beachside restaurants, turn the sand beach into a rock beach, etc. What I really hated about San Diego was the human's attempt to act like we weren't in an f---ing desert! God just didn't intend for there to be so many people with so many green lawns and golf courses there and that's that!
but I digress...
In the 90's I got my wet weather, I moved to a climate where the use of water was a little more in tune with the local ecosystem. A little-known fact is that Marin gets almost all of its water from Marin - quite unusual for urban California. And of course that is the key to why Marin is the outdoor wonderland it is - the core of southern Marin is MMWD (Marin Municipal Water District) - hikeable and rideable public watershed land! see, good land management actually works!
Now, here in the 00's I am realizing how much I love (a small bite-sized dose of) real winter weather. The usual western rhythm of winter storms stacked up in the Pacific, stomping through California every three or four days all January turns out to work here in Reno also! The boring ones die in the Sierras, but even they make for a mighty scenic westward view, amazing renticular cloud formations, snow-capped peaks, often snow-capped foothills.
We've gotten just plain rain, rain then snow, snow then rain, just plain snow, extra fluffy, stick to the trees snow, and of course a 40-year flood (which will get its own story). I wake up every day excited to go out and see what the river and the hills are doing.
2. Making friends seemed like a mighty slow, painful process, but looking back, it's been just a year and there is a small but select group of folks who value me and who I value, and that ain't bad!
The issue was my usual demographic conundrum -- I see those hippin' happenin' 20-30 year-olds and think hmmm... my people. They look back at me and think hmmm... old guy - a quirky looking, perhaps interesting old guy but old guy nonetheless. But we're all past that :)
3. gee, my truck hasn't been looted and ransacked for almost a month now.
In case you lost count, it has been four times since August. August, September, and twice in December, in that awkward time while our old, largely symbolic fence and gates were torn down and before our new, seriously secure fence were put up. the last one was the most expensive and physically brutal, stole my garage door opener, winter coat, leatherman, some tapes, busted up my interior in ways that I am sure will be expensive to fix.
This aspect of random property crime, and the random appearance of truly sketchy, scary people around here is the one and only truly serious downer of Life in Reno for me. Everybody is seems, has a "ripped off" story or three. Everybody, even the most hippie-love child of the locals locks up their bike with a big strong lock even if they are leaving it for just a moment. My new bike has a nice seat, so I was advised to convert the height adjuster gizmo to an allen wrench thingie so it won't disappear.
It sucks, but for now, the external and internal joys of items 1 and 2 are outweighing the bad karma of item 3!
I must say I'm pretty happy with the whole thing right this instant, for three reasons I think:
- I love the winter weather.
- I'm making friends.
- Nothing bad has happened lately.
In my decade of perfect San Diego weather (the 80's), I know I was missing real weather. In particular I missed water. Actually San Diego gets some pretty serious winter rain, somewhere around January's full moon there usually seemed to come a gnarly Pacific storm that combined with the high tide to create the dreaded storm surge, flood the beachside restaurants, turn the sand beach into a rock beach, etc. What I really hated about San Diego was the human's attempt to act like we weren't in an f---ing desert! God just didn't intend for there to be so many people with so many green lawns and golf courses there and that's that!
but I digress...
In the 90's I got my wet weather, I moved to a climate where the use of water was a little more in tune with the local ecosystem. A little-known fact is that Marin gets almost all of its water from Marin - quite unusual for urban California. And of course that is the key to why Marin is the outdoor wonderland it is - the core of southern Marin is MMWD (Marin Municipal Water District) - hikeable and rideable public watershed land! see, good land management actually works!
Now, here in the 00's I am realizing how much I love (a small bite-sized dose of) real winter weather. The usual western rhythm of winter storms stacked up in the Pacific, stomping through California every three or four days all January turns out to work here in Reno also! The boring ones die in the Sierras, but even they make for a mighty scenic westward view, amazing renticular cloud formations, snow-capped peaks, often snow-capped foothills.
We've gotten just plain rain, rain then snow, snow then rain, just plain snow, extra fluffy, stick to the trees snow, and of course a 40-year flood (which will get its own story). I wake up every day excited to go out and see what the river and the hills are doing.
2. Making friends seemed like a mighty slow, painful process, but looking back, it's been just a year and there is a small but select group of folks who value me and who I value, and that ain't bad!
The issue was my usual demographic conundrum -- I see those hippin' happenin' 20-30 year-olds and think hmmm... my people. They look back at me and think hmmm... old guy - a quirky looking, perhaps interesting old guy but old guy nonetheless. But we're all past that :)
3. gee, my truck hasn't been looted and ransacked for almost a month now.
In case you lost count, it has been four times since August. August, September, and twice in December, in that awkward time while our old, largely symbolic fence and gates were torn down and before our new, seriously secure fence were put up. the last one was the most expensive and physically brutal, stole my garage door opener, winter coat, leatherman, some tapes, busted up my interior in ways that I am sure will be expensive to fix.
This aspect of random property crime, and the random appearance of truly sketchy, scary people around here is the one and only truly serious downer of Life in Reno for me. Everybody is seems, has a "ripped off" story or three. Everybody, even the most hippie-love child of the locals locks up their bike with a big strong lock even if they are leaving it for just a moment. My new bike has a nice seat, so I was advised to convert the height adjuster gizmo to an allen wrench thingie so it won't disappear.
It sucks, but for now, the external and internal joys of items 1 and 2 are outweighing the bad karma of item 3!