Leaving Berkeley

Tonight Mark and I get on a plane to Boston. Right now we are both packing, him for his wedding and me for my adventure. Last week I made Rebecca and Pierre sit on my bed surrounded by a massive pile of all the clothes I have here with me at their house and we sorted through it all, selecting the items from my wardrobe that I will wear between now and May. All the lucky winners are rolled and layered into the REI backpack I bought when Jim and I went to Europe five summers ago, all my toiletries and shoes and coats and books are in the big red suitcase I first took to New Zealand in 2000. My two carry-ons are the slender new orange rock-climbing backpack I bought at Sports Basement before leaving for camp in June and my signature green Timbuk2 messenger bag.

I have had my shots, paid my bills, said my farewells, and I am leaving Berkeley tonight. Between now and when I return birthdays and holidays will pass, seasons will change, friendships will grow…or, fade. The longest I have been away before now is five weeks, from June to August 2006. That seems like no time at all compared to the days weeks and months that lie ahead. The paper copies of my travel documents came in the mail a few days ago and somehow seeing the date of my return printed in black on white was much more real than seeing it in my email on a laptop screen.

May 12, 2008: that is when I am coming back to San Francisco.