I have fallen in love with San Francisco and the surrounding area.

Instead of trying to describe it, to explain how I love everything about

the city and felt immediately at home here the moment I stepped onto the

street , and how the city offers everything I want in a hometown--an urban

setting, but plenty of flowers and grass, a small-town feel, friendly people,

mountains, perfect weather, a beach, and most importantly, diversity--I'll

show you.

Pictures from Alcatraz:

Pictures from areas around San Francisco:

Photos from Land's End and Seal Rock:

Love

Love is strange,

How it creeps in, unexpected

Drops into the open armchair of your heart

Like an old friend

How you hardly notice

Until you’re deep into the cookie jar

And have drained the coffee pot,

Talking into the wee hours of the morn.

By then, it’s too late to bid Love farewell

So you invite him to use your guest room

For as long as he likes

You get almost used to seeing him at breakfast

Both in your jammies,

Slippers on your feet.

Occasionally, you realize the situation

And marvel at the chain of events

That brought Love here.

But most days, it seems normal:

Having Love walk the corridors,

Baking bread, making soup.

If I Could Be a Smell

I'd be the smell of cut grass

or the smell of the earth

after a huge thunderstorm

I'd be an Italian restaurant

my grandmother's baked bread

a bouquet of roses

the smell of the ocean's salty breath

mountain air

or fresh laundry

I'd be the smell of happiness

or a child's gleeful laugh

snuggling puppies

and a birthday cake baking in the oven

I'd be the smell of chocolate chip cookies

a picnic in the park

a cookout in my backyard

the smell of Springtime

Summer

or pomegranate bodywash

I'd be the smell of success

fresh fruit salad

a garden in bloom

I'd be the smell of coming home

Christmastime

and falling in love