First Impressions

I didn't expect moving to the Australian Outback to remind me so much of living in San Francisco's Marina District.

Between San Francisco and Alice Springs I've lived in three places.

Castro Valley was hick country: taking walks to look for sweet juicy wild berries or maybe to spot a wild deer doing the same; hiking in the oak dotted hills, the air perfumed by dust and dry golden grasses - being nowhere, really, and having to join thousands of other drivers on congested freeways to get to just anywhere at all.

Palo Alto was everything-and-everyone-uniformly-well-fed-and-well-groomed suburbs: the leashed dogs, the speedy toned cyclists in tight shorts and racing helmets, the manicured yards fronting luxury home construction projects, the smart mothers pushing strollers - affluence in abundance.

Saratoga was wilderness and drama: a house surrounded by poison oak built on steep hills upon the San Andreas fault; winding roads darkly shaded by tall redwoods and pines, mystery around the bend; coyotes howling in the night and bobcats running in the early morning - constrained and yet freed by nature.

And now there's Alice. Like San Francisco, she has:

Natural beauty.
Where San Francisco has the Bay, Alice has the red rock hills.

Museums and art.
Ok, maybe Mbantua Gallery isn't the Palace of the Legion of Honor, but Alice is at the heart of the Aboriginal art community which is significant in its own way. And certainly older than any of the paintings hung in San Francisco.

A complex history.
The Native Amercans' way of life in California was usurped by the Spanish Fathers and their chain of missions; the native Australians, Aboriginals, were overcome by European pioneers.

Winter in July.
Fog and rain in San Francisco at this time of year is a surprise even to some of the locals. Here in Alice, the locals are enjoying the winter weather as a respite from the summer sun.

An important Defense industry.
San Francisco's strategic location provided a home first to the Mission, then Fort Point in Civil War days, followed by the important roles of the Presidio and Treasure Island in the WWII era. I can only speculate on the strategic location value of the Outback to our national security, but am confident that it is significant.

Multinational culture.
Aboriginals here are what the Chinese are to San Francisco, inseparable from what makes it a unique place.

Tourism, lots of tourism.
Americans and foreigners from all over the globe make Alice Springs a Destination. This is the place to begin an Outback vacation.

Urban walks.
Being able to step out my front door and be, within a block, shopping for dinner.

And perhaps most important to me, Newness:

When I lived in SF I was just beginning a career. Each day was a time of looking forward and yet loving the present... of high hopes and expectations for the path ahead, yet a thrilling place to be in itself. In Alice, I'm just beginning my married life. Each day is a time of looking forward and yet loving the present... of high hopes and expectations for the path ahead, yet a thrilling place to be in itself.