I left my heart in San Francisco

Yesterday morning, after a tear free goodbye to Nipper Knapp and Jack (I'm tough like nails), I drove to LAX, and I got on a plane, baby free, for the first time in two years. I want to shout from the mountain tops "PEOPLE!!!! BEFORE YOU HAVE A BABY, DO ALL YOUR FLYING NOW!!! Jack is pretty good on a plane. He did ask to "go outside" for 2.5 of the 5 hour flight to Michigan. But no major freak outs (knock wood). But, like it or not, traveling with a child turns you into a sherpa. Tensing Momgay. The stroller, the baby bjorn, the sippy cup, the snack container, the diapers, the wipes, the 10,001 matchbox cars, the dwell baby drawing kit, with the invisible ink markers that he will never look at, the iphone loaded with every episode of sesame street ever, all the xanax in the world. It adds up.

As soon as I checked into my hotel, I got on the 30 Stockton bus, and headed for the Palace of Fine Arts, where the wedding is taking place. That's right, I got on a BUS. It's weird that you can lose your ability to do something, as simple as navigate a public transportation system. When I lived in SF, I didn't have a car for 5, of the 7 years I was here. I walked, rode the bus, and very rarely hopped in a cab. In LA, we live in our cars. I don't want to say there's no street life, because I know there is, but it's not the same.

When I was about 23, I lived briefly with a boyfriend in a great old building on California street, at the cusp of Chinatown and Nob Hill. I rode this bus every day, where an old man who kept the same schedule as me, blew snot rockets onto the floor in the aisle of the bus.

As we were driving through Chinatown, the smell of overripe produce filled the bus. The streets outside jammed with people. People stepping off the sidewalk into the street, blocked traffic. When I lived here, this kind of thing, made me crazy! UGH! STENCH! MOVE! But yesterday, I felt like a prisoner seeing blue sky for the first time in a long time. When I got down to the Marina district, the air was filed with mock oranges, and sea air. Street Life! Plus, I think I forgot how to walk. My hips are so tight from all this walking, I could be mistaken for fit. Walking is something all human beings learn how to do when they are about 1, unless they live in LA. Those people learn at 1, but by the time they are school age, they never walk anywhere, ever...

So, I'm shooting this wedding today. The location is beautiful. The bride is beautiful. The groom, well actually I haven't met him, but I'm sure he's a delight. Wish me strength, and good vision!