Friday Five

From Singing Owl at RevGalBlogPals

Tell us about the five favorite places you have lived in your lifetime. What did you like? What kind of place was it? Anything special happen there?

For someone who at age 50 thought she had lived in only two places in her life, I've lived in a lot of places. Actually, even at age 50 I had lived in five different areas and in 9 different houses/apartments, not counting college dorms. I have only one favorite place though.

I went to seminary in San Anselmo, CA. It is a magical place, or as the Irish would say, a thin place. A lot was the geography. I am an outdoors person. The seminary is located on the edge of a series of parks that go south to Mount Tam and then the Marin Headlands (and including Muir Woods) and west to the Pacific ocean. Immediately behind the seminary was a huge hill. From the top (for me about a 45 minute walk up, up, up and up) you could see the seminary and San Anselmo, Fairfax, Corte Madera spread below you. A little further on you could see the Bay and the Richmond Bridge. On a clear day, Mount Diablo over across the Bay would peak out over the fog that engulfed the East Bay. You could see the Bay bridge and parts of San Francisco. The Golden Gate was hidden by the top of Mount Tam. My favorite hike was up to a series of small lakes (dammed by the Marin Water District) hemmed in my the mountains. There used to be an annual seminary to the sea hike where we would leave from the gate of the seminary and hike over the Mount Tam ridge to Stinson Beach. I usually did at least one long hike a week and often several short hikes in the week. I biked along Corte Madera creek to the Bay, just below San Quentin.

I took classes in Berkeley and loved the drive over the Richmond Bridge. I might go to a Farmers Market in Sausalito, another magical place. My first two years I worshipped in Marin City with Anne LaMotte.

It was wonderful living in community. I lived between two good friends and could always sit down with one of them and share my troubles. We ate together, celebrated together, mourned together. Other friends lived in the same building.

I'd love to live there again.

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