a city that is crisp and clear

One nice thing about being far away is that it allows me to look back at San Francisco from a distance. In my memory things are crisp and the air is clear. Billowy fog rolls over twin peaks. The city is small and compact. Streets are familiar. Friends are full of energy and excitement with ideas and news bubbling out of their mouths. A hint of fall chill is in the air with sun reflecting off the victorian houses and the bay glittering in the background. Small crooked bookstores and big cavernous warehouses hold a mix of interesting people. Middle Eastern music wafts out of my rooommate's room and everyone is planning their halloween costume. Is it possible to live in the past and the present? That isn't the most recent San Francisco in my memory. This sparkly recollection of the city describes when everything was my own version of Tales of the City. When coincidence was everywhere and anything was possible. That is not the San Francisco I left. But, maybe it will be the one I go back to.