Valley living

Monday 25th March

Now I no longer wish to claw out my eyes to distract me from the pain in my mouth this week has started off on a much better track. Just home from dropping the kids and remembered it is Monday so must write my blog – hurray I remembered 

I spend a lot of time in my car. After all the initial complaining I did I don’t actually mind it that much now. Its actually much easier to drive here than in the UK (I could have sworn the roads in Cambourne had shrunk when we visited in Feb). And for me it’s a constant reminder of where we live – right in the middle of a valley. San Jose itself may be a huge freeway with some houses round the outside but you only have to look up at the mountains to remember where you are.

After a beautiful day yesterday (it which we spent indoor with one man and his bad back – but that is a different story ) its actually quite overcast this morning, almost stormy. But that is when the mountains are at their best. On sunny days they look like the green rolling hills of Wales, on super hot days they are black and white and almost look like silhouettes. But on rainy or overcast days they are dark, foreboding and generally covered in mist with a layer of cloud on the top. Difficult to describe but it’s really stunning to look at. And then I look back down, realize I’m on an expressway and I really should be watching the traffic.

I read somewhere that 60 years ago San Jose was a tiny little town. Somewhere between then and now Apple, Google and their cronies moved in and now it’s like a different world. I wonder what older people who have living here all their lives make of it. Our neighbourhood has a lot of old people. They are lovely. They give you fruit from their trees, dress up for the kids at Halloween and stick American flags in your front lawn before the street party on the 4^th July. But life must have changed so much for them. Their world is now populated with Europeans, Indians and Chinese. Their roads are now busy with rush hour lasting from 3-7pm every day. Their schools are completely different (you now wouldn’t send your child to a local school just because you used to go there – it will have changed beyond all recognition). I wonder who chose San Jose and Mountain View to come and conquer and why here? We have a 90 year old (English!) lady living next door. She moved here when she was 5. I should really make friends with her and go and have chat.

Don’t get me wrong. I actually don’t mind living in the suburbs – I like our wide tree lined street. I like how everything is convenient. The traffic doesn’t bother me. I also like how when things get too much you can look up at the mountains and remind yourself of all the treats that lie within, up and beyond them.