I left my heart in San Francisco?

One look at this picture says what I felt all week...a world away. 

I was quite surprised by this city that threw me for a loop. When I think of large cities I think of hustling and bustling...flashy cars...loud noise....rushing around. San Francisco was different, it was quiet in a way that I have never seen a city before, sure it still had a flox of people running around and lots of cars on the highways but there was a stillness. Maybe it was the fog that rolls in every morning and blankets the city, deafening out the rush madness of life..

The architecture was amazing too, it was like you could see different periods of time walking from one end of the street to the next. Sure they were all on top of each other but not in an overcrowded city living way, but more in a following the mountains this is where the house needs to be built kind of way. There was a mountain behind my sisters house that was the highest point in the city. We walked up (not an easy feat) twice and at the top was this amazing view where it makes you think of how our lives are just hamster wheels turning around and quite insignificant. 
One important memory of the mountain we walked was the aroma of Euclalyptus Trees. The mountain air had a vibrant, fresh, cool minty smell that seemed to resonate with my soul. 

I did not get the feel of materialism in this city, cars were old, clothes were what kept you warm, money was not flashed.  

It was also odd to have a week away from Alan. I am ashamed to admit it was nice, am I a bad mother for saying that I honestly did not miss my child for a week? It seems something I should not write because who can fathom that, but it was a glimpse of a life I once had where I could do what I wanted, go where I want to go. I guess every once in awhile its nice to get a selfish week to yourself. 

This city left an imprint on me, almost as if I took a part of it home in my heart, I have never felt that before in travels. I never would have thought of myself as "West Coast", you could say I've always been an "east coast" snob. But after this trip I have to wonder if that is what I had grown up thinking and what is really true. I very easily settled into this go with the flow, easy living lifestyle that I was a part of for a week.  It made me wonder if I hadn't been so afraid to fly for the sky when I was young and single where my heart would have lead me, maybe it would have been somewhere on the west coast.

I have heard the song "I left my heart in San Francisco" before but I'm curious to listen to it again after visiting. One would think this song is about someone they loved who they left in the city and the heartbreak that followed, but just the title of the song to me relates to a feeling I have.  

Maybe I did leave my heart in San francisco..

Returning to the hustle and bustle of life, and its only day 1 has been quite a jolt for me. The social calendar for the next week is filled to the rim and I almost just want to block off a week of time to just linger on the relaxation and peace that I had been filled with for the past few days. I feel it slipping away fast as the grains in an old sand timer filling up with empty space of obligations.  How do you find that balance of time alone and time with life? I haven't learned how to do that yet, or even know where to begin.