Being here....

Its feels very serendipitous to have wound up in Sacramento, never having been in my mind as a place Id want to be. My brother at one time lived in Marysville, or thereabouts, in fact he died in this area in a car accident on his way back from a casino late at night.
 I know I visited him several times when I went to stay with my sister in Pacifica. He and his family were living on the edge of an orchard  right off  the highway.  I even travelled north from New Mexico through Nevada over mountains to come see him. At the time it was a was a temporary destination, now it feels like destiny. 
Strangeness: I took one of those Facebook quizzes (that now are too repetitious in design - what animal, what tv show ,what werewolf are you.etc) about language and speech (is it crayfish or crawdad?  kitty-corner or catty corner?) and the results said the characteristics of my speech came from Modesto/Stockton/and another Northern rural area??!  I was thinking that it came from my parents places of origin: Brooklyn and Texas!  Even though I grew up on the coast southwest of here, that seemed far from "farmland".
 My own choices of living spots have always been urban /city : San Francisco-Los Angeles-New York-..of course much of that has to do with being gay and an artist. Even Santa Fe was "city" in the mountains,  and living in Truth or Consequences was as rural as I had ever been.
 The point is now, being here in Sacramento, it feels so right. It feels a right balance between the two:
 Large enough, urban enough without feeling city claustrophobic, and small enough to feel the connection to the land and its history. Another aspect of  the City I enjoyed, there were remnants everywhere of history in architecture. Here I see everyday 'Time" as its was constructed- from Victorian, Craftsman,Modern,Contemporary. 
- and of course Nature! I LOVE TREES! I had no idea that Sac is called the "City of a million Trees"
Its so green here all year round, citrus everywhere along the streets, magnificent Redwoods in yards, constant flowering of plants...Riding my bike through neighborhoods is such a treat...
 Another plus is Sacramento's closeness to the coast, San Francisco, Napa, the mountains, Reno, Tahoe, and of course the 3 rivers that run here.
 And then there's culture enough to feed my soul.. an art scene (not particularly"cutting edge"stuff but good), theater (several small good companies), music..I haven't discovered yet..I know its more rock club than classical..but that's still to be heard, and food- again enough variation to satisfy this fatboy's cravings from Vietnamese to Mexican to burgers.
  The people here are (from my experience so far) friendly, culturally diverse, and unpretentious. There are plenty of  the unemployed and poor, plenty of  Grand old homes ($$$) , Its a town/city financially dependant on  Government /medical/agriculture service jobs.(it took me 10 months to find work)
  For me, life in Sacramento is comfortable . Perhaps that has to do with my age,my finances, and the fact I'm no longer "chasing the carrot".. I still get to paint and show my art (Ive had 6 exhibitions so far in places as varied as coffee houses and government buildings, even managed to sell a few...and have 2 more shows coming up)
 All this just to say simply I enjoy being here.