Julie Pecenco’s Life in the Little City

The sun was shining brightly on Monday, so I decided to get outside for some fresh air. Finally utilizing my copy of Otsego Walks & Paddles, a pamphlet put together by the Otsego County Conservation Association and the closest thing to a trail guide I’ve been able to locate for the immediate area, I headed up Franklin Mountain. More specifically, I went to the Delaware Otsego Audubon Society Sanctuary/Franklin Mountain Hawkwatch. I had neither the time nor the energy for a long hike, so the short trails available turned out to be perfect. I stretched my legs, plodded through the snow, and best of all, took in some stunning panoramic views of Oneonta and beyond. From up there, it’s easy to see why Oneonta is called “The City of the Hills.”

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As usual, I have trouble keeping up with my blog when traveling, but here’s a little bit of the what we’ve seen in San Diego. New Year’s Day, our first full day here, we stayed at home with my sister and her family, recovering from jetlag and resting a bit. Our first outing was on Wednesday, when we headed out to the world famous San Diego Zoo. Not long before we left on this trip, I’d read in the news that the Zoo’s baby panda, Zhen Zhen, had just been revealed to the public. She was out for viewing just a couple hours each morning so the first thing we did after my sister dropped us off at the zoo was to head straight for the giant panda exhibit. The line had barely formed, and soon we had our chance to see the cub and her mother. Zhen Zhen was asleep in the crook of a tree, but she was still as adorable as one would expect a bear cub to be. Her mother sat, back to us, undoubtedly watching her charge, while snacking on bamboo. It was a delight to be able to catch a glimpse of the littlest panda at the zoo, and I feel lucky that our trip occurred so soon after her public debut.

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A very happy New Year to all. Leah and I didn’t celebrate last night; we had just spent our New Year’s Eve day traveling cross-country. Waking to around nine inches of snow in Oneonta (I had to snowblow before we left,) we drove to Albany through a beautiful blanket of thick fresh snow clinging to every branch of every tree. Seven or so hours later, after flying over the snow-swept heartland, we descended through the desert to Las Vegas. The vast expanses of barren windswept land looked like a lunar landscape to eyes last fixed upon a winter wonderland. Our layover in Las Vegas was brief, just long enough for us to use the bathroom and grab a slice of bad pizza for lunch. I didn’t even have a chance to put my one quarter into one of the slot machines that litter the terminal. I’d heard that there were slot machines at the airport, but seeing it was still a bit surreal.

After a brief flight, we landed in San Diego, our final destination. My sister was there just outside the terminal to pick us up, and we spent the evening playing with our nephew Robert and trying not to fall asleep hours earlier than we would normally have even on Eastern Standard Time. We all went to bed around nine, so I did manage to last until the ball dropped in Times Square – not that we actually watched it. I was watching HGTV, I think.

Today we got our first taste of San Diego. We spent a relatively quiet day at home with the family, helping them clean up their house and do a little staging in preparation for putting it on the market. (All that HGTV pays off, I tell you.) We took a short walk around the development, and that was when the real culture shock set in. Of the various places in the US (and outside of it, for that matter) Southern California has always been the one place that felt completely surreal. We stepped out into the sunny afternoon (a day after clearing many inches of snow from my own driveway) into a palm-tree lined street of nearly identical beige vaguely Spanish style house. Rows upons rows of then, in their gently curving cul-de-sacs. Leah called it very Stepford; I felt like I had walked onto the set of a sitcom. Just as odd to one who has always lived in Upstate New York – where I always hope for a white Christmas even if we don’t get one every year – were the holiday decorations amid the palms. In New York state, a stereotypical New England-style Christmas is entirely feasible, so our Christmas looks like the story. Polar bears and snowflakes amongst the palm trees are surreal.

Tomorrow we’re going to the famous San Diego Zoo, so it’s bedtime for this jet-lagged traveler. I’ll be exploring San Diego for the next week, so stay tuned for updates.

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