Blogger's block

Back in late October, when K first got offered the new job at Cal Poly and the wonderful reality that we would be moving to Los Osos was just sinking in, I decided that when we got here, I would start this blog. Of course, I had to adjust my initial start date of "when we got here" to "when we get settled." Getting settled coincided nicely with the start of 2011, so I started this blog last week, on New Year's Day. I put up a couple of photos from the Polar Bear Plunge in Cayucos, one of my favorite local events, but I didn't write much. I didn't really know what to write.

I don't really know what to write today.

It seems like two-plus months of anticipating and ruminating would have been plenty of time to get clear on exactly who this blog is for and what it is supposed to be about.

Originally I thought it would be for our friends and family who are considering, or planning, on coming to visit us. I imagined it would be about all the wonderful, beautiful, exciting and unique things there are to see and do and experience on the Central Coast. I hoped that reading about our adventures here would make our loved ones more likely to visit. I also hoped that having some information ahead of time would make their visits more enjoyable once they got here. I also thought, since we might not be able to take time off work and serve as guides for all our guests, that the accounts given here might equip visitors to guide themselves around the area.

As I'm writing this, those all sound like very good reasons to write. I guess I should just stick to that original plan.

Here's the problem I'm coming up against. I don't just want to write about things to do while visiting. I also want to write about all the things I love about the area that might be really boring to an out-of-towner. Elephant seals, monarch groves and castles on the hill seem like perfect topics for a vacation-planner to read about. But I also want to write about the new route I found for walking to the library from my house, and how much I love our local hardware store. If a person is only going to be here for a week, or a weekend, why would she care about those things?

I guess my real worry is that this blog is going to be boring. I worry about that no matter what I am writing.

I also worry that it will just sound like boasting. It is so great here. I love it here so much. How can I tell other people about it without sounding like a braggart? And, a boring braggart at that.

I think I just need to face up to the fact that I am not writing this blog for other people. I am writing it for me. I am writing it because after being away for two years, I feel very very clear about how lucky I am to be back. I am in love with the Central Coast, with San Luis Obispo County, with Los Osos and with this little house. I want to make the most of living here. I want to explore and experience everything there is to see and do. I want to learn about the histories of the people and the animals and the architecture and the geological formations. I want to become an expert on this place.

Aha! That is the real reason I am writing these posts: to deepen my relationship with my home. I know that to learn any topic well the best approach is to either teach it to others, or write about it. I'm going to use this blog to do both.

If my future house-guests can use it to have a better vacation, great! If I can use it to encourage the people I miss to come and see us, excellent!

But no matter what, if I can make the time each week to sit down and write about all I am learning and doing here, I know it will further my own knowledge and deepen my own experience. That's the outcome that will really mean the most to me.

And, if you- beloved reader- find my essays boring and boastful...please don't read them anymore. Just come visit us and see it for yourselves.