I’ve never been much about moderation…
Because moderate-ness always struck me as being a tad, well, boring.
You know — lacking in passion, colorless, bland, on the fence, nothing-y really.
The opposite of fun. The definition of dull.
But maybe because I’m now at an age that starts with an ‘f’ number (hint it’s not 40), my relationship with moderation is— ahem — starting to shift.
And so maybe I should not be surprised that my recent trip to San Diego had me reaching for this once paragon-of-pallid word, time and again.
To describe so much! Like the weather (always top of my conversation list, of course) the politics, the vibe, the energy, the attitude, even the people…
Hear me out San Diegans! (San Diego-ans?)
Because thanks to this entirely open, welcoming city and downright agreeable (there’s another word come good!), the term ‘moderate’ took on a entirely new positive energy. Let me break it down…
Well, first, the weather. I mean, it’s California. Of course it’s skies of blueness and sunshine-y soul warming. But this is ever tempered and cooled by a loomy, lurky marine layer. Such that one second you are basking in that State-Staple Golden Light, but drive just a few blocks away towards Ocean Beach and the fog will suddenly curl about you, all chilly blanket-like…
So? It’s sort of never too hot, while it’s clearly never that cold…
It’s just — moderate… A different kind of California Cool. A little bit of this weather, and a little bit of that. You get my (marine) drift?
And the people? Everyone I interacted with — from the Ex-Navy Lyft driver to the remarkably affable servers in the pleasingly ocean-view or street-spilling restaurants — were more-than-happily-moderate too. They held moderate views (not to get too into it but a good amount of blue, with some spread of red… here, there, nothing extreme). Moderate modes of interaction as well. Friendly, but not overly so…leaving space for me to be me and for them to be them…
And the vibe? I mean it’s a city that balances a hard working edge, a real get-your-head-down-and-get-it-done energy with a clear love of leisure…Moderation here at its best. Neither all grind and perform, nor too much feckless foolery… Just people living their good lives… in moderation.
So maybe a little moderation really can be not just a good, but a truly enjoyable and lovely thing! I think I’ll get on with indulging in it quite a bit more…
Pro Tip Coda
(Note: my pro-tips in this ‘Brit in…’ series may — no WILL — often veer off the central theme…but hey…)
***If you have a few hours to spare and want to catch a little live sport, but don’t feel like navigating the crowds and forking out a fat wad of $$$, just wander over to the stadium on game day — and WALK RIGHT IN… It’s open-faced to the general public… and while you can’t directly see any action — you are still right there in the thick of it, the stands rising up and out all around you, kids on the practice courts, the heated pitch of the game seeping into your senses.
It’s free. It’s fabulously fun, it’s friendly!***
Laters. Next stop, New York
