10) "Is There Life After Berkeley?" Maxine Hong Kingston

Mitch was busy chugging along ahead, focused on his newly purchased bungalow in North Carolina; but I started to lag behind. I was terribly homesick for Berkeley; actually grieving it’s loss. Perhaps I could still turn around and go back? I missed my wonderful neighborhood, a real neighborhood. We helped each other. We had a 36 plot community garden where I had my own plot with happy flowers and heirloom, organic veggies. We had our own fabulous produce market, Monterey Market, a colorful place full of colorful people, fruits and veggies. We had a year round all organic farmer’s market. We had our own

european style coffee shop, with lots of outdoor seating, and free wireless; always full of people discussing things and reading and writing. We had our own health food store, Berkeley Natural Grocery. We had our own greenway that I could ride my cruiser bike on all the way to Albany, the next town over, to visit the Milo Foundation, an animal rescue center, where I adopted Toby. We had the most awesome North Branch (Berkeley Public) Library, and King Park with the track I walked my 2 miles on every day. We had a great bagel shop, a Brooklyn style pizza joint and Lilly’s dim sum. We had the venerable Berkeley Horticulture Nursery where I bought all of my plants. I hardly ever had to drive; and the BART station was 2 blocks away. An easy commute to San Francisco. And there was the added bonus of Helen’s roses. Although Helen is gone; her roses bloom on and continue to beautify the neighborhood in her spirit.