They say sometimes you have to leave a place to truly appreciate it when you return. This was especially true for me when I left my hometown for college and returned years later.
While I loved venturing outside my comfort zone and becoming a part of my college community, the experience made me realize how undeniably special my hometown was and is. Now I no longer take for granted the beauty of our area.
I treasure the mighty oaks, vineyard views, and majestic mountains that flank our quiet, little valley. I relish in the fact that I can look out my window and see no high rises in sight.
I don’t hear the incessant honking of city traffic nor do I smell even a faintest whiff of smog.
I can be at the Mendocino Coast in an hour and to the snow in just a few. If I want my city fix, San Francisco is only two hours away.
But most of all, I love the community. It’s an eclectic, one-of-a-kind community of hippies and country people, blue collar workers and artists. I love those people. They’re my kind of people. I get this warm, comforting feeling knowing that I will go to the grocery store and see at least five or more faces I recognize.
That feeling, that sense of belonging, is precisely why I decided to plant my roots in Mendocino County. Ukiah may be a small town on a map, but I feel a big connection to it.
At the end of the day, that’s how you’ll know if a town is the right place for you to plant your roots. Your feet can take you all sorts of places, but your heart longs for that one place where it feels that powerful sense of belonging.