Today is the 6th anniverary of my time living in Ocean Beach. It’s very foggy, and a little cold – not unlike what my home town of Half Moon Bay, up north, is like for much of the year. But this fog, “June Gloom” as we call it, does not last long here in OB. It lasts, for, well, June.

I sort of complain about June Gloom a little, but the bottom line is: I have always loved it here, even before I lived here, and I loved it more when I moved here. And now I seriously don’t want to leave OB. Sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet about moving somewhere more urban, because I really and truly love cities like Paris and New York and San Francisco – I love the little villages in these big cities, and I definitely love that you can get anything you could ever want or need there (though, with the internet, is that really such a biggie anymore? I mean, you can order practically anything on the internet now. Anything.) And I miss good public transportation, and reasonable taxicabs.

But in the end, I don’t want to leave this place, this little village I’ve made my home. Let’s face it – this urban girl has moved somewhere so low-key that many of the residents don’t bother to put on shoes when they go out. Which totally freaks me out, but I love it anyway.

Ocean Beach has changed a lot since I moved here. Six years ago, there was no Vine. Now, there are a few upscalesque bars where just six years ago, you couldn’t find a decent wine by the glass anywhere. For me, this is great – for lots of old-school residents, this is the Anti-Christ. But there is also a new tattoo place on Newport Ave. which goes to show you, the roots are still there.

It’s hard to explain, if you have never been here, the funky surfer fish taco vibe that permeates the neighborhood, and harder to explain the feeling of complete satisfaction I get walking home from the Vine, in summer with a pink sky above the palm trees, or in winter Orion blinking over dark streets and lawns that still have summer flowers. But let me tell you – everything is velvet here. Velvet with a beautiful edge.

Six years ago I checked into an empty room. Now, my life is totally full. I have a lot to be thankful for, so thank you, Ocean Beach, for giving it to me.