October is a golden month here in California – it is the light that softens, allowing for golden hues. This ordinary midweek day ends with a balmy evening. The sunset turns golden, endlessly golden… The air is still, the bay lies calm – our Atmospheric River on the weekend has cleaned out all harshness… The neighborhood is quiet, my cicadas in the front patio are chirping steadily. Their loud polyrhythms add another level of magical contentedness. Pleasing moisture in the air soothes each breath and makes me forget the never-ending brutal dryness of the long long summer months. As the night falls, shades of pink and light blue in the sky paint moments of timelessness and endings…fading into darkness… alive with cicada song….
Immigration On Friday morning of September 20, I am spending a couple of hours for my naturalization interview in the federal building on 630 Sansome Street in San Francisco that houses the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Then later at 1 pm, in the oath ceremony, I am reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Standing, holding up my right hand like everyone else, repeating the words after our master of ceremonies, I am engulfed in a chorus of immigrants’ voices from all over the world. Out of maybe 80, only two are Caucasian. The man leading us through the 20 minutes ceremony, is most likely a judge, but without his robe. He is an elegant, kind, and personable elder. We can hear the genuineness in his voice, and we are genuine, too. As we pledge allegiance to this country, the English sentences might ring slightly different for each of us. In another minute we will be citizens of the United States. Something in me is expanding. I am swearing to be a responsible an...
beautifully written...an experience for the senses
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