hike with hamish

Hiking again, this time with an Australian friend of a friend who's here on holiday before he starts his job in a big office full of suits. We exchanged theories on why there are so many gum trees (I only realized about a year ago that gum trees = eucalyptus) in California, how if we had the chance to redo college/uni how differently we'd have tackled our respective studies, and spoke of our close friends and growing up. It was funny to hang out with someone who has been incredibly close with one of my oldest friends, closer to her than I or anyone else has been in the last two years, to begin to understand their relationship and understanding of each other and their views on life, where these views intersect and when they tail off from each other. It was interesting also to be in the company of someone on the cusp of starting life in the real world, a point I'm vacillating on, still. He picked up on my desire to venture out of Los Angeles, and said I should visit Melbourne, where he lives, and where our mutual friend was living for the past couple years. I don't know where I want to go, but I'd want to be just as proud of the culture and lifestyle of where I live, to throb in its pulse effortlessly, to know the city inside out and want to share it with everyone who passes through.