Saturday, October 1, 2011

A Tale of Two Cities

San Francisco is a beautiful city. With steep hills, spectacular views of the ocean and crazy streets and boulevards, it is a place that is immediately endearing. Add to that the famous weather pattern, which keeps the temperture around comfortable 70 degrees, and the city becomes utterly desirable to many.

On the other hand, and on the other coast, Boston, where I live, has severe winters. There are days when the thermometer dips to zero degrees (and that is Fahrenheit) and the wind is howling. This is not the comfortable and predictable West Coast weather.

Boston is a pretty city but does not have the same spectacular beauty of SF. What it does have is a great deal of culture, history, and education. Money is of course important, just as everywhere, but somehow it does not seem as important in this city, which emphasizes what you know rather than what you own. The presence of two world famous universities of course adds a great deal to the vitality of the city by filling it with young students

Even its weather has its own charms. The beautiful white coat of winter ice melts as new buds start emerging on plants and trees. The light green shades and beautiful flowers are soon replaced by dense greenery and warm sunshine. My favorite time of the year is fall, when trees break out into all glorious colors and the days become crisp and clear. When you get used to these changes, the routine of same old same old on the West Coast would get boring for some of us.

I completely accept the fact that this is all a matter of taste and priorities.

As a popular saying goes---gentlemen prefer blonds, perhaps even if they are not too bright. As long as they are gorgeous and smile a lot, everything is forgiven. Many men will agree with that.

However, some others may prefer brunets who are pretty but not perfect. Those with depth, culture and smartness---and mood swings to keep things interesting---unlike the case with the fixed smile bimbos.