Welcome to San Francisco, Ms. Boston

I have to admit that this vacation did not get off to an auspicious start, as my luggage was lost for a day, and this is spite of my decision to bring only a carry-on. I’d always supposed that a carry-on would be a much safer bet than checked luggage, but I’ve come to the sad conclusion now that you must keep a vigilant eye on your baggage, even when it is within feet of you. When the plane was deboarding, I was sitting in a window seat, so I had to wait a few minutes to get up and get my bag. When I finally had a chance to reach into the storage compartment for my bag, it was gone. I didn’t exclaim at this right away, because I supposed perhaps I was mistaken as to where my bag was, and I carefully scanned the surrounding compartments before saying anything – first gently telling the passengers around me that someone had taken my bag, and then with a bit more urgency alerting the flight attendant, and getting an announcement made over the loudspeaker. It didn’t occur to me that that moment of hesitation was critical. If I could go back to that moment, I would have run ahead, or behaved more frantically. But in the moment, I supposed that the mistaken person would realize her mistake, or that I would be able to catch up with her.

I spent most of the afternoon shopping for the necessaries of a few days in San Francisco, which would have been quite a burden if it weren’t for Rob’s endless patience and optimism. He was my constant advisor on the clothes front (I practically shouted, “We’re saved!” when I saw an H&M), but I have to admit that it is frustrating to have to buy clothes you don’t fit properly and that you don’t particularly like. I get most of my clothes online, where tall sizes are available, and I had to make more compromises than usual in my selections of today.

Anyway, the mistaken taker of my luggage appearred to be a J.K. of Boston, whose carry-on of a similar size and color was left in a nearby compartment. I've called her twice, but for over a day there was for a day no word on the whereabouts of the bag, or if, indeed, J.K. was involved at all. When I added up in my head the significance of everything in the bag, in expense and the difficulty of procurement, I felt a bit dismayed. And that dismay turned to slight nausea when I realized that, in fact, not everything in the bag was mine to start with. I just spoke to Bequis, whom I’m meeting for dinner, and she asked me, did I remember to bring her checkbook and her mail? And I said yes; but then remembered they were in the missing suitcase. There is also James's book, "The Perk of Being a Wallflower," which I looking forward to reading and above all planning to return to him!

All of this was forgotten in the evening, when Bequis and two other friends took me swing dancing, in shoes that weren't dance shoes (loafers!) or mine, but that I forgot about once I was on the floor. There they did a special lindy jam for people who are from out of town (myself and then someone from London) and a few people with birthdays. To those of you unfamiliar with a lindy jam, what happens is that the very, very best dancers all take turns dancing with the people being "jammed," and this involves cutting in on people in interesting and elegant ways. The music was perfect: they played a song about being in San Francisco -- and goodness, I've never danced the way I did in that lindy circle, in which I danced with the most talented and physically strong dancers I've ever had the privilege of dancing with. I was thrown into the air, pulled into almost neck-breaking dips and fast spins, and everyone who danced with me in the lindy jam said: welcome to San Francisco, Ms. Boston -- which was lovely. The swing dance scene here is *AWESOME*. I accumulated a small stack of business cards, with notes scribbled on them of where I should go dancing, of what I should see in SF, of well wishes that my dream of moving here will come true.

In other news, the concierge just brought me my missing suitcase! Crisis averted. JK called and apologized profusely. She was in a great hurry , she explained, and our bag were similar. No harm done. What a relief!