By Rhonda W   December 31, 2010

After walking with RhondaJo for a few blocks right now, you will want to jaunt around the world with her.
Sauntering down the street, breathing in the ambiance of this off-beat city, RhondaJo knows with certainty that she loves living in Berkeley, CA. Her breakfast destination is only a few blocks away and several people populate the streets on this chilly morning at 9:30am. Some hurry by, others amble and, as usual, a guy in his 40s whizzes by on his skateboard. Almost everyone is wearing jeans and this makes her feel at home . She realizes that cost of some of those jeans are ten times the price of hers, but she doesn’t care. Ahead of her is a person with bright pink spiked hair wearing a red and yellow flowered skirt, which is flanked by a leather tool belt overflowing with construction tools. A thin person is decked out completely in silver – as if the clothes are spray painted on. At times, gender is simply a factoid that can’t be determined.
She left her house exactly 14 minutes ago and so far, two people have asked her for money. She sticks with her routine of smiling at them briefly, nodding her head “no” and walking by – always feeling a bit guilty. As she rounds the corner, she busts out laughing. A new teenager, lounging on the sidewalk with his dog, is holding a brown cardboard sign “Need money for pot. Anything will help.” With the creativity and sometimes brazenness of this town she is rarely bored.
She is walking down a two way street, with two lanes in each direction. A sudden noise captures her attention. Looking over, she sees a figure sailing across the median a couple of feet in the air. A man hits the pavement with aplomb and glides. He is wearing in-line skates. He whips across both lanes, pauses momentarily, then joins in the traffic flow – as if he were a car. Donned in a blue cowboy hat, green-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, in his left hand, he carries a brown bag hugging the outline of a container. Slung over his right shoulder is a bag – and the pointed toes of his cowboy boots are jutting out the opening.
Can you imagine the adventures RhondaJo will have traveling around the world –and what fun it will be joining her?