January, 2025:
in spring of 2000, we suddenly had the completely unexpected opportunity to move to southern California. We jumped on it. It was a life-long dream, and I was ready to go.
We spent early 2000 preparing to move, listed the house in Florida, and within six weeks we had purchased a house in southern California over the internet, someone had purchased *our* Florida house over the internet from us, and we left Marco Island for good. (For those curious- my parents are still there.)
It’s been extraordinary, to say the least. I feel like I got my life back. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but it’s actually an understatement. I feel like someone hit the “pause” button on me the day I moved to Florida after graduate school and then set me back in motion the moment I stepped off the plane in California.
The first year here was all about getting settled and being delighted by everything, even in lockdown from C0v1d, finding magic in the seasons and all the wildlife that passes through our tiny postage-stamp suburban yard. At any given moment, there’s more birds, squirrels, ducks, rabbits, and other little creatures in our yard than I think I saw in my entire time living in Southwest Florida, which is saying a lot.
This particular area in California is a place where the world matters- not just the insulated neighborhood (like it was in Florida) but the entire world, including the natural world. Even in the most developed areas in our city, natural life is all over the place. This is a space where mama ducks bring their ducklings into your yard and settle down for months with them, raising them inches from your back door, totally comfortable with the arrangement because they know you are going to help out and not cause any issues.
Life has changed so much. I still am trying to figure out what is what. I feel like I have moved to a new planet and I’m still figuring out how to navigate everything. Now the thing for me is learning how to live again without all the crushing extended family obligations and anxiety of the things I dealt with in Florida.
I’m no longer sharing my life online at all- I’m deeply wary of influencer led social media and the way it has shaped our world. While I don’t think what I say is all that impactful, I am wary of adding my voice to the noise. When we moved here I didn’t want **anyone** to know we had moved and it’s just recently that I have felt like talking about it. I think it really felt like it was too good to be true for a long time.
Also, Grace is going to turn 20 this year (!!), and while I never blogged a lot about her life, now that she is really an adult, I definitely feel like I need to respect her 100000%, and even the smallest details- her major in college, her life, her interests, her career plans, etc.- belong to her and her alone. I will say this: her dream school ended up being ten minutes from our house, so that was a lovely serendipity.
I can see from the web hosting panel that no one visits here anymore, so this may be a pointless exercise, but if you’d like to just say “hello”, you can contact me. (UPDATE: the form thing I had set up here a few months ago never worked, so you can just send me an email. Say hi- I may not use social media, but I do miss the old-school days of connecting with people by exchanging emails and instant messages.)
If you come upon this, I hope you are truly truly well.
“This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein…” – Paul Simon