New City, New Me

There has always been something to be said for consistency, but a life without flexibility is doomed to pain and frustration as things change that cannot be controlled. A traffic delay makes you late, a sandwich shop you like suddenly goes out of business, a family member moves away... or perhaps you fall in love and move across the country to a situation you had thought you would never personally occupy. 

Such is life, and getting upset about it helps literally no one, so here we are, sitting on a balcony near the center of a rather large city, people-watching as I drink my morning tea and write posts for my newly restarted blog (for posterity, of course). Changes need to be made, some of them expensive, others quite mundane. How I hang or fold clothes. How often I do laundry. What kind of litter the cat gets in her box. 

The simple difference between driving to the store and walking or biking there is phenomenal. I can't describe to you how mind-blowing it is to know that I no longer require a vehicle for shopping trips. I am free to walk to the library. I can visit several historic sites and a number of very nice museums without ever having to worry about where my car keys are. 

I am not city folk. The noise and the smell and the bustle have never been my thing. As far back as I can clearly remember (that is, age 8 and forward) I have lived in rural, isolated areas. Except for that one year in high school when I lived in Las Vegas. I will happily never repeat that, thank you. Too hot. 

But the idea of being able to see my next-door neighbor's house was, until a couple months ago, something that made me grimace. Now I'm seated on the balcony of a large apartment complex, looking out over the roofs of similar buildings nearby, fully aware that the neighbor might already be out on the balcony next to me. (Not that I would know. There's a brightly-colored flag and a veritable jungle of potted plants between the two of us.) 

I have a lot of adjusting to do, both inside and outside. The way I live my life and the way I think both need to be tuned up to match the demands of my new situation. 

My only hope is that I will not disappoint.