leaving home

T minus four and counting... It's still so other-worldly to me that in less than a week we're taking off for three days of driving to move to a place I've never seen before. Willingly! François' coworker was kind enough to suggest that his daughter babysit yesterday evening, and we took the opportunity for a nice meal out and some reminiscing about our time in the upstate.

I'll miss this view of the little lake from our back deck, waiting for the coals to get hot with a corona and a little bug spray, S sitting in his little red chair waiting for some "hot eat" (his name for any type of grilled meat). I'll miss the pileated woodpecker in the back yard, the nuthatches and goldfinches coming right up next to the house, and the binoculars sitting unused on the mantle. Although at first I expected to loathe the immense amounts of driving that are involved when you live 9 MILES from the closest GROCERY STORE, it turns out that while the drive to get anywhere of consequence is long, it's also quite peaceful. The majority of those miles are logged on winding, hilly, two lane roads, surrounded by grass, green trees, and every now and then some livestock. Those 9 miles to the grocery store? They only have two traffic lights!

I'll miss the scenery and the little Sunday hikes, none of them very far from the house. After growing up in the Blue Ridge and then being away for so long (say, the last 14 years?) each walk in the woods is like a little homecoming. I love putting on my big clonky hiking boots every time, even though most of our trails are fairly easy considering the fact that a toddler can walk them in his sneakers. Simeon's gotten a great little education in looking for painted trail markers on the trees along the way, always scanning the sides for wildlife or bugs or little creeks, and even in being aware that the person in front just might walk into a spiderweb strung across the trail. Fortunately for all involved, he hasn't gotten any sort of education in poison ivy or other itchy bothersome plants. He's seen in person several of the pictures on his "Waterfalls of South Carolina" poster, and knows to hold someone's hand while crossing little bridges over streams in the woods.

It's been a year of relaxation, of lots of time together as a family, of learning more about what's important to us for when we (eventually?) settle somewhere for good. And now it's on to the next adventure!