I think I might be homesick???

[pinkytoe]

I am not actually in the Rockies but near. I can see Pike's Peak covered with snow from my kitchen window today. It is beyond gorgeous and takes my breath away every time I see it as if it's only a few miles away. I couldn't really go back "home" even if I decided to as we can no longer afford to live there and that is primarily why we left. I have been trying to put myself out there with volunteer work and classes but find that overall the people here are much more reserved. I am used to folks who chat in the checkout line or say Hi to you on a walk. Little things like that. Of course, it doesn't help that DD had to go and get pregnant with twins and is now 800 miles away So...we'll give it another year or so and try to soak up the differences while we're here. In any case, I remain fascinated by the concept of "home" and wish I understood it better.

[catherine]

I've often thought I'd love to live in 4 different places, 3 months at a time and rotate, because I also see benefits in where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going. I feel lucky that I've been able to live in so many beautiful places it's hard for me to make up my mind! I was just coming home from volunteering at the Rutgers greenhouse, and stopped at Trader Joe's and was thinking "Now, WHERE is the Trader Joe's in Vermont?" Everything in NJ is so convenient and close by, but you have to deal with the traffic.

I'll have a farther commute to TJ from Grand Isle, but it will be lovely country roads with barely any traffic lights. There are pros and cons to both.

And being older, I wonder if it takes us longer to feel we really belong in a new place. I feel I belong in Milford, CT where I grew up, because I grew up there. I feel I belong in NJ because I raised my kids here. But am I too old to get to the point where I'll feel I feel a sense of belonging in VT? I don't know. I'm sure from the native Vermonters' POV, I'll NEVER belong--they are notorious snobs about requiring generations upon generations of relatives going back to Ethan Allen to consider yourself a "real" Vermonter.

I feel for you, pinkytoe. I know you made a huge upheaval in your life for this change. As Tybee said, no one is saying you can't go back if you find you are still pining for TX.