I miss writing so let's get this going again - Take 2

I started this blog back in 2015 when Larry and I made the crazy decision to sell pretty much everything we’d ever owned and move from our 2,200-square-feet suburban house in Gainesville to a 572-square-feet apartment on the Upper West Side of New York City (go back and read some of the earliest posts. It’s really funny to read about our first adventurous months).

I’ve been writing off and on ever since - although, honestly, the last five years have been more off than on. So, I’m dusting off my writing skills and seeing if I can get this thing going again. Let me know what you think! 

I’ve done a bit of a refresh on the blog and christened a new name. After returning to Kentucky last year, Harry Chapin’s “All My Life’s a Circle” seemed appropriate for a new title.

Larry and I moved to Lexington a little more than a year ago after spending eight years in NYC and two years in Portsmouth, NH. Honestly, we loved the Northeast and if it hadn’t become so prohibitively expensive, we’d have stayed. We were fortunate in both cities to live downtown which was what we loved about cities, although other than being walkable, NYC and Portsmouth had little in common! 

Our apartment in Lexington is beautiful, but it’s anything but walkable. The complex itself is beautiful with sidewalks and plenty of trees and luscious lawns, but its sidewalks don’t lead to any stores or restaurants. The city is nicely laid out and pretty easy to get around. It has one highway that completely encircles the city (something Gainesville never figured out how to accomplish) and another highway that goes about halfway around. So it’s easy to drive around without being caught in an east/west-north/south gridlock. It’s about twice the size of Gainesville/Alachua County so it offers a lot better shopping and restaurant options, although it doesn’t hold a candle to NYC (shopping and restaurants obviously) or Portsmouth (restaurants). It’s also got great healthcare offerings, unlike Portsmouth which was a medical desert. 

The girls are both good. Dana and her husband live in Rome and are expecting in December - our first grandchild! We’ve rented an apartment for 10 weeks and will be there to celebrate (and help). It will be good to see how it goes living in Rome (a city that’s also walkable) in case we decide to go more often after the baby arrives. Jenni’s working in Gaza as a water, sanitation, and hygiene expert for UNICEF. It’s very difficult, but important, work. She’s hoping to be in Rome for a few weeks while we’re there - so she can see her sweet Pomeranian pup Stella (and, of course, the new baby)!

Let me know what you think of the refreshed blog, and be on the look out next week as I go back 25 years and reminisce about the death of my Daddy and 9/11.