Homesick for Nova (Hampton, Reston, Manassas: military, travel, job)

[normie]

I've been unusually irritable lately, and I do apologize for it. The truth is I'm horribly homesick for Loudoun County, and I didn't expect to be, and that has made me testy.

I always liked living in Nova but I didn't realize how many great things I was taking for granted until I moved away. There were things I complained about, too (like everyone, LOL) and it's only been after moving away that I see how good I had it.

Like the cost of living. You know, housing is expensive in Nova but other than that the COL in Virginia is pretty reasonable. You should see how much groceries are down here. And the quality of the produce is just not the same. I was spoiled having a Bloom within walking distance of my house.

And Wegmans! My god, I miss Wegmans. I miss dropping off my car to have it serviced and then walking over to have a cup of coffee and a pastry up on the second floor. I would sit there and watch the people shopping below and wonder about the piano. Who plays a piano in a grocery store? They don't have crazy, amusing details like that in other parts of the country.

I miss the birds, and the weather and the quality of the air. Northern Virginia is right on the border of a few climate zones, and that creates such incredibly diverse weather and nature. I used to love waking up in the morning, listening to the birds and trying to figure out what new species had just flown into town. And there would always be some mystery bird--and it would be fun to guess if it had flown in to avoid a storm in another part of the country--or maybe it had hitched a ride from Europe on a plane that landed at Dulles. I loved seeing the geese flying along the Potomac. I didn't realize how much I would miss being on a migratory flight path.

I miss kayaking on the Potomac, and hiking there too. You know, I used to love hiking from Great Falls National Park to Algonkian Park. The trails here aren't the same.

As for the air--you know, I didn't realize until I left how nice the air is along the Potomac. It is soft because it has southern humidity--and at the same time it has some electricity in it too when cooler, drier air gets mixed in. Here the air is heavier. It's clean, it's good quality--but everytime I take a breath I realize I miss Virginia.

I miss my cookie cutter house. Who would have guessed!!!! I have an acrhitecturally interesting house now, with a nice view. It was designed and built by the man who sold it to us. But you know what? My cookie cutter house was more comfortable and practical in many ways. I miss my old neighborhood, and I miss my neighbors. It took awhile to get close to them, but once I did they were the greatest people around.

I miss the general sense of excitement and optimism in the air. I miss driving down Nokes Blvd. or Rt. 7 and seeing what new building was going up, what new idea was being tried. I miss standing in line at the grocery store and overhearing intriguing, intelligent conversations.

I miss the libraries in Loudoun County--man, there is nothing like the Cascades library here. I went into the local library to get a CD. They had a total of 6, and they were all donated from the Navy and Air Force Bands. The Cascades Library had a collection of thousands of CDs. I used to go there on a weekend and select things randomly just for the fun of listening to any kind of music imaginable. I didn't appreciate how much I enjoyed that until I lost that resource.

I miss the medical care I used to have and took for granted. I fell down and hurt my hip the other day. Believe me, I miss the care I used to get at the Reston Hospital.

I could go on and on, but this is getting long. And please don't get me wrong--I moved to a nice place and I know that in time I will find things I really love about Georgia, too. I know that this is a good practical choice for a retirement home. But I did not know I would be so very homesick for Virginia. My god, I was writing a post the other day about drought prevention and I realized I miss those wacky mulch volcanoes. They're goofy, they're unneccessary, they're so "Nova"--and I miss 'em!

Anyway, I've written this post to face up to my homesickness--hopefully it will be interesting or maybe even useful to people. And, having written this I will make a determined effort to spend more time exploring my new home and find reasons to fall in love with Georgia.

Lesson learned? 1. Virginia has some nice qualities I didn't even realize existed until I left it behind. 2. Don't move in the winter, it's not the best time to explore your new home. 3. I hope I'll do a better job at laughing at it all--homesickness isn't the worst feeling in the world (but it sure feels that way at times). Anyway, thanks for listening.

[Fairfax Mom]

Normie,
As I sit here waiting to pick my son up from preschool and dreading taking my elderly Mom to yet another Dr.'s appointment - you make me try to stop and appreciate what I have here - I am missing my tons of friends and family in NJ - while here in VA I have only made one interesting friend and I really hate how it takes forever to travel just a few miles and everything has to be planned in advance - oh boy - I am complaining again.....but I know there are so many more beautiful parks here and Spring seems to be coming early than NJ - and I have seen some birds here that I have never seen in NJ.....trying to stay positive....

[vanyali]

You moved to somewhere in the Piedmont of NC, right? Here's a tip -- stop eating fresh fish. The frozen stuff is OK, but there's no such thing a fresh fish here. It's *all* spoiled, even in the really fancy-looking displays at Harris Teeter.

And you're not going to get the same quality of service anywhere from anyone, but to maximize the service you *do* get, ALWAYS dress well. Always. If you, say, go to order some carpet in old jeans and beat up tennis shoes, the salesman is going to be rude to you if he speaks to you at all. I made the mistake of taking my husband to an emergency room after we had been sanding down some floors in our house, and we were put in the "ghetto" line. Yes, there is a ghetto line at the hospital, and you're seen by an evil RN instead of a doctor. When we went in before dressed nicely, we were put in the first-class line, and were treated very well and actually got some medical treatment. Did not get any treatment in the ghetto line. (We're white, by the way, this isn't a comment on race relations, it's a comment on human relations down here).

If you start having weird health problems (rashes, breathing problems) assume you're getting allergies. Yes, new allergies, even at retirement age. There are gobs more things in the air down here, and you can't expect the doctors to pick up on it, you have to advocate for yourself.

That's about all I can think of right now. Welcome to North Carolina!

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

Normie,
As I sit here waiting to pick my son up from preschool and dreading taking my elderly Mom to yet another Dr.'s appointment - you make me try to stop and appreciate what I have here - I am missing my tons of friends and family in NJ - while here in VA I have only made one interesting friend and I really hate how it takes forever to travel just a few miles and everything has to be planned in advance - oh boy - I am complaining again.....but I know there are so many more beautiful parks here and Spring seems to be coming early than NJ - and I have seen some birds here that I have never seen in NJ.....trying to stay positive....

Ha, that's funny -- moving from NOVA to New York, I hated how it took forever to get anywhere and everything had to be planned in advance. I was in the city though, which makes a big difference.

[Fairfax Mom]

When I lived in NJ I thought my state was the most overcrowed, traffic filled, expensive place......then I moved to NOVA and was shocked to see I was wrong!

[stacylee926]

When I moved out of NoVa 4 years ago to Hampton Roads, I only missed 2 things. Shopping - very close, every store I could imagine or need within 10 min as the crow flies. HA - we cant fly like crows, we have to sit thru 15 different traffic lights to get to the mall 10 min away. Then find a place to park in all that madness! So, what I thought I missed (all my favorite stores) are still here, I just have to actually DRIVE to get there - and drive with no traffic .

Now I actually have interesting conversations WITH strangers and people smile and converse at the store. I certainly don't miss the ego's or that attitudes of NoVa.

I seriously do really miss McKay's Used book store in Manassas. I have yet to find a cheap used book store .

Take time to explore your new city. You will find lots of great things about it in time. IF for some reason, after a few years it just isnt working, you can always move back to Virginia. There are many places in the state that are not so overpriced, yet close enough to that madness that you can visit!

[vanyali]

Oops, my bad, you said Georgia.

I think a lot of the advice is the same though.

When my cousin first moved to GA, outside of Atlanta, from Chicago, he pulled into a gas station and saw people pumping gas with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, and thought to himself "Welcome to Georgia". Yeah, I think GA is going to take some getting used to.

[safi4594]

Hello Normie,
I logged on just to reply to your post. Stay in touch and keep posting because I left the DC metro area and went to the suburban Atlanta area. I couldn't connect. After two years, I am getting ready to move back to Northern Virginia. Maybe it will be easier for you but if you lived in Northern Virginia for all these years, I expect you to have a certain "mind set" if you know what I mean...... a particular view of life and people and differences. I couldn't appreciate the general mind set of people in this region. There is something in the air back up north that energizes me and makes me feel that anything is possible. Here, I just feel that I am parked up and growing old. You mentioned health care...it's worse and cost of living ....not cheaper. Living down here for me has been a "downer". Maybe it will be better for you.
Safi

[Flamingo13]

I feel for you - we seriously considered moving to NC - but fortunately came to realize that NoVa is home, we were constantly comparing to what we love here and nothing matched. I've been here a little over 20 yrs. (moved when in my 20's) - I guess that might be part of it, but I'm spoiled by how close everything is.

[irisheyes13]

Normie,
It might help to think about what made you select GA as your retirement location... There must have been something inticing to make you select where you landed.. Focus on that over the last few weeks of winter and when spring comes, hopefully it will feel a bit more like home. We were military so had many moves and some where harder to adjust to then others but frankly, some places never became "home" even after being there for a few years... Give it some time. I hope you fell better about it soon.. You can always come back for a visit