[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by arel

Closed today. It came fast, after some time of hearing nothing.
<snip>
The Brooklyn house is sold!
<snip>
So I'll be up in Vermont before the end of the month!

Congratulations! Welcome! I look forward to reports (for better or for worse) when you have a chance to post.

[MRVphotog]

As she steps up to the edge of the precipice.....she jumps......ay-yup

[arel]

I heard a lot of ay-yups at July 4 fireworks in White River Junction 20 years ago.

I don't think I've heard a single ay-yup in Brattleboro.

[flu189]

Good to hear that events are moving along for you. We're keeping the weather a bit warm for awhile to welcome you. Enjoy the foliage and get out and explore the backroads in the region. You will no doubt find some very special spots that you will always want to come back to in any season. This coming week I'll be doing a 65 mile section of the Appalachian/Long Trail from Bromley to the Mass line which with the elevation gains I hope I'll get to see the first color transition. Good luck and keep us posted on how everything goes.

[arel]

I will.

[quickdraw]

Just don't expect Utopia. Never say "I wouldn't have expected that in Vermont". Realize that there WILL be times you feel like hightailing it back to NYC. I was depressed after my first couple of months here. Four years later and it's my favorite place, easily.

[arel]

Thanks, quickdraw. I do have concerns about missing NYC and about feeling dislocated and depressed. And also about expectations.

As I'm packing up my house, I'm having feelings of loss, resistance and dread. But I'm distracted, I think, by the time pressure of getting stuff done in time for the movers. I've been taking pictures of the rooms. I forgot to take pictures of the breakfront before I removed the books from the first shelf. I've been thinking of putting them back and then thaking photographs, but that would be a stupid waste of time. Also, the shelf wouldn't look the same. I can look at the front of the house online, on one of those real estate websites whose name I've already forgotten.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by arel

I can look at the front of the house online, on one of those real estate websites whose name I've already forgotten.

LOL. I used to do that.

[tkln]

You know, you and I are in very similar situations. When we put up our house next spring, it will be so hard for me, I'm sure of it. I've lived here since I was 5, exactly 30 years. Lots of memories, and in a way, it's the only home I've known.

But, we've also done so much work to the house that it looks nothing like it did when I was younger, and the neighborhood has changed, etc, etc...the fact is, it's just a house. A building. The building can go away, but the memories never will (well, not unless we get senile, but I digress ) and in the end, that's what matters...

[arel]

Every so often, I need to remind myself why I am moving. Then I am ok with it, even though it can be hard.

I find myself envying people who have stable housing and jobs. When I did, I took it all for granted and fantasized about change. Now that change is here, part of me longs for the stability.

I bought a copy of The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. I got it for a dollar at a book sale. I'm not an evangelical, but I did like a lot of the things he says. One thing stood out in particular, because it had direct relevance to my move. He said that all growth involves change, all change involves loss and all loss involves grief.

Now that I am packing books, my environment is starting to look very different. The change is being made more real, even though it often feels surreal. It can be disorienting, but at least it means forward movement towards a goal.