This time last year it had not yet occurred to me that I should leave the west coast. I was just feeling very out-of-sorts, twitchy, unsettled. I knew I needed to sell my house but I hadn’t a clue where I should go.
Then one day in June for some reason I decided to check the price of real estate back east and within minutes I was muttering “what the hell am I doing here?”
Part of my problem with living outside Seattle was the horrendous traffic conditions. It seemed as if there was no time of day when you could go anywhere without getting stuck in a jam and the situation was only going to get worse. Every available piece of land was being developed for condos and shopping malls. The green bits were being bulldozed with no regard for wildlife. It was too depressing.
I say to myself that I should have made this decision ten years ago, but everything happens in it’s own time. I had “stuff” to do that was important to me, so I have no regrets. I am just so thrilled to be living where I now am. It’s the sort of place that inspires you to run around constantly with a camera.
My friend Grant is from South Africa. He felt hemmed in outside Seattle, saying that he couldn’t see the horizon. Yesterday we drove to Saratoga Springs, which took us through a quite flat part of the state and I realized just what Grant had been missing. The sky is so much bigger here! Perhaps that is the reason I felt, on arrival back east, that I had shed a heavy garment. But I had been used to living in suburbia, so if I felt that way, it’s no wonder my African buddy was claustrophobic!
How wonderful you landed in Cambridge, and that you are feeling and sharing the differences. Someday I hope to visit there. In recent months, I have been spending a lot of time in the City of Baltimore, helping my brother, who is living with acute leukemia, daily we drive into downtown, to Johns Hopkins Hospital. As lovely as some areas of the city may be, our drives lead us through the worst of it, and they feel as crushing as the illness. I return to Cape Cod and love its smallness, the beautiful skies against the sea, and I am home. This photo is so intriguing with its birds eye, and dramatic depths.
So sorry to hear about your brother. It’s so tough seeing someone you love battling and suffering. I wish you both well.
This business of an open sky is serious! I’ve lived in Washington, DC for a decade now taking care of an ill daughter and wonderful granddaughter since she was born. I love being with them but I miss the open Wisconsin skies!!! The longing is deep in my bones!
Love your rush hour! My town, Prescott Az, has become very crowded over the past decade. Enjoy the calm where you are.
I really do. The biggest crowd I see now is at the bird feeder and I’ll never tire of that!
what an incredible photograph. yes open skies!!!