A few months ago, when Darren accepted the job offer here in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, the move still seemed so far away. Surreal, almost. I spent my last few months in New York trying my best to soak the city into my pores, but secretly creating a list of things I wouldn't miss about it:
1. Trekking about a mile back from Trader Joe's with a 15 lb. baby strapped to me and a 10 lb. bag of groceries in each hand.
2. Smelling other people's cooking through the vents in our apartment. One of our neighbors is quite fond of fish and garlic, as I learned.
3. Having to tiptoe around to prepare dinner while Ivy napped, since her room was right behind the kitchen.
4. The weather
5. Oh, and did I mention the weather?
But every chance I got during those last few months (and frankly, it wasn't that often since the horrendous winter foiled my plans most days), I took long walks with Ivy through Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Heights, and DUMBO. I took in the views of the skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the harbor and reminded myself how lucky I'd been to have lived in one of the most beautiful areas of the city for the past eight years (and in Brooklyn for sixteen years!). I would watch the sun setting behind the Statue of Liberty and tell myself that I would remember this view forever. I probably will.
But a new view is taking its place. I'm grinning and bearing the McMansion subdivisions and chain restaurants, and seeing wide open spaces and nature everywhere, even among the urban sprawl. I'm reminding myself that Ivy and I will be able to step out the back door and into the yard to be outside, rather than loading up a stroller, going down the hallway, waiting for the elevator, and walking down the street to the park for a taste of the outdoors. We'll be living in a community that has a pool, and we can swim there every day if we want to. We'll have space galore in our new home, rather than cramming every square inch with possessions. We won't have to worry about the rat race of the New York City school system, public OR private.
Are there things we'll miss about Brooklyn? Plenty. I already miss the lemon scones with butter and jam that they served at One Girl Cookies (along with their stellar cappucinos). And I'm still getting used to the whole in-and-out-of-the-car thing and strapping Ivy into the car seat multiple times a day.
But right now, I'm sitting here writing my first post on this blog from the back porch of our temporary corporate apartment, my toes in the sun on an 80-degree early April day, watching birds flit around in the trees and smelling the spring air. I couldn't do that in Brooklyn.
Things are looking up, folks. We're going to be happy here.
