Most of the time, I try to not think about the future as a whole. Keeping my focus on what I am doing day to day, helps with this effort. Yesterday, I had some spare time while waiting for a friend in downtown Boston, and I found myself wondering. Wondering what Boston is going to look like when oil is $10/gallon. Wondering which of the people I was watching were going to make it, and which weren’t. Which were going to be leaders and doers and part of the solution…and which were going to be part of the problem. Boston is intimately tied to my past and for most of my life, I considered it home. Yesterday, it occurred to me that this is no longer home. First and foremost, home to me is where my heart is and my heart is with my husband back in the Pacific Northwest. Secondly, in a very short time frame, I’ve gotten used to the way things are done in Portland. Boston, in contrast, feels foreign. People don’t seem to be as environmentally aware here. Local produce isn’t as available (it’s here, but it’s not in abundance). Local pride centers on sports teams and history and not on the people, the land and the bounty of the area like it does in the Pacific Northwest. There is a much more obvious culture of consumption here. I notice a lot of BMW and Volvo SUV’s, tons of designer handbags, and tons of people walking around with shopping bags packed full of purchases. There were no notices about conserving water by reusing towels in the hotel (which surprised me). I don’t see recycling containers everywhere like I do in Portland. I many ways, it makes me a little sad. I love it here – I hate to think what it’s going to be like in the not so distant future.
Regardless - being here is bringing back a lot of memories! I've been trying to meet up with a few people, but then when I came to my company's office - I had a couple of surprises. One was that the head of engineering here is a guy I worked for about 7 years ago! I didn't know he'd be here, so we've done some catching up. Secondly, the director of marketing and I were talking and when he found out that I used to live here, he asked where. When I told him, he asked if I knew 'so and so' from one of the towns I lived in when I was in grade school. Of all the people in that town, the 'so and so' he mentioned was my best friend when we were in 2nd and 3rd grade!! What are the odds? In fact, just about a month ago, I was trying to find her on facebook, so I'm so excited to get some contact information for her. And, to make the world even smaller, she's now working in some capacity at the academy that one of my old boyfriend's went to (and who is a coach there now). Seriously, could this world shrink any more??!! Ugh, and then I start thinking about all these people from my past and I wonder what will happen to them when the economy tanks. Bummer.
On a more local note – our closing is on Friday. On Monday, we get first access to our new little homestead! First order of business (besides cleaning the whole place) is to paint the master bath. We’ll also get the materials needed to get the garden in and get the chicken coop started (H is going to build it from plans). It looks like we’ll have to purchase plants already started in order to get a harvest this year, it being so late. Of course, we’ll also have to figure out a way to identify the different fruit trees so that we can begin learning how to care for them. We will also have to spend pretty much all our spare time in June moving. We need to vacate both our garage and our storage unit by the end of June. We’ll still have the apartment through September 10th, but getting out of both of those places will save us over $300 a month. August is still going to be tight as we’ll be paying both rent and our mortgage, but we’ll make it work. In all honesty, I’m really looking forward to getting settled and getting the preps going in earnest!
Regardless - being here is bringing back a lot of memories! I've been trying to meet up with a few people, but then when I came to my company's office - I had a couple of surprises. One was that the head of engineering here is a guy I worked for about 7 years ago! I didn't know he'd be here, so we've done some catching up. Secondly, the director of marketing and I were talking and when he found out that I used to live here, he asked where. When I told him, he asked if I knew 'so and so' from one of the towns I lived in when I was in grade school. Of all the people in that town, the 'so and so' he mentioned was my best friend when we were in 2nd and 3rd grade!! What are the odds? In fact, just about a month ago, I was trying to find her on facebook, so I'm so excited to get some contact information for her. And, to make the world even smaller, she's now working in some capacity at the academy that one of my old boyfriend's went to (and who is a coach there now). Seriously, could this world shrink any more??!! Ugh, and then I start thinking about all these people from my past and I wonder what will happen to them when the economy tanks. Bummer.
On a more local note – our closing is on Friday. On Monday, we get first access to our new little homestead! First order of business (besides cleaning the whole place) is to paint the master bath. We’ll also get the materials needed to get the garden in and get the chicken coop started (H is going to build it from plans). It looks like we’ll have to purchase plants already started in order to get a harvest this year, it being so late. Of course, we’ll also have to figure out a way to identify the different fruit trees so that we can begin learning how to care for them. We will also have to spend pretty much all our spare time in June moving. We need to vacate both our garage and our storage unit by the end of June. We’ll still have the apartment through September 10th, but getting out of both of those places will save us over $300 a month. August is still going to be tight as we’ll be paying both rent and our mortgage, but we’ll make it work. In all honesty, I’m really looking forward to getting settled and getting the preps going in earnest!
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