Now that my husband is retired and the prospect of the winter is not far off, the discussion switches to the inevitable question of moving. He would like to be somewhere without the inevitability of winter, and that has always been his dream. Who am I to negate his dreams since so many of mine are the motivating force in my life?
Caryl Fallert has recently moved to Paducah and before she did we discussed the possibility of joining her there. The town is downright paving the way for artists to relocate, giving all sorts of incentives to make it irresistable.
I miss Caryl very much.
The first thought that came to mind when discussing moving was not losing my wonderful house and studio set up (not to mention all that stuff I would have to pack!!) but losing my GIRLFRIENDS.
Tommy in funny glasses.
I am so lucky to have found such amazing nutnuts as these gals.
Sonji with two sets of glasses, just in case she misses something.
How do I look in these? asks Frieda.
I am not eating this cracker, really! says Emily.
Take the picture of the artwork while I hold it up, says Anne.
I have no stupid pictures of my darling Rose.
Laura in Japan,
and then recently completed dental work.
My friends mean so much to me and have brought some kind of wonderful sanity to my life. How can I even entertain the thought of moving away from them?
Luckily, I haven't been in Maine long enough to make too many friends. But I'm completely devastated about missing the ones I have made when we move. You had to remind me?! You're very lucky. You knew that. (But you'd make new friends if you moved. I promise. You knew that too.)
ReplyDeleteAwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take much to even make me get teary these days, but this I deeply understand.
ReplyDeleteWe are seriously thinking of moving to Portland, OR, to be nearer the grandchildren and our very reliable daughter as we get older. The thing about being a quilter is that you have a network of quilting buddies everywhere! I can always come back to visit the ones here and I will have new ones - or they can come and visit me!! I worry more about my husband making the adjustment again.
ReplyDeleteYou could always move out here - we have pretty nice winters!!
I think I was saying, "Good Lord, Melody, you're not going to blog this are you?!" And on the serious side, I know exactly what you mean. That is the first thing I think of whenever the prospect of moving comes up for us. Friends.
ReplyDeleteI moved away almost three years ago and felt the same way. Oh, how I hated to leave my pals! But you know what, they are as close as email, and they come to visit often enough that I see them almost as much as I did before. And I have made many new ones here. Make a nice, cozy guest room and you will never be without the anticipation of the next visit from a beloved friend.
ReplyDeleteYou are A)lucky to have such friends and B) lucky to actually SEE them often!
ReplyDeleteSome of my best girlfriends live just a ways down the highway, but with small children and work and all that 30 something stuff going on, I hardly ever get to actually *see* them.
BUT, I know that if the proverbial shit hit the fan, we'd be in each other's driveways in a matter of minutes. That kind of friendship is VERY hard to give up, and even harder to complain about, so I won't!
That said though, I LOVE seeing all the fun you have with your girlfriends - I'd love to have a nutty, creative crew like that to hang out with! See? MORE ways we live through you vicariously!!!! LOL
I am beginning to think along the same lines as you. We are fairly sure we will be moving when Steve stops working; and here I have my first really good group of friends in my life. So while we evaluate places to retire to, I will be looking at potential places/ways to make friends.
ReplyDeleteIt ain't easy, but it can be done.
How about you retire someplace first we join you??
I left the Chicago suburbs in the mid 90s for Houston. I haven't missed the cold winters one minute but what I did find to be a bit ironic is that in Chicago you never see your neighbors in the winter and in Houston you never see your neighbors in the summer. Here everyone runs from their air conditioned car to their air conditioned house. I guess you trade one evil for another one!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the Army and we moved all the time. It takes close to 2 years to get adjusted to a new location.
It's a difficult decision but I wish you well in your thoughts about it!
Paducah is about thirty miles from me. It is the closest place to go for good restaurants and stores. It's a pretty nice town. However, we still have winter here. I'm from the Chicago area myself. So I know what kind of winter you're used to. It is better here; warmer longer, a lot less snow, but it's still winter. You'd have to go quite a bit further south to be reasonably warm year round. If you did move here, I would love to come visit you. :)
ReplyDeleteYou will never leave your friends behind...you might see them a bit less often, and there might be a bit more distance between you, but you will always be friends. Personally, I think you need to move somewhere warm (like, say...California?) and somewhere lovely where people like to come and visit (like, say...wine country?) and where there are good quilt activities nearby so you will get your quilter friends coming to you (like, say, northern California?).
ReplyDeleteThis is such a tough decision to make and leaving friends is terribly difficult. Of course you will be warmly welcomed by artists and quilters wherever you go. That is the advantage of having so many people "know" you.
ReplyDeleteI love what Paducah is doing for the artistic community, and from what I saw, the studios and living areas are wonderful. You will still have winter, though, and it will be an adjustment to live so far away from a large city. Back on the plus side would be the ease of arranging a girlfriends weekend within "driving distance" for everyone.
I know you love California and those of us out here would be *delighted* to have you living nearby. If it's heat you want, Southern California is the place (and we have excellent Mexican food!). Housing is frightfully expensive, though, and in San Diego we have the dubious honor of the highest gas prices in the nation. If I hadn't already lived here for thirty years, I couldn't afford to move here now. Jen
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