*Listen to Muzzle of Bees by Wilco while reading*
My views have changed dramatically; from a smoggy city skyline laced with congested traffic, to dead ends leading into Lake Michigan and Green Bay. From horns honking to get ahead, because they don’t like your stickers, or just for the Hell of it, to the only horn heard being the bullhorn from the ship channel. A 9:00 PM reminder that evening is undeniable. A new pace for a new place.
I have no doubt that this was the right path for me. I have a low pulsing sense of calm that had become foreign to me. Could this calm be my new norm? Living in the city I had a constant chirping inside chidding me about my schedule and how long and exhausting each drive would be. I’d ask, “Am I doing enough?” “What is everyone else doing?” it was exhausting.
I would step out of my apartment in Houston to feel my allergies swell my sinuses after inhaling the visible pollution that marks Houston as one of the most polluted cities in the nation. Now I step out to a sky that when breathed in makes me feel the channels of my lungs open and chill with the freshness of the air.
Doubtless, the change from a 45-minute to an hour commute each way down various highways and stop-and-go traffic, being cut off, and having people right on my tail is a dramatically different reality than my current 30-minute commute over rolling hills, past farmhouses, and quaint local businesses.
People here look you in the eye and take a moment to hear your response to the canned question, “How are you?” The towns are sleepy now. Shops and hotels are not yet flying the OPEN banners and stringing flags of WELCOME for the flood of visitors who are soon to come to this idyllic county. Like anyplace there will be changes to the norms, and frustrations will mount, but for now peace is a welcome guest.
HipMamaJenn 