Cape Karen
Well, here I am, back in TN, and still hating every minute of it. People ask, "Well, why don't you just move then?" The answer is: $$$$ - it takes a lot of money to move - the kind of money we just don't have right now. It would require selling our house, that's mortgaged for more than it's worth; and also the expense (and hassle) of moving an entire 3B, 2B household full of "stuff." Then, we'd have to find a decent place to live somewhere else, and find new jobs. We'd also become 'vagabonds' (renter's) again; and that's a major change we aren't sure we ever want to make. Owning, even when it isn't equity-producing, is still better than being at the mercy of a landlord.
So, for today, we're still living in 'our home' in TN, and I'll just have to make the best of it ~ and take a lot more vacations! That means I need to change my attitude and become more grateful ~ for having a roof over our heads, that our expenses are relatively low and affordable and that we both still have our health. I must try to find the roses in the dung-pile. So, let's see. . . where are those roses?
This is a pretty area of the country - the Great Smoky Mountains are always changing color, and transforming our daily view. Nature reserves, hiking trails and mountain streams dot the landscape; so there are places to escape to - to get away from the heavy, in-town traffic. We're living close to town, and everything we need is right at our fingertips, so there's no need for a long commute to work in this day and age of ever-higher gas prices. We don't have cold winters with big snowstorms, nor raging floods, devastating hurricanes, deadly earthquakes or whirling tornadoes, and we'll never have to worry about a tsunami. (We are living just east of the Madras Fault Line, which runs under Memphis, TN, and that could be disasterous should it erupt; but, hopefully, that won't happen in our lifetime.)
It's an area full of mega-shopping malls, and there are lots of local crafters, so those needs are easily met. It's an easy commute up to Knoxville, when we need to 'go to the city.' People here tend to be warm, friendly and polite ~ unlike some New Englander's. There are lots of nice golf courses nearby - and that's all it takes to keep Frank happy!
The roses are here, I just have to dig for them, and try to ignore the dung pile they are buried beneath. Like ~ the neighborhood; now full to overflowing with many hundreds of young, single Mexican men, who incessantly drive in and out of here in their loud, boom-box blaring cars; the lack of any nearby ocean; and the high-polluting ozone levels and car exhaust fumes that always coat the air down in this valley. Those are the three main things that make life here annoying and difficult; three things that I can't change.
And, besides ~ I'm a die-hard Yankee, and this just isn't "home," and never will be. Home is where the ocean waves roll in and out, the summer breezes cool and refresh, and the people don't ever say, "Ya'll come on back now, ya hear?" But. . . I must remember; it could be worse, it could be worse ~ it could be worse. I will be grateful, I will be grateful ~ I will be grateful . . .there are roses buried beneath the dung pile.
(Now, where did I put that shovel?)
Posted by Karen at October 17, 2006 11:52 AM