A New Place To Grow Old

It's amazing what the sun can do.

Living in the Pacific Northwest is just plain glorious, if you ask me. I'm a New England transplant, a "Yankee Girl," and I have to say, as much as I love my home town and my friends and family back east, I can't see myself going back. It's the place of my youth now - the place of memories and growing up. It is my "then"; this, Washington, is my "now."

From the perspective of a "Yankee Girl," the sight of Mt. Rainier poking up out of the landscape is something I can not, nor do I think I will ever, get over. I don't want to. I'm in awe of it. The view of that mountain is just purely breathtaking for me. I always know God is alive and well and present for us when I see that mountain.

On a sunny day, you can see the Cascades and the Olympic Mountains on the horizon - it's surreal - like living in a painting.

Don't get me wrong - New England is really cool. From where I grew up in Connecticut you could be anywhere, (if you wanted), in a flash! Connecticut has so much to offer in itself, but if you want a day trip, in about two hours or so, you can be in Boston, travel to Cape Cod, hike in New Hampshire, ski in Vermont, or see a show in New York. (Can't forget Maine, which is a bit farther but just lovely!) I love the fife and drum parades, the small-town communities, and the beach. (Never a fan of humidity, the "summer people," and that traffic, though - but that's another post.) The fall colors and the historic homes and the water - Long Island Sound and the Connecticut River - will always be embedded in my heart and part of who I am.

When you live in New England, you get "split." There are so many sports teams - you can pick between the Giants, Jets, Patriots, or the Mets, Yankees, or Red Sox. (In my book, there's only one basketball team though, and that's anything out of the University of Connecticut - UCONN!) Anyway, it's kind of like being a Republican or a Democrat. You either are a Yanks fan or a Sox fan; you can't be both. Boy, if your best bud likes the Sox and you are loyal to the Yanks, your friendship is in danger all baseball season! Then, it continues into football season! Uggh - being loyal to a team and being a loyal friend was hard for me when it came to sports. Here, we have the Mariners and the Seahawks. Easy! No loyalty disputes needed! I will officially tell anyone who asks me who my favorite sports teams are now that I am a SEATTLE fan, period - and I am. This is my new home, they are my home teams! Go Seahawks!!!

When I moved to Washington, I just loved the fresh air. Cool air. There's nothing better than a summer day here when the windows are open and a cool breeze comes through the room; that's how I felt in the fall in Connecticut.

Where I live now, it doesn't snow a lot. I like the snow, but not THAT much. A little snow every now and then is fine with me. We get "just enough" here, and I like that.

I like the rain. It's like the rain in Ireland - misty, sometimes heavy, but mostly manageable. When I first moved here, I bought about five umbrellas and an umbrella stand for the front door so I would feel like a real member of the Pacific Northwest. (PNW). Little did I know that I'd rarely use those umbrellas. If you live here, you do everything in the rain. Umbrellas be damned! If kids at school here waited for sunny days in order to have recess (like they did back home when I was a kid), they'd never go outside!

A PNW person, born and raised here once said to me, "We just say it rains here all the time to keep the riff-raff out!" (I think they mean the Californians; not sure. I've heard that's a big deal here - CA transplants. Oh, well, I'm not one of them, so that must NOT pertain to me!)

Yes, it rains here. And rain usually means gray days. But it also means RAINBOWS and GREEN and LUSH, FRESH vegetation. Yes, I mow my lawn ALOT; but my flowers and plants are so pretty, I don't mind being outside. 

So, when there is a sunny day here for the first time in a long time, (and in the summer there are usually many put together to make it all worth while), it's like magic. It's  another reminder to me that God is alive and well and hasn't forgotten us. People here really appreciate the first few sunny days of the season. It seems to create bigger smiles, better attitudes, and life looks really good once you've gotten a nice dose of all-natural Vitamin D.

I love Washington. It's my new home. It'll be the place where I grow OLD(er), while Connecticut is the place where I grew UP. Never really having had roots, I like the idea that I'm planting myself and my children in a new place where the rain will keep those roots hydrated, and this new me, the "starting-over" me, can blossom and grow in a landscape that I am happy to be a part of. 

Since Facebook, Skype, and my phone let me keep in touch with my friends and family back East on a regular basis, I will admit that makes it is easier to start again with support from those that knew me before now. Still, I look forward to knowing more people here that I can create friendships with, people who can see me grow and watch my children grow too. It's a new adventure, every day.

I'll always miss home (especially the fireflies - we don't have them here); still, I am loving my new life in Washington. My heart is bi-coastal, I guess, and that's okay. You know what they say, though - "You can take the girl out of New England, but you can never take the Yankee out of the girl." 

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Cheerth!