I had forgotten how much work moving is! We moved not only to a new place, but to a new community a couple hours of driving away from our old, beloved home (thanks Joel!).

When we finished cleaning our old place and were about to pack up the cat, he sat at the front stoop and cried to be let in. And then E. and I cried, just started sobbing. We needed to do that--to feel the grief of letting go of a home in a community we have loved so much. Change hurts, and I think it is necessary, that pain, in order for growth to take place. It's like when you were a kid and your bones were growing so fast that you ached at night. It hurts a little, but it's for the better.

Our new place is much bigger and we're so close to the new downtown that we will never have to worry about finding parking. There is an office supply store directly across from our place, which I find to be providential. There is also a bead store, which some of you will grasp just how fated it seems to be :)

There is no Copperfield's books, but there is Booksmart, which may be small and a little crowded, but still has a great selection and sells ice cream and hot dogs to boot. We had delicious Mexican food for lunch and the Albertson's is in walking distance. There's a lot of scouting to be done, and laying down of rituals, like certain ways you take to get somewhere, and times of day that services take place. There's getting used to the roar of the freight train that passes through every couple hours and the occasional whining and yipping of various dogs next door. In other words, we have to become reacquainted with the noises of civilization. We were spoiled by the silence of our little west-side street, so quiet that our first night there the hush of silence sounded like rain.

But we have more space and the hills look so much like the familiar ones in sonoma county that it's comforting. The town has charm and feels like a town in transition, one that seems as though it can only go up.

Other than trying to remember which drawer I put the can opener in, and where to find the aspirin, I feel like I will find familiarity soon enough. My little upstairs castle of an office is set up nicely, and though we're on dial up for another week or so until our DSL gets turned on, I'm not complaining.

Change hurts, but it's necessary sometimes.

J