You may recall that living in Ithaca was not neva' a part of our plans. As a matter of fact, it was so far removed from our plans that when my mother suggested we ditch the madness and come up to Ithaca, I instantaneously went dramatic.
I remember the fateful moment.
I was standing in the backyard so the kids wouldn't hear me lose my cool. I kept kicking a huge shelf of of bloated plywood with crooked, rusty nails sticking out of it as I went over every single little tiny detail of life in North Carolina. I like North Carolina, I love it, in fact. But. This house...
My mom says her classic "Pack your shit and come on." and the world spins out of control, I fall to my knees just barely missing the protruding death needles, and with tears in my eyes, I relent to what she suggests. We didn't really have much of a choice.
And here we are, almost one year later...
In some ways we've rebounded. I've reconnected with my family in a way I never thought I would again, and their generosity in every single way this word can be defined, has changed the whole of my life.
I got to see my moms' store, before they decided to close it down. I loved that store, and I am for seriously hoarding the one, last peach scented candle that exists in my world. I will cut the person who tries to take it from me.
We took some risks that paid off, like putting Caesar in a school district that, while it sometimes pisses ME off, has done wonders for Caesar's independence and has taught him some of the things he really did not want to learn with us.
And in a lot of ways, we're stunted.
There is no progress in Ithaca, this place has been "Under Construction" since I was a teenager, and now with the economy so terrible even some stores that have been mainstays on The Commons are shutting down permanently. In the time that we've been here, we've seen big stores shut down too, not just the small businesses and boutiques. Very little flourishes here.
I made a promise to start on my photography business this year, and while I'm doing so, regardless - I've learned that in order to have business out here, you have to align yourself with a certain political group, you have to network like a god, and that's why so many photographers who might not provide 'professional' caliber work are still succeeding.
I'll never network like that, I don't want to pretend to care about politics, I don't want to be at any of these events just so I can hand a few business cards out...
The Winters are dreadfully cold {everyone contests that this year was unseasonably warm, but my buns are still freezing} and even for someone who likes the cold, this is too much. To fill our propane tank - essential for house heat, hot water and cooking - is $500. And we've already had it filled twice, while being conservative!
Despite all of that, Christian and I continued to make plans for our near future.
From the 2013 Minion #5, to opening the photography business, to Caesar graduating from elementary school... we set a path in Ithaca.
We didn't realize why we'd felt like these plans weren't quite right until recently, when my mom reminded me that Ithaca was not supposed to become our home, Ithaca was a refuge and now it's time to move on to greener pastures before this place sucks us in and we never get out.
She's right. We relegated ourselves to complacency; we're here, we might as well make camp. But being here depresses us, this is not where we want to be.
So, Christian and I thought about it, worked out the details, checked out some numbers and it's officially time to announce...
North Carolina, Take Two: Summer 2012
We are all very excited, anxious, ready...
We're tired of this place's poop.
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