6 month mark...

So I got to counting yesterday and it looks like the end of April marks the end of the 6 month mark for my time here in Boone.  Then I started laughing!!!!  In just under 6 month time I have managed to secure most of what I want, with a lot of connecting, and a lot of patience, but also with the kindness and openness of the community to which I now feel I am a part.

I was thinking back to November, alone in this space, not really knowing my flat mates, not really hearing from the friends that were already here, and not knowing what the spring might bring.  A lot of uncertainty is ok for a traveler like me, but the permanence of trying to root down here, and not knowing IF I would have the things I wanted was making me question the decision to stay.

I was thinking of late December - early January, when the temperatures dropped and I became dependent on a car, and even that was sketchy, the feeling of remoteness and of being alone starting to get me down.

I was thinking of February when despite the temps I started making connections.  Hell there was a week there when I went on like 5 dates!  Not bad for a small town like this.  Birthday months are always good to me.

Now its about to crest into May and I have Jesse coming for a 10 day visit to shred mountain bikes and get rad! I've Cousin making plans for a summertime visit, I have a great bike shop job and a dreamy job pulling pints at the only local brewery in town, I have a community outreach bike workshop to teach this weekend, I have invited to sit on a board and committee to help start a community bike share and bike kitchen program, I have bike rides for days right out my front door, a great mountain bike community of shredders, and empty country roads for miles and miles, I have a really great Lady Friend who looks at me from across the room like Im some kind of wonderful, the list of free stuff includes furniture, clothes, food, and 3 bikes to this point... the list of blessings just keeps getting longer...

When I made my original list of what I wanted from a town I kind of expected that I would come to a place that had everything I wanted up and running.  While Im not about to try to wrangle up a farmers market (good cause there already is one) I have found a few of the things I wanted missing from the experience thus far.  Turns out, up here in the High Country, if you dont see what it is you want, you go out and make it!  There are people who make their own dog food from road kill up here for fuck's sake!  Its a real Do It Yourself culture in the mountains of North Carolina and I think Im going to dig it!  Of course part of me wants to whine about the work it takes, but the craftsman in me is really happy to have the chance to see what I can do.  If you aint got what you need - just MAKE IT!

Being a tourist for the last 6 years has given me a lot of confidence in myself, that I can go anywhere and fit in.  But that assumes fitting in to what already exists.  NC is going to teach me how not only to fit back into my own culture, and to feel a sense of permanency, but to actually CREATE the things I want to see, to "be the change you want to see" as the inspirational poster suggests.

I feel very lucky to be right here right now.
And theres really no other place to be.

S.

running season....

no, NOT jogging, I mean running AWAY.

It has occurred to me lately, in the form of restless energy and a nagging unease about my soul, that this is usually the time of year that I pack my shit up and get moving towards the next seasonal gig.

In the last 6 years it has been my luck and pleasure to move freely about the country and indeed the world, to see those who are important to me, to make new friends along the way and to have the pleasure to go go go go...

But I also leave leave leave leave...  For as many arrivals, and as many surprise visits and reconnections I have had in the last few years I have had an equal number of departures, goodbyes, and tearful flights.  Usually in the spring and the fall, and usually with the thought that it would only be a little while before we would see each other again.  Plans, or at least an IDEA...

This settling down and staying put has been a challenge, and one that I was entirely up for.  But the Go-season is happening right now and Im feeling a little bored.  Im missing the adventure, the friends, the community, the rides of places I have been in the past and slightly limited by the high country weather when it comes to exploring where I am now.  And you KNOW how staying present in the moment is soooo tough for a nostalgic-planner-Pisces like me!

So Im trying.  Im drawing and writing and riding when I can, and trying not to obsess about being dependent on a car, and without the solid community I have had else where.  Im trying to build what I want and its true that I have some very unique opportunities coming up fast.  I just have to stay open to them, positive about the social group I do have, non-judgmental about where I am, and not keep peeking over that fence.

Its pretty green on this side too... Maybe a little water is all we need.
S.