When I moved to West Virginia, I decided to go out and see this part of the country. I did not know how long I would be there. This move was suppose to be a stepping stone and it turned out to be a life changing decision all right, but one that lead me in a direction I would never have anticipated or seen in my future. That is life though and that is what happens when you choose to combine your life with someone else and their family. It makes life rich, unpredictable and wonderful. And, it would never have happened, had I not moved to the green hills of West Virginia.
Luckily, I meet another person in West Virginia, my future husband, who was interested in see this place while I was here plan, or at least interested in seeing the little places my map said we might go. I credit this map and the social network for new faculty at the University, called the Rookies, with getting to know and falling in love with my husband.
Oddly enough, his maternal family was also from and mostly in Illinois too, with a few in Iowa, as my parents were in Arkansas. His father’s side was in Brazil. I found this Illinois connection interesting since I had left Illinois with no intentions of being tied to it again, except through my own family, immediate and extended. It also does help immensely that our families are concentrated in Illinois. When we had to travel to see family, we were often in the same state as they, or passing though it to get to other family and so seeing those in Illinois on our way to the next states. They were both in a central location, or roughly so. I had no idea I would be moving nearer to them in the future; the job market decided that.
I just made a decision to see what I could, camp when I could, walk in the woods when I could, and soak up the history of the Eastern states as much as I could, and it lead to today—us living in Iowa.
While in West Virginia, we saw West Virginia and Southern Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh is nice and close to Morgantown, and we got over to D.C. and Gettysburg, Antietam, Harper’s Ferry, the Appalachian Trail, Assateague, and the Outer Banks while we were much closer to them then we are now.
We could have seen even more. And hopefully we will again someday.
Now, we are in Iowa and trying to have the same goal we had before. Money and time are factors of course in being able to travel. The academic life in West Virginia gave us the money and time to travel. Previous to West Virginia, I was a student, which meant little money, even if the time existed to travel. And a transition in jobs, with half of us a student again and half us looking for employment, means the travel has slowed a bit too. But, I said when I started this blog, travel could be as close as the restaurant next door, and I am going to hold myself to that idea again.
I have not been posting. I have been working a bit, but not enough to mean not posting. And money was tight, but we use our money from West Virginia University wisely, so we are okay. I can only guess I was not in the mind space after our move to write on the blog in the way that I did before. I am back to that space again. It helps to have a job again; one that is temporary again, but enough to give us some breathing space in terms of paying bills. It takes my time, but I am making room for writing in my life again.
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