Moving on

Two weeks from today, I'm moving from here (near Columbus, OH) to Athens, Ohio. While I'm really excited to go home -- although I didn't grow up there, the six years I lived there convinced me that it was home -- I loathe packing & moving. As a result, I'm trying to limit my online time to keep me from avoiding said unpleasant task. So posts here are going to be sporadic for a while.

The other reason I'm moving is that this place is changing, rapidly and painfully. We moved out to Pataskala because we wanted to be in the country, but close to a city. There's a horse barn across the street. We have eight acres of woods; the horse folks have almost a hundred more. There used to be several hundred more wooded acres behind us.

And there's the rub -- "used to be."

Columbus is a rapidly expanding city. Or, rather, it's a continuously metastasizing suburban cancer. When we moved here, there was a single development going on, about four miles away. Now, there are probably eight or ten within two miles, and they've been clear-cutting whatever trees they can. This was not what I signed up for.

Athens is growing -- they have a Wal Mart now, as well as a number of other big box stores -- but it's still in the middle of Appalachia. There's only so much it can grow, so fast. Not so Columbus, which seems to have to end of expansionist appetite.

So we're leaving our beloved woods and gardens to live in town, although our new house is still surrounded by trees. On the other hand, the human climate of Athens is much more congenial; Athens County is one of the bluest counties in Ohio, and has a very strong grass roots sustainable agriculture community. Lots of organic farmers and progressive folks working cooperatively. The downside is that the college is a major party school, and downtown Athens is dominated by bars. And it's in the middle of Appalachia.

But it's still home, and I'm raring to get back to it.