Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

In the run-up to us all moving from Spring Street in Cambridge to Valhalla by the Sea, there was so damn much stressful shit goin' down. It was as though the universe felt Hey, now's a good time – let's cram a crapload of onerous incidents onto them!

The Amazing Bob wrote of his trepidations:

Change is something Donna
Seems to throw herself into
Flying into the teeth of change
Not without fear or anxiety
But nonetheless
Dashing into the chilly waves of change
With hope and expectation
Of good, exciting growth
While I do tend to pull back and brace myself
Shrink back into my shell
Look out watchfully
Have trouble sleeping, eating and, even, peeing
Expect the worst
Get tough, laconic and functional
And wait for all this turbulence
And uncertainty to be done
For the air to settle
For the water to recede
And then cautiously emerge
Like a cat from under the bed
To see what’s safe to do
And feel
And attempt
Hoping that soon I’ll be
Settling into new
Comfortable routines.
10/03

The issue in my life this year
is CHANGE
Not spare change, not chump change
But real, dynamic, overwhelming CHANGE
At an age where I thought
I could relax and cuddle into
My routines
But instead, last year, my body
Held me hostage, demanding I work only part-time
And this year, on June 12
I got laid off and so I had to deal with
Losing most of my friends at work
And my daily routines
And this was the first summer
I couldn’t play sandlot baseball
Because I’m too old, sore and slow
And now we’re buying property
In another city – we’ll be living
By the shore in a small, crowded residential neighborhood
And no nearby malls, no quick trips into the city
And in three months I’ll apply for Social Security
For early retirement benefits
And this winter I’ll live in a cottage
Amid New England winter’s challenges
And have to face my uglifying face
And who I’ll be
Who I’ll become
What I’ll want
And who my wife will become
And who she’ll want
And where CHANGE will sweep us.
10/03

For as much as I love where we live and TAB def came to thoroughly appreciate it, we both miss living in town – specifically, Cambridge. We could walk everywhere and the T was just a few blocks away. Yes, there’s a bus that comes along regularly here in Valhalla but it’s just not the same.

Rents in Cambridge were insane and, for buying, only complete tear downs were in our price range. (We could afford to buy but not rebuild/replace) If we could’ve afforded to stay, we would have.

Hate change and yet, if I can break on through to the other side, there’s good to be had.
Changes – Bowie