I Now Live On Memory Lane

I've lived in a big city, a couple of college towns, and on an island. Now I'm trying to wrap my mind around establishing roots in Smalltown, U.S.A. It's always been an attractive notion to me- walking my kids to school, supporting local businesses, knowing my neighbors, using already existing structures- but there are ramifications I hadn't considered. I'm still a fan, but it is a huge adjustment. I think the permanence is hard to conceive.
Because of all this, there have been lots of thoughts and ideas running around in my head, about place, identity, opportunity, exposure. To make these thoughts productive, I'm going outside of myself- always a good idea, something we should all do more often.
These topics are creeping into conversation and leading to all sorts of other discussions, all very interesting. And without intention, they are also guiding my eyes as I read. Just recently, my husband pointed me to this blog posting by Alan Jacobs from the American Scene. My eyes have been resting here ever since. It, as well as the links he highlights, is a large part of what I'm processing right now.
It's no longer just a topic in one of my sociology classes, it's the reality in which I now live. More to come on this, I'm sure.

Stuck In A Moment

It's 4:20 AM and I can't sleep. So I'm taking the quiet of the morning as a chance to post something I've been smiling about for weeks. We've been "in transition" for about a month now- leaving the Vineyard, buying a house, defending (and passing!) a dissertation, preparing for 2nd baby- I'm sure I'm forgetting something. We joke that we like to cram all of life's big changes into a short span of time. Lots of big moments in the past few weeks, but by far one of my favorites occured one morning when we were babysitting David and Sarah's kids. We'd gotten them dressed and fed for school and were just cleaning up when an impromptu concert started up in the den. It started with Sam and Peter lounging on the couch strumming guitars- some slow lazy version of a Killers song. Then Olivia joined in, the broom and mop came out, and Dorothy provided the backup IPod. Before we could really process what was happening they were singing U2 at the top of their lungs. "Elevation", followed by "Stuck In A Moment", and the boys knew every word- they were singing with such conviction. Olivia just strummed and sang "elevation" over and over again, for both songs. The energy in the room was like no other. Sheer happiness. What a cool crew.