We've been here nearly a week, and it's remarkable how quickly I've lost my devotion to my "real" house at home, my possessions there, or much of anything back in my hometown aside from my parents and the Ravens. Of course, we have a housesitter keeping an eye on things back there, so it's not as though I've just left the doors unlocked and hung a sign on the door reading "burglars welcome." But the house we're in here at the beach is so lovely and so well-appointed that we lack for nothing. In fact, I think this must be the most well-appointed kitchen this side of the Julia Child exhibit at the Smithsonian.
There have been a few surprises. Today I learned, for example, that the island is in the midst of a coyote assault. Some ladies I met this morning were talking about having heard the coyotes howling and then the husband of one of them actually physically encountered the coyotes while walking their dog last night. Coyotes! I guess they're here for the deer, of which there seem to be hundreds. There are certainly hundreds of piles of deer poop everywhere. But I wasn't expecting to have to BOLO for coyotes!
I also learned that talking only to one's spouse for days on end gets old. Don't get me wrong: I love my spouse. And he is a very interesting person. But I was feeling a little bit isolated for a day or so there, not having anyone else to talk to. I don't really know anybody down here other than the two realtors who helped us arrange for this rental. The houses here aren't on huge lots, but they are situated so that you really never see your neighbors. Here's our house:
You just don't see anybody to the right or left of you, shielded as you are from the neighbors by stands of enormous live oaks and palm trees. But today I went to a group class at the gym and met a lot of nice people, and even though I wouldn't say I have become fast friends with any of them, they were someone else to talk to, and I felt a lot better after that. After all, without them, I wouldn't know the first thing about the coyotes!
It does indeed seem that everyone's politics down here are more conservative than mine (Romney and Santorum were in Charleston today, I think), but, to hell with it, I put my Obama car magnet back on my bumper this afternoon. Let the chips fall where they may.
I've also learned that for some strange reason, there are a lot of Ravens fans here in Seabrook. On our first day here, as I was heading to the grocery store I encountered an enormous clan of people all wearing Ravens shirts! And when people have asked me where we're from, and I say Baltimore, they all light up and ask me about the Ravens. I'm not sure why there should be a high quotient of Ravens fans in Seabrook, South Carolina, but there are.
It's been a tough week from the perspective of having left my parents back home, since my mother had a bad episode that could have proven very serious this week. In my absence, my cousin was pressed into service for doing the transportation around to doctors and the hospital. Thankfully, mercifully, everything turned out fine, although I learned that it is not the optimal way to learn that your mother is having a cardiac procedure to read it on your cousin's Facebook page. (She didn't have my cell #. I'm not blaming her and it was really creative of her to think of reaching me that way! I'm just saying that I don't recommend firing up your Facebook page while you're working out at the gym as the best way to learn that your mother is having a potentially life-ending cardiac procedure at that exact moment.)
We are not any closer to reaching a final decision on whether we'd like to live here permanently, but it's only the first week. It got pretty cold for a few days (in the 40s during the day and in the 20s at night) but it snowed a bit at home; still, they do definitely get a version of winter here. The first few days we just ran around like crazy and got ourselves settled in. Now settled, we should be able to develop a routine, know a bit more where things are, and be able to inch a bit closer to knowing what we're likely to do. Because we've definitely had great moments like this:
