Sooooo. . . . it's been a long while since I've written here. In fact, it's been about a year! A new year, however, deserves a little attention-- especially when the new year is also in a new place called Baton Rouge, at a new church (St. Luke's Episcopal Church), and a new school for the kids, (St. Luke's Episcopal Day School). There is a new, temporary house, new grocery stores (Albertson's, Whole Foods, & Calvin's Bocage Market), a new Y with wonderful classes & fun folks, new neighborhoods, new parks, and new places to explore.
I don't know much about Louisiana. I didn't even have gumbo or jambalya until graduate school when I met my future husband, and we took a trip to New Orleans. Now we are in the middle of the real deal, and I can't wait to see, smell, hear, and taste it all.
I'm not looking forward to the feeling part of the five senses. It's going to be very humid and hot for a large portion of the year, but I hope it won't be that much different from Jackson, MS. We might have hurricane days, but we even had these in Jackson-- occasionally. I doubt we'll see snow unless we take a trip to Colorado or Maine. On the bright side, the gardening is supposed to be wonderful if you can stand the heat.
We will be looking for a permanent house this spring and selling our dear home in Jackson. The photo below was taken at the base of the large Magnolia tree in our backyard in Jackson. I snapped it on the day the movers were loading the stuff of our lives onto the trucks (it took two!), because I knew I would miss these roots.
My roots (Sarah, Jennifer, Bonnie, Liza, Eileen, Cherie, Bryan, Beth, St. Andrew's Cathedral, and my school communities at McWillie, Casey, APAC, and St. Therese) have sustained me during my time in Jackson, through this move, and beyond. I left Jackson transformed by the folks I knew, and I hope that I leave behind some good things, too.
Here's to a new start in this new year of 2013 on this 12th Night of Christmas.
