Behind the Blogger: You Can Go Home Again. . .But Everything is Smaller

As I've noted many times in this space, I've recently transplanted myself from Las Vegas--where I'd spent two decades of my  life--back home to central Ohio. The move had been many years in coming, with the timing only becoming "right" in recent months. And yes, the timing was right in several ways, primarily economically, which had not been true until very recently. It was also spectacularly bad timing for some other reasons, not the least of which was landing in Ohio during some of the worst of winter, and in the midst of some coincidental personal turmoil happening amongst some Las Vegas friends' lives.

But on the positive side of the line, we found a house that is already feeling like home. And spring is on the horizon (though I had forgotten Ohio's very moody, very changeable early spring climate). As I live out this stretch of days, wherein I acclimate to my new--if familiar--surroundings, and The Other Half continues to commute back "home" to Vegas for an uncertain amount of time, I still wander in a slight haze. As of this writing, there is no rush for me to attain permanent employment (which is  sweet, don't get me wrong). I've got errands and the many chores of new house set-up, along with my part-time work. I have had no shortage of things to do. And I've still got to get my blogging bug back.

Our poor, desert cars, after just over a week in Ohio.

Mostly, I'm still trying to shake the notion that I'm "just visiting." Every year of the past twenty, I've spent at least some time visiting Ohio, sometimes two or three times. A portion of my (seldom paid) vacation time almost always entailed "coming home." Because of this, and the gauzy reality I feel like I'm living in at the moment, I still don't feel completely gelled. So, I've wandered out quite a bit, to get a stronger feel for my area, my family's areas, and everything in between.

I've done much more driving than I'm used to. Which is necessary, because there's so much more land to travel than back in the Vegas Valley. There, outside of town there just isn't much besides desert and mountains. And my friends were almost exclusively within 5 miles driving distance. A "big day out" for me was the 11-mile drive to Costco I'd occasionally take on the weekends! Sure, once in a while I'd go out to Calico Basin, Valley of Fire, or venture to Primm or down into Arizona for lottery tickets or something. But mostly, I lived inside a 5-8 mile little area. All the time.

Now, in Ohio? Everyone is 20-30 minutes from here! Trips out to the store and back (beyond the grocery down the street) typically take at least an hour, something that really wasn't the case in Vegas. I'm much more likely to group my trips, plan them better, and have had to fill up my gas tanks much more often. At the same time, however, it's kind of startling how close things are.

A) Downtown Columbus B) My Old Stomping Grounds
C) My New Digs: Close together, worlds apart.
(Click to embiggen)

I know that's paradoxical, but what I mean is, areas that my memory holds as "worlds away" from each other, are actually smack-dab beside each other, often with no buffer whatsoever. For instance, I grew up in the small enclave of Whitehall. I'm now in Reynoldsburg, a larger suburb to the east, at one time considered an "outer" suburb. In truth, it's only separated by a ribbon of freeway and a thin strip of Columbus (which long ago oozed between the cracks of any other community here, just about). Moving west from Whitehall is a rather depressing--and Whitehall ain't joyous these days--strip of Columbus again, bumped up against the still quite frou frou Bexley. Then, train tracks and boom, you're in Olde Towne East/Franklin Park/Bronzeville, a hodge podge of enormous Victorian homes that range from dilapidated and condemned to gorgeous and renovated.

Another ribbon of highway to cross going west, and you're Downtown. The entire drive from my old stomping grounds to the center of Downtown Columbus is a little over 5 miles or so. Walking distance. But with at least five distinctly different areas, and several sub-areas, all of which don't fit in my brain into the same space. That's to say nothing of venturing north with the Downtown/Short North/Victorian Village/OSU Campus/Clintonville stretch, which to me has always blurred into one big thing. And I've been grafting onto these areas all of the places in between, shifting my young adult compartmentalized brain over to a middle-age cohesive whole. It's adding to the surreality  of everything.

And don't forget three big factors: a) the enormous amount of changes made to infrastructure and landscape in my absence; b) the simultaneous sameness--but subtly different nature--of many places around those changes; and c) the unreliability of decades-old memories. None of my memories, seemingly, can be absolutely trusted. As a navigator, I'm only as useful as my Swiss-cheese memory and horribly twitchy Android phone let me be. And on top of that, the scale of everything just seems off.

Google Earth promises a greener world than my camera
can currently deliver.

Whitehall in particular seems smaller. Much smaller than I remembered. Much closer to some surrounding areas that I'd have ever thought. And not particularly nice to look at. It's wedged in between two major thoroughfares, both of which were part of US40, the National Highway. And it was settled post-World War II. As such, there wasn't much zoning or thought put into beauty and
aesthetics. It's hemmed in by Columbus, and sits below and airport and a defense construction facility. There's nowhere to grow, and not much to beautify. When they tried, they shoe-horned in a completely anachronistic Victorian theme that still baffles me. But, I'm probably looking with jaded eyes, and at the tail end of winter too.

I know from experience (even with my unreliable memory) that spring and summer bring beauty, even to somewhat unbeautiful places. The dire looking bare trees and brown lawns will give way to gorgeous greenery soon. My mood--as it always used to do--will be buoyed by the sunshine, flowers, grass and trees. Depressing drives across suburbs and country spaces will start to feel more filled with optimism. I'll get there. And soon enough, the surrealness is bound to fade too.

I doubt my experience living 2,000 miles away in the Mojave Dessert will fade away for awhile. I'll be comparing things (notably traffic and traffic infrastructure, liquor laws, and shopping hours) to the way they do it in Vegas for many years to come. I'll continue to miss my friends out there. But I'm finding you can go home again. It's just smaller. And bigger. And different. But also the same.

Behind the Blogger: Back to Ohio, Winter Update

Okay, so I've been back to Ohio now for roughly three weeks. After driving for the last four days of January from Las Vegas to Central Ohio (with a couple of stop-overs in Iowa to visit family), we managed to stay ahead of a big winter storm that had basically followed us all the way. We safely ensconced ourselves at The Other Half's sister's house on the west side of Columbus that first night, and then stayed for one more night before moving north to my parents' manse in the woods.

Since that time--all of February--I've been up here, in various stages of "snowed in," mostly. I picked a weird time to move from the Mojave Desert, didn't I? I know, because I kept my Las Vegas weather app on my phone, and can see the seventy-degree temperature gap for myself! At first, I was like a typical Las Vegan, one who had rarely or never driven on snow: a bit freaked out by the prospect. Odd, when you consider my very first experiences driving solo were in a very snowy winter, circa 1982-83. My sister--an experienced hand at both driving on snow and in a big honking diesel pickup truck--has been awesome about driving out here, (where the only access to the road is a half-mile long driveway in the woods, along a cliff) to tamp down the snow a bit for me.

Our poor cars, which have prior to now only known the desert.
Mine was cleared off 8 hours prior to this shot.

So, with the occasional melts, and my sis' efforts, getting out hasn't been 100% impossible. I've ventured out a few times, and in fact for one whole afternoon was unknowingly driving around in a level 1 snow emergency. I've--somewhat--got my "snow feet" back underneath me. Now, however, we've been buried under snow again. And I say "we" euphemistically, because in reality, I've spent most of my time up here in Frozen: Ohio Edition mostly alone. The Other Half went off to do some back-to-back-to-back trips for his work over a week ago. And he's not due back for another week!

The view from my temporary bedroom this morning.

Ah, so I have all this time on my hands. I'm not working, other than some few-hours-per-week tele-commuting design work. So, why am I not blogging? What in the world am I doing with my time? Aren't I bored? Yes and no. I'm finding that it's entirely possible to "do nothing," and still have a day zoom by. I'm managing to diet and exercise, including time on the treadmill, and the one-mile round trip in the snow for the mail. I've been cooking and cleaning up after myself (fortunately, I suppose).

Initially, there was the house hunt, and all that entails, including getting the financing, inspection and all of that. There was also the flurry of socializing with local family, though that's been largely curtailed because of the weather. So, right now, I'm in a holding pattern on the house, and pretty much a hermit under the snow. I had to go out to a funeral yesterday, but have no social engagements lined up. I have some work that's likely to come in, but probably won't go beyond a couple of hours' time in the next few days.

So, I'm going to try to get back into the blogging habit! For real! I hope. Here's the surprising thing: after blogging nearly daily for almost 8 years (even given the gradual reduction over the years), I've completely fallen out of the habit. It was a compulsion, a personal obligation for so long, I'd actually feel guilty if I skipped a few non-weekend days. I'd feel compelled to put up something, anything to let people know, "hey, I'm still here!" But I found out, once you willingly put yourself on hiatus, and then return with a "I'm going to slowly come back to this" disclaimer? The daily tug? Evaporates. I've utterly lost the feeling--when I'm once again sitting at the keyboard doing nothing in particular--to blog about this.

The new abode, assuming all goes as planned. Obviously before
the snow-mageddon.

Well, I'm going to try to get it back. I know I don't want the blog to go permanently dark, and I know also that there's not much point to a once-a-week blog either. I never want it to be a burden though, and I don't want to have a random assemblage of posts that only exists to fill some space. It's still got to interest me, and it's still got to be (hopefully) interesting to others. Now is as good a time as any--in fact, it's not going to get more opportune--for me to find that blogging desire and voice again. Barring an emergency or an unforeseen amount of work obligation, I'm going to re-train myself to blog again, and it begins this weekend.

 

Behind the Blogger: 2015 New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions are a silly tradition. For the most part, we never get started on them. Occasionally, we commit to them. For a week. Maybe two. If you keep it up for three weeks, you've got maybe a 50% chance of going past a month, and if you make it to a month, I'm betting you're in rare company.

That said, in 2011, I gave up smoking as a New Year's resolution. Other than the fact that I picked January 3 as my start date (since that was a Monday that year), it took. I have had zero ciggies since January 2, 2011. Truth be told, I could have given them up on Dec. 31, since I think I rationed out my last pack over two days, and ended up giving the rest to The Other Half (who is still occasionally puffing, by the way). Other resolutions have not been nearly so successful, though I often do make it through long past when others drop out.

Usually, it's lose weight, get in shape. I've done that many times. I rarely ever stop exercising completely, so that one is usually stepping up my exercise. But I often fall off the diet. I'm a yo-yo dieter with a really long yo. I can go 18 months at a good weight, then life gets in the way, and boom, chubbo again. Doggone it. Some people think it's as easy as simple math, calories in, calories out. This doesn't take into account differing metabolisms, differing types of food that either stick or pass on thru, and other factors. And it doesn't take into account that Atkins really works, and you don't have to count calories to do it. It's just bloody boring after a while. But...

My resolutions for 2015:

- Lose weight, 20 pounds or above, keep net 20 off for the year. If I lose 25, and end up with just the 20, I'll take it.
- Keep up and ramp up the exercise.
- No smoking (this one is easy)!
- Keep blogging, even though it's mostly for me. Everyone needs a hobby.
- Grow my business/get a job. One or the other or both will be necessary after quitting my job, and moving cross-country with The Other Half.
- Save political arguments for the blog and online shouting matches. No need to start unnecessary arguments with politically incompatible family members!
- Enjoy the changes the move will bring, don't panic, don't overthink, enjoy.
 

What Happens in Vegas: Will It Snow, Will It Snow, Will It Snow?

Well, it's almost time to retire my What Happens in Vegas feature, along with the year of 2014. In a month or so, I'll officially be a Buckeye again, after a lapse of 20 years. Time will tell if I develop a Useless Nut feature when Greenlee Gazette takes up root back in Ohio.

For now, my soon-to-be abandoned adoptive state and city look to be giving me a going away present: snow on New Year's Eve. It's never happened, at least with anything resembling accumulation, since people have been keeping track of such things. I've been here for a handful of  Las Vegas' very few recorded snow storms, and I'm very much looking forward to this one! If it happens. I know I'll quickly have my fill of snow when I get back to Ohio, but there's something different about it when it happens here. Probably the palm trees.



Yeah, yeah. You've promised this before.
Image from source, LVRJ.com

Still, the tourists from out of town have got to be cursing my enthusiasm. Some years you don't even need much beyond long sleeves on the strip for NYE. This year, you'll freeze your (by now, pointless) 2015 novelty glasses off.

[Excerpt]

It’s gonna snow! Probably.

People celebrating the eve of the New Year in Las Vegas may be seeing more than confetti falling from the sky. The best chance for snow — it’s a 60 percent chance — will come late Wednesday afternoon and early in the evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Stachelski. Even though the storm system is carrying less moisture than was forecast Saturday, Las Vegas will likely see between a half-inch to an inch of snow and record low temperatures, Stachelski said. . .

Read more at: Las Vegas Review-Journal

Back to Ohio: Changes Afoot at Greenlee Gazette

See, here's the thing, kids. Mommy and Daddy aren't breaking up, and it's not your fault. But we are moving. We're Leaving Las Vegas, and moving on. After 20 years in the desert, and about 17 since the original experiment almost uprooted me, I've decided that the Mojave has given me all it's going to. I'll miss friends made here, and those who made the initial journey with me. There is no doubt of that. But there comes a time when "home" shifts. And "home" is now moving eastward.

I will always have a soft spot for Lost Wages. And as long as my adopted family members here in the valley remain, I'll always want to come visit. But when they've gone as well? I doubt that Vegas will hold much interest for me. I quit gambling accidentally when I quit smoking at the end of 2010. Most of the tourist traps never got me. I avoid those areas like the plague already. But I do cross Las Vegas Boulevard almost every single day. I can see Mandalay Bay and Luxor from my office window. I came here when Luxor was birthed, and helped with the delivery, along with that of Stratosphere, New York-New York and more. Las Vegas will be in my blood for a long time.

But 2,000 miles eastward lies the Buckeye State, the land of my origins. My bio- and step- parental units reside there (when they're not sunning in very separate sites in Florida), as do my siblings and one of The Other Half's sisters. How weird is that? Couple that with the facts that a) all of the rest of the family is within a day's drive of central Ohio, and b) that the remaining nieces and nephews are growing up so fast, we almost can't keep up? No brainer. Since we found ourselves in a position where we can afford to go? We're going.

I'm going to have to start at least pretending that
this means something to me.

However, dear reader, the fact of the matter is, all of these changes makes daily blogging a challenge! Not only are we preparing for a total upheaval in our lives (beyond the unfortunate termination of a beloved family pet), we're also running out the remaining days of both long-term careers, jostling the holidays (our last set), and trying mightily to squeeze in every last gathering we can with beloved friends. The period between now--early December, 2014--and the end of the first month of 2015, are going to be packed solid.

I will continue blogging throughout. I'll likely track our journey, our eventual arrival, and everything along the way and after. Greenlee Gazette will survive, and continue, becoming an Ohio-based blog. I'd be foolish to think this concerns more than a handful of people, if that. Though I have a small following, it's unlikely very many people care where I am. And I suppose that really says it all. My career is likely to become almost completely location irrelevant. Why shouldn't the blog?

One thing that will go by the wayside is the What Happens in Vegas feature. But I suppose it wasn't appointment viewing in the first place. I might come up with a Useless Nut feature for my new Buckeye status. But largely, things will remain the same. I'm leaving this post up, may update it, and may future-date it, just so that people realize that there is a transition going on. But I'll be both back. . .and never really leave. I'm just moving! Come with me? We've got eight or ten weeks to get there. Thanks!

Gone Fishin' - Blogger Break (Kinda)

The ocean, she calls me. . .

I'm getting ready to depart on a vacation of sorts. I'm not gone yet, but preparations and whatnot will absorb a bit of my time. There will still be daily posts, as I'll be sprinkling in some time-released goodness to pop open on schedule. And we'll have internet access most of the time, so I'll stick my head in and say "hi" when I have the opportunity. But it's going to kind of look like a long holiday weekend does on most of the rest of the internet, that is to say, not much new and reruns!

So, if you don't like Greenlee Gazette Lite­™, please come back when I'm at full strength, probably October 2 or 3. Which--as luck would have it--is right in time for the first Obama/Romney debate!