Changes

I'm sitting at the kitchen table watching a pair of cardinals feed their three babies at our bird feeder. This is perhaps the third clutch we've had the joy of watching this year. My mom fed birds here, and sat in this same spot (different table and chairs) for years watching and enjoying birds. I'd like to think these cardinals are descended from the ones she observed years ago. Could one of these parents even have been a fledgling my mom watched? As Kelly and I prepare our house to sell so that we can leave this small town, my childhood home, for Lexington, I can't help but regret that I won't be watching more baby cardinals here through the years.

It's always hard when plans change, even when you know it is for the best, as we do now. This was our "forever" house. The peace I felt when we decided to buy it from my siblings after my parents passed away, the idealism of raising my kids on this beautiful spot of earth that helped form my childhood, is hard to let go.

We won't be giving up this idyllic setting for nothing. In exchange for the woods and the serenity, we will have access to a growing humanist community, as well the ability to join a large established secular homeschooling cooperative. And we will be able to put our money where our mouths are in regards to our carbon footprint. Kelly will work in the same city where we live, losing nearly two hours of commute time a day, and we plan to live in close proximity to a bus line, as well as within walking distance to stores and parks, reducing the time the kids and I spend in our vehicle as well.

Allowing my kids to have access to nature is imperative to me, and I recognize that this move will require a concentrated effort on my part for that to continue. There will be no more walking into the woods 30 feet from the house. This change is probably the aspect of the move that's most difficult for me, but our isolation up here is also a big part of why we need to move.

I'm so very excited for my family's future, one which includes my kids having much more time with their dad, as well as developing and sustaining relationships with other freethinking families. We've built an awesome little nest up here, but it's time to soar.