Living the life ... or not

Last week my husband and I were having a conversation with his brother about families moving from one location to another. They grew up moving around a lot, I can't remember the exact number but the BIL attended an astronomical number of different schools throughout his school-age years. My husband was much younger and after he came along they didn't move as frequently but he has lived in six different states and several of them he moved to and from several times.

As I see it, they were practically living the lives of gypsies.

I, on the other hand, have lived in the state of Georgia my entire life. And, except for one short year spent in Savannah, have always lived in Metro-Atlanta. My entire childhood was spent in one house. Between college and marriage, I can count on one hand the number of times I moved. Together my husband and I lived in two apartments and one rental house prior to moving to our current location. We moved here in February of 1991 just before our second child was born in August. Yes, we have been in the same house twenty-one years.

Guess what. I'm ready for a change!

I'm ready to get far away from Atlanta Georgia. I hate living in the city. And while I don't actually live in the city limits of Atlanta, living in her suburbs is just as bad. The congestion of people and everything that comes with them is horrible. I hate the traffic. I hate the crime. I hate the pollution. I hate the breakneck speed at which everyone moves.

I yearn for a quieter life, a slower pace, a little peace and tranquility.

My brother and his wife answered this same call by moving further south. Their house sits off a dirt road on the edge of a lake. Yes, they now have limitations for shopping, dining out, and such. And, they still have to venture out into the hustle-and-bustle daily in order to get to their jobs. But at the end of the day, they're back at home listening to calls from nature instead of engines roaring, sirens blasting, and neighbors yelling.

My husband's sister retreated north to the mountains. And while she has to deal with the occasional snow/ice event that leaves her trapped on her mountain for days, it is more than made up for by the beauty that surrounds her daily and the overall slower pace of life she enjoys.

My sister and her husband took a more drastic approach and moved thirteen hundred miles away to South Dakota. They're the only people I know who retire north and not south. While living there for a short term job they discovered a different life style that called out to them and they took the plunge.

I know there's pluses and minuses to any place you live. However when it gets to the point where the minuses far outweigh the pluses then maybe it's time to make a change. Unfortunately, in this day and time of economic unrest when unemployment is high and the housing market is in the toilet the ability to up and move is severely hampered. And while I yearn to leave all this behind and start over somewhere else I must accept the fact that it's probably not going to happen ... at least not any time soon.

But, a girl can dream and for now this is my dream - sunshine and water, warm but not scorching, a few people but not many, and the time to be laid back.

Sigh.

Big heavy sigh.

... and life goes on.