Rolling Hills, Moody Skies, Surprises & Picnics!

(Read below for a Scribble Picnic update and our new theme!)

Rolling hills, lush fields full of promise under brooding clouds and lashing rains. A somewhat apt description of our move here but also Sunday's drive to Somerset, KY, where we went searching for a few choice items for Alexandra's next downtown Campbellsville Artisan Market. (Last Friday's was fabulously successful. Aside from selling most of her original artwork — on greeting cards, tote bags, change purses and xmas ornaments, etc. — she also made further connections with people in the community.) Court & Main, by the way, is a wonderful shindig held once a month for any of you who might happen to live anywhere nearby and have thought of visiting this rising town that's throwing off its shackles from years of decline with various people moving into the area and investing into making it a newly forthcoming quaint downtown urban surprise.

Change is exciting and scary too all that the same time! Well, I should say, Alexandra is walking in total faith that we're to be here and stays focused on all the doors that have indeed opened up for us or will very soon. For me, it can be a little bit more of a challenge some days adjusting to a slower pace of life, a distinctly different use of grammar and some things not rolling out quite as fast as I had hoped. Leaving behind a long time job that I had always loved was not easy either. Yet these new horizons helped with that professional need to keep being challenged, fully utilized and growing.

There have been days, admittedly, where I've had to remind myself not to focus on things past but embrace the present, being thankful even for the unexpected...like so many spots along various drives where we feel like we're back in Norfolk, England again. Ha, I mean, there are even some quite narrow hedge-rowed country lanes every now and then! I'm actually surprised at just how quickly I've fallen for the landscape here and how much more in sync it is with my natural aesthetic preference for greenery. It truly delights my inner "city boy" heart and certainly helps when driving past areas not quite so lovely, shall we say? (Not to say that any Colorado town doesn't also have similar challenges with junk yards and the inevitable affects of economic decline, mind you.)

One of the biggest surprises here is that with Campbellsville also being a small university town, there is actually quite a lot of diversity for a hub this size in central rural Kentucky. On any given day in the coffee shop downtown, one can find a table or two filled with students (and some professionals) from other countries. Just this week alone, for example, I came across three suave looking eastern Europeans walking in with cuffed shorts and hair coiffed like George Michael (à la his Wham days); a table filled with Japanese students all speaking Japanese; a couple of Caribbeans(?); half a dozen Italians, and most recently a handful of Brits: two visiting who head up Vineyard worship in the UK, one who came here 18 years ago on a college basketball scholarship from Leicester and another just met today who's from Ipswich currently at uni here.

Just this last week, we were invited to a couple's lovely designed loft which is across the street from where we will be living, come November or so. (Alex had met them through one of the markets where the lady was thrilled to find that we too love English teatime and such as she grew up with an English nanny, having spent all her formative years in Malawi and Tanzania, former British colonies, and then later returning with her husband for another decade in Botswana.)  My mind kept on spinning that here was this couple, soon to be new neighbors even, who knew exactly where my oldest son is in the Kalahari with Peace Corps, having been to his neighbouring villages and pronouncing them with ease! Then when we learned their previously homeschooled son was now in Edinburgh studying for his masters degree where he's combining his fluency in Gaelic with his love of video gaming, I kept on having to pinch myself. Ha! So, all that to say, you never know what any place might hold. Every place has its own surprises and this is definitely no exception.

Oh, and in the meanwhile, I'm getting a chance to capture some beautiful scenes along the way. :)

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UPDATE: Being that today is now Monday, the 10th, I think we best prolong Scribble Picnic for another week, for meeting here anew on Wednesday, the 19th, next week. Hope that's Ok with everyone? Thanks! Oh, and how about our next theme have something to do with... Exploration? :)

P.S. Please considering doing two other things, if you would:
1. Fill out this quick 1-question Scribble Picnic survey!
2. Read our very own Mary's fabulous write up from our super great visit when she and her hubs, Bob, came to Fort Collins. We had a blast. So much fun!

A New Season

Hellooo, everyone! We're back and in time for the long days of summer to soon be replaced by golden Autumnal hues for those of us on this side of the world, at least.

Speaking of change, guess what? We've moved. Across the country, no less, with 98% of everything we own packed into our little Suzuki SX4 with a canvas cargo bag strapped atop for the two day, 1,300 mile journey. It wasn't an easy initial decision to come to, let me tell you. Naturally, the hardest part was leaving the kids and grandchildren, but we're only a fairly short flight away, yet in a whole different world... the Commonwealth of Kentucky! Yup, you heard it. Big change. Must say, never ever expected to move anywhere down south but as my southern friends inform us, it isn't even officially considered "the south" by them apparently. As with everything, depends on one's perspective, I suppose.

Who would have ever guessed when first coming to Fort Collins, Colorado, as a young adult that I'd leave decades later feeling so incredibly touched with having been blessed with an enriched life here of family, friends, a long term dynamic design career (most of it with an awesome company) and even growing to not only like, but actually love this self-named "Choice City"? Keep in mind that, while always a university town, it was far smaller and different back when I arrived — no coffee bars, galleries, ethnic cuisines, or any other various cultural events now so easily found.

In fact, as a fresh off-the-boat Londoner, I bemoaned my decision to leave everything familiar behind, let alone big city life, for this crazy fresh bold start, moving to what I would later deem as nothing more than "Sticksville, USA!" In the days of snail mail, I was so cut off, alone and miserable. While desperate for a change and an adventure, none of it panned out as expected. The lovely downtown area alone was more a place to avoid than actually visit in those days and I actually lived on the outskirts which made it even worse. Admittedly, snobbishly, I pretty much despised everything about "the Fort," seeming to also be the only person who was totally craving (any) urban growth. Whenever discussed, most locals seemed to want nothing but the same old, same old. (Curiously, one doesn't hear peeps complain anymore about such growth now that they can see the various benefits that come along with it, traffic aside.)

So, all that to say, when we started telling others fairly recently that we were considering moving and where to, people were somewhat (politely) incredulous, offering words to the wise to prepare for the inevitable culture shock. Ha! But the funny thing is, what they didn't get is this is absolutely nothing compared to moving from the heart of London to a smallish town in Colorado, especially back then and doing it on one's own! But now moving with someone who loves and supports me — doing this together with Alexandra — makes such a huge difference! While all this is admittedly a big jump with lots of inevitable change and some losses, it also affords us the adventures associated with a new paradigm.

As some of you no doubt know, Alex's mother moved here in 2009 and recently married last year. We are temporarily staying with her and Pops until a certain beautifully remodeled old loft in downtown Campbellsville becomes available to rent in a couple of months. This, along with new work opportunities and a chance to really plug into the community here, along with some other crazy unexpected things, are just some of the reasons why we heeded this wild new call! Wish us the best and let's see where this journey takes us. Alex doesn't feel we'll be here long-term but who knows.

Some change is good and even needed. Stay tuned while I periodically post developments and life stories along the way, mainly adding them to our art co-op. In a few days, I'll provide our next Scribble Picnic theme, due Sept 12th.**  Hopefully, by then, each of you who play along will see this. Please help me spread the news! Thank you.

I hope everyone's had an eventful summer! Well, maybe not quite as venturesome, but you know what I mean :) Thanks for your best wishes, thoughts and prayers. Life is never dull.

* Picture: a recent drive through Liberty, Kentucky, near the Lincoln Heritage Trail.
** OK, It's going to have to be another week out. See the post above. Thank you!