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| Sweethearts in the virtual World Second Life. |
Before this year my life was spent in warmer climes. I lived at various times in North Carolina, Arizona,Tennessee, Georgia, and, for four years, Orleans, France. It snowed in all those places, but not much, and when it did the snow didn't stick around for more than a few days. Winters had plenty of mild shirtsleeve days (some places more than others), and Novembers and Marches were pleasant.
I had heard plenty about the weather in the Northeast, and I wanted none of it. I didn't think any force on earth could move me above the Mason-Dixon line. I especially wanted to avoid New Jersey. Somehow the state just rubbed me the wrong way.I was never sure just why. The draconian gun laws? Definitely. The pollution? That was certainly part of it. The Mafia? Ditto. The political corruption? That too. Chris Christie? The icing on the don't move to Jersey cake.
And yet here I am.
It all began in 2006 when I met my now spouse when I was exploring the virtual world Second Life. For those who don't know what Second Life is, imagine the real world crammed onto your computer screen with all the opportunities to socialize, make money, build things, fall in love, and make a nuisance of yourself. Only you can fly. And teleport. That's Second Life.
I had had no intention of falling in love when I came to Second Life, but I did. And yes, with an avatar. The emotions were real enough. We met in SL in November 2006 and in Philadelphia (the real Philadelphia) in March 2007. Before long I was spending all my vacation days in Rockland County NY.
My partner was Exuberance. That's her avatar's name. Her real name is Heather. My avatar's name is Cheyenne. My real name is Dallas (one city name is as good as another). We had ongoing wonderful adventures in Second Life and in real life we got to know one another more intimately.
In 2009 I had the opportunity of retiring from my job of 20 years, and I took it. I spent the next four months with Heather in Sloatsburg, and after that was back and forth for a month-and-a-half at the time.
I had hoped I could talk Heather into moving to Atlanta, where I had a sweet little (paid for) cottage on a lake in Atlanta. As she rocketed up the career ladder at her job I realized that with me retired my nefarious made little sense, and we started looking for a house to buy.
Houses were more expensive then, and in our price range there were only disasters-- homes with black mold, homes that were falling down, homes that had been gutted, homes with no parking space, and one memorable house on top of a hill that broke Heather's car when we tried to get to it.
We were looking further and further up the Hudson Valley (which would have meant a hella long daily commute for Heather) and at parts of New Jersey where I really didn't want to live. In the meantime we were visiting the New Jersey Botanical Gardens and thinking how nice it would be to live in Ringwood, in the Skylands less than ten miles from Heather's place of employment.
Finally, we found our house.
We went through the usual real estate paperwork hell and we moved Heather into the house in November. I drove back to Atlanta and sold my house to the first couple who looked at it. I didn't even get to the hire a real estate agent place; I just told people I would be selling and word of mouth did it well.
I left Georgia at noon on January 27th with the top down and sandals on my feet. I arrived in Ringwood at 9 pm on the 28th; it was six degrees and the wind was howling. The top of my car was up, of course,and I had stopped in Pennsylvania to put on closed-toed shoes, but I nonetheless nearly froze to death just unpacking my car. I had arrived just in time for the worst winter in years.
So now I've been in NJ for almost five months and am belatedly turning my attention to this neglected blog. I had hoped to document things as they happened, but I've given up on that and will just fly by the seat of my pants from now on. I'll post about my experiences as a person new to New Jersey and will talk from time to time about grits, which I miss. The Ringwood Luncheonette would be perfect if it only served them.
And yet here I am.
It all began in 2006 when I met my now spouse when I was exploring the virtual world Second Life. For those who don't know what Second Life is, imagine the real world crammed onto your computer screen with all the opportunities to socialize, make money, build things, fall in love, and make a nuisance of yourself. Only you can fly. And teleport. That's Second Life.
I had had no intention of falling in love when I came to Second Life, but I did. And yes, with an avatar. The emotions were real enough. We met in SL in November 2006 and in Philadelphia (the real Philadelphia) in March 2007. Before long I was spending all my vacation days in Rockland County NY.
My partner was Exuberance. That's her avatar's name. Her real name is Heather. My avatar's name is Cheyenne. My real name is Dallas (one city name is as good as another). We had ongoing wonderful adventures in Second Life and in real life we got to know one another more intimately.
In 2009 I had the opportunity of retiring from my job of 20 years, and I took it. I spent the next four months with Heather in Sloatsburg, and after that was back and forth for a month-and-a-half at the time.
I had hoped I could talk Heather into moving to Atlanta, where I had a sweet little (paid for) cottage on a lake in Atlanta. As she rocketed up the career ladder at her job I realized that with me retired my nefarious made little sense, and we started looking for a house to buy.
Houses were more expensive then, and in our price range there were only disasters-- homes with black mold, homes that were falling down, homes that had been gutted, homes with no parking space, and one memorable house on top of a hill that broke Heather's car when we tried to get to it.
We were looking further and further up the Hudson Valley (which would have meant a hella long daily commute for Heather) and at parts of New Jersey where I really didn't want to live. In the meantime we were visiting the New Jersey Botanical Gardens and thinking how nice it would be to live in Ringwood, in the Skylands less than ten miles from Heather's place of employment.
Finally, we found our house.
We went through the usual real estate paperwork hell and we moved Heather into the house in November. I drove back to Atlanta and sold my house to the first couple who looked at it. I didn't even get to the hire a real estate agent place; I just told people I would be selling and word of mouth did it well.
I left Georgia at noon on January 27th with the top down and sandals on my feet. I arrived in Ringwood at 9 pm on the 28th; it was six degrees and the wind was howling. The top of my car was up, of course,and I had stopped in Pennsylvania to put on closed-toed shoes, but I nonetheless nearly froze to death just unpacking my car. I had arrived just in time for the worst winter in years.
So now I've been in NJ for almost five months and am belatedly turning my attention to this neglected blog. I had hoped to document things as they happened, but I've given up on that and will just fly by the seat of my pants from now on. I'll post about my experiences as a person new to New Jersey and will talk from time to time about grits, which I miss. The Ringwood Luncheonette would be perfect if it only served them.
Oh-- we took time off amidst the confusion of new home ownership to get married. We were wed on April 23rd.
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