Settling in...

Settling in...

Two weeks after moving to Reynolds Street I'm still living in a bit of a mess. I made some space in the cupboards for a few of my special dishes: wine glasses and a few handmade bowls and mugs. That helped a lot. Now with the final move within imagination, even if not yet in sight, it is easier to tolerate a little disorder and the stamp of another's very different taste. I say final move not yet in sight because we haven't set the closing date. They accepted my offer of closing on or before July 15, but that is a pretty wide span. My head says I should delay as long as possible. My heart and gut say I'd move tomorrow if I could.

Today I read a great article on commuting. It articulated for me a key reason I was attracted to House V3.1: the size of the triangle between work, home and shopping. Someone has found that every 10 minutes of commuting reduces your social circle by 10%. The average commute to work in the US is 51 minutes. Mine will be 7 to 15 minutes, depending mostly on mode of transport: car or bike. I'll also be 5 to 15 minute walk from a grocery, a world class bakery, a farmer's market, a great hardware store, the library and my brother's house. What more do you need? Oh - well there's church, a bar, and various friends. Church and a decent bar are both in that 15 minute walking triangle, and many friends are also in the same range. Of those that are less than half a day's drive away, I can't think of any that are over 20 minutes out.

I'm also maybe a minute's walk from the bike trail and the park system. The river is just down the hill, with a network of great trails. What a tremendous thing!

The article also said that people who have abandoned the commute are zealots, implying I should be careful not to gloat.

I suppose there is risk that my geographic circle will be too small. Right now this size appeals to me, and leaves lots of room for exploring other environs. Do Montreal or the Philippines sound like reasonable destinations?

Today I debuted my new mandolin in church. Leonard had a great new song that we premiered at the same time. Then we arranged a loping instrumental version of what we should probably call the 'Thou Medley': 'Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing' merged with 'Be Thou My Vision'. After getting over my initial panic on the opening lick of Leonard's song, I relaxed and had fun.

This week I'll be in Chicago for three evenings. Maybe by the time I get back Verizon will FINALLY get my DSL line connected. Don't get me started complaining about them... In the meantime, thanks to P&M for letting me park in their back yard and freeload on their wifi. Is it called WiFiLoading? Gotta be a better name...