Since Leaving San Jose...

Ok, because you (and you know who you are) said we don't blog enough, here you go... :-)

Ann and I have been talking a lot lately about just how much our life has changed over the past few months.  Not that long ago we were in San Jose and both of us were spending a great deal of time on the hamster wheel.  I don't mean that to imply that all that we did was futile, on the contrary, we had great friends and really good jobs when we were there.  But now that we've stepped away from it we notice the difference.  Some of the things that I notice are big like I don't spend time on the phone talking about work with people each evening.  And some of the things are small like I have completely stopped biting my fingernails.  But we couldn't be happier about our decision to walk away and to pursue another path.

This morning I woke up at 4:15 AM to the sound of distant thunder.  It was an almost constant rumble and it was a sound I hadn't heard for quite some time.  As the morning progressed the storm moved closer until it was almost right on top of us.  What a sight to see the lightening and hear the crack of the thunder almost simultaneously.  Sitting in the "silence" of the living room (no TV or radio) just watching and listening to the storm was a fantastic way to start the day.  Later the rain came... and man did it rain.  There is a building behind our apartment with a metal roof and the sound of the rain on the metal roof was music.  I drove over to the house a bit later and sat on the front porch and watched and listened to the rain come down.  No traffic, no airplanes taking off... just rain and thunder.  What a morning.

It's amazing how we become desensitized to our environment.  When you live in and around a city you just get used to the constant noise.  In addition you forget what its like to be in a place that is truly dark.  I remember going outside in San Jose really early in the morning while it was still "dark" and looking up to see the orange glow of the city at our doorstep but no stars.  One night after we arrived here Bonnie was asleep and Nick was up so Ann and I drove over to the house to see what it was like at night.  We parked in the yard with the truck facing the field next door.  As soon as we shut off the lights you could see the sparks of a million fireflies over the field.  It was like our own private fireworks show.  We just sat, amazed as the light show got closer and closer to where we were parked.  Before long they were all around us and it was spectacular.

Coming here has been so much more than even I imagined it would be.  I knew what rural life was like having grown up in a small town but I couldn't know how meaningful it could be to bring my family home to a small town.  I still love the city and always will.  Louisville seems like it will be an amazing place to explore and it's only a half an hour away.  I do miss the coffee shops and the bookstores and the "energy" of the city but it's been replaced by inner peace and quiet and time to just sit and watch it rain.  I have to admit that I was a little worried about the "shock" of the change but I have to say that I wouldn't change anything we've done and look forward to tomorrow and every other tomorrow to come.

Kevin