Well
it is. I knew it would be. No
surprise. ( Spell this: ) C-O-L-D. ( Now you can say it, altogether: ) Cold! (That’s a neat image, dozens of folks,
spread all over the country simultaneously giving a little shiver as they read
“cold”, feeling a little sympathy for us recent Southerners back in the harsh
northern winter. All right, I feel a
serious lack of sympathy emanating from many points back in our
direction, we’ll move on. The fall was
beautiful here in the rolling hills around Pittsburgh, PA. “Vibrant hues” may be a hackneyed phrase
among the faithful leaf peepers, but for us who have been ten years in the
Southlands it’s as fresh as the cold white stars falling silently in the night
outside my windows.
The
summer here was gorgeous, too. No good
for swimming but great for everything else.
Except it was a bit lonely. I
started a new job with an Internet startup company on May 30. It’s called Tpresence, Inc. (http://www.tpresence.com). We have some big ideas for the “Second Generation
World Wide Web”. It’s a good
environment, but with ambitious goals.
I’m working more hours, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I moved up here alone in May. Left Madelyn and the kids in Alabama to sell
the old homestead there. We were in
that house 10 years, 2 ½ times as long as I ever lived in any other. Strangely it’s been hardest on Madelyn to
move – she certainly was the most vocal about wanting to make a change, but
when it came to it she wanted to stay in her too-small house and near her good
friends. So she sent me ahead
alone. I lived a simple life in a
studio apartment: working, house
hunting, playing a little table tennis and working. The family joined me in early August. Now it’s a whole new adventure.
We
have a good house in a great neighborhood 15 miles north of Pittsburgh – near
where I-79 and the PA Turnpike intersect.
The houses on 2 cul-de-sacs (one is ours) had a parade for Weepy’s
Halloween-Birthday, followed by a picnic.
This past weekend we had a “progressive dinner”, a different course was
served at each of 7 houses, it was really neat. Only adults participated,
Nathaniel had baby-sitting duties over Caralyn, his first real time of that, of
course we were never more than a couple houses away, cell phone in pocket. (He’s 11, she’s 4).
We’re
grateful for the neighbors, they have really made us welcome. Good thing because it’s a bit of a bustle
here. Traffic is worse. My commute is only 10 miles but 25-30
minutes instead of 5 minutes in Alabama.
I’ve moderated the negative impact of that by listening to “Books on
Tape” regularly. I find little time to
really read more than magazines, but I’ve caught some good culture and
non-fiction on audio. I hope to post a
list soon, with reviews, on my web site.
Right now I’m finally getting to “read” one of the Harry Potter books,
the first one. I recommend it for all
ages.
The
neighbors have really helped Madelyn.
As I said the move was rough on her and losing her dad early this year
still haunts her daily. She’s got
another friend’s sister, from high school, struggling against cancer. But Madelyn persists. She is putting her stamp on our new
house. We got many of the floors redone
– hardwood in the kitchen, ceramic tile in 2 baths and the laundry room, Berber
carpet in the family room. She’s custom
painted 2 bedrooms and repainted some other walls. Making it our new home.
For now at any rate.
Speaking
of stamping, my little pistol, Caralyn The Weepy, has taken to doing a bit of
it. When things aren’t going her way
she’ll give a stamp of her foot and furl her eyebrows. I love her.
All 31 pounds. Even her hardest
stamps are hardly earth shaking, but we try to keep her in check. She’s a stubborn pipsqueak, though. Even when I’ve sent her to her room and come
to have our little chat she’ll try to give me a little shoulder bump as she’s
saying she’s sorry. Most of the time
she’s an angel. I especially like when
she gets quietly conversational when I’m putting her to bed, “What can I think about so I can fall
asleep, Daddy.” And I give her a list
of things: playing outside, the snow,
what she had for dinner. One of her
favorites lately has been the beach, thinking about the sand, the waves and
building castles using the plastic buckets.
We didn’t go this past summer, she remembers from when she was 2. Hopefully we’ll get to Va. Beach or the
Jersey Shore next year.
And
the move has changed Nathaniel a bit.
He’s really growing up. Only
about an inch shorter than his mom now, he took the change in schools as an
opportunity to change his persona. He’s
a little more outgoing in school, talking to more kids. His grades are staying up, with his
mother’s, well, mothering. He missed
getting to play soccer this fall with the move, perhaps in the spring.
It’s
easy to visit my parents from here, only about 2 and a half hours straight up
I-79. That’s nice to be able to pile in
the car and go for an overnight, or even just the day. They’ve been here, briefly, a couple
times. The kids’ great-grandmother
Parker came down with my mom for an overnight.
That’s something I think both will remember. It’s good to be nearer to family. Mad’s siblings in PA/NJ/NY are 5 to 7 hours by car now; our
sisters in Virginia are about that, too.
We’re looking forward to making trips to see all as well as some other
nearby attractions. I’m particularly
anticipatory toward the in-state Mecca for chocolate lovers, Hershey! The fresh chocolate is smooooth. We’ll be doing some wafting (See 1995’s
note). Also Gettysburg is not too
far. I have to wink at Madelyn about
going there: ;^) . We last visited in the summer of 1988 (I’m
sure most of you can do the math).
A little further back, twenty years ago, I
finished up high school. A good portion
of my classmates and I got together this summer in honor of those 2 decades for
a little reunion. I enjoyed seeing all
who were there and hearing from some who weren’t. It felt like we were only a little older.
Sally
(our dog) is still with us. She’s
adjusting to the move. She still runs with us on the weekends and some other
times with Madelyn and Caralyn. If it
it’s not too C-O-L-D.
Keep
warm. Happy Holidays,
-- Chip (cpatton@tpresence.com), Madelyn
(crpatton@hiwaay.net), Nathaniel and Caralyn (http://fly.hiwaay.net/~crpatton)