Move + 35 Days

Here I am.

This gorgeous view is still a little blurry. Let’s review to examine why.

Move – 10 days • pack up Atlanta house

Move – 8 days • load up Atlanta house, move to rental

Move – 7 days • close on Atlanta house

Move – 6 days • daughter’s Senior Honors Banquet

Move – 5 days • daughter’s Graduation

Move – 1 day • move daughter to college

Move Day • pack up dog & cat and drive to Illinois

Move + 1 day • moving truck arrives with belongings

Now, we’re move + 35 days in. Like a ballerina doing pirouettes, I’ve had to use spotting to keep my balance. Here are some things that have definitely gotten my spinning head to snap to attention…

This is a Lake Forest Sanitation truck. If you place your elegant little garbage cans outside your garage door, they come right up and empty them for you. If for some reason, they miss your house and you call them, the message says “if you leave a message by 4 PM, we’ll be there by 5 PM to get your garbage”. AND THEY ARE! I had no idea waste management could be so charming (and efficient).

• 

I know nothing (yet) about the history of Lake Forest, IL. What is very clear from being here is that, over the years, there have been many dedicated stewards preserving the beauty and spirit of the town. The photos above show our street lights. They are stunning. My son thinks they belong in a Tim Burton movie. They take me back to the George Balanchine days of the Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker and conjure up such wonderful, comforting feelings. I have the perfect view of one of these from my bedroom window. I find myself checking in on it every night before bed. It’s grounding.

Being near the lake makes everything 10 degrees cooler (which I will not appreciate soon enough). And you would not believe how cunning the neighborhood raccoons are on garbage day – they’ve gotten us twice. I can’t find pizza up here that is worth the effort of chewing. But man… it is BEAUTIFUL.