Some say that to truly understand this world, one needs to travel it. And while Georgia (the state) is not that far away, it really is a different place than I’m used to. But the refrain stays the same: people are good and decent at heart – for the most part, no matter where you go.
Going from a small town, seriously, we’re small, to a much, much bigger city like Atlanta is jarring to say the least. Drive 45 minutes in my town and you can almost be in New Mexico. 45 minutes here and I’m barely into the suburbs. The decidedly un-pedestrian friendly suburbs. And bike friendly? It’s stretch to call what is painted on the streets a bike lane. But that doesn’t matter. Everywhere I go people have been polite, friendly, willing to help an overwhelmed traveler and that’s been really nice. It’s made the shock of transition much easier. Mostly. Kind of.
Traveling for work is not something I ever want to do full time, I’m truly too much of a homebody. Maybe living in a small town is actually bad for me, it has distilled the fear of the unknown, the fear of being in a much larger place, into something bigger, more oppressive, something I never truly felt before. That feeling alone is almost enough to make me want to leave the comfortable confines of my small meager existence, but only just.
The growing reality is that I’m actually content there. I won’t say happy, because happy is a fleeting momentary glimpse of something unattainable, but content is just about right. Being away makes me realize that feeling is true, not just some lie I’ve been telling myself for years to make moving to a small town easier on myself. Leaving the comforting cocoon is good – it makes coming back that much better. It’s the understanding of that perspective that is really good for me. Aside from that my wife and I both realize that we need to try to stretch out more again, to go do things, not stay sequestered in our small mountain retreat so that we don’t grow small, scared of the outside world like so many of our neighbors. The traveling truth is that you can stay the same and risk being passed by or change like crazy and risk losing your grounded-ness. Finding the middle way is the essential.
Oh yeah, I learned a metric shit ton of stuff about building rules in our EMR. That was cool.
Lost on the Floor 