It started in Virginia.

Tears streaming down my face.

I was driving and looking at the beautiful expansive land of the Shenandoah Valley and comparing it in my mind to the cluttered and cramped land of Piscataway, NJ. I was remembering the nights we spent on our back porch in the mountains looking at the thousands of stars and wondering when I would see them again.

I was reminded of the kindness of the people in the mountains. They smile in the grocery store and wave you thru at a four way stop. The folks in the service industry welcome you into their restaurants with a slow southern drawl and a lack of suspiciousness, which I’ve come to expect up here.

Patience is a virtue and the South just seems to do it better.

But then we arrived back to our hotel where we have spent almost 3 months and the staff was excited to see us and catch up. Our breakfast crew welcomed us with open arms hugging and kissing on Isaiah and Eli.

A random stranger complimented me at the grocery store on how impressed she was with me at the store with four kids.

Another woman at the store encouraged me by telling me that she had also moved here kicking and screaming 10 years ago and has learned to love it.

We were driving back to the Embassy Suites and I could see the Manhattan skyline in the distance.

I was reading the local newsletter and came upon lessons for fencing for Samuel, art institutes for Sarah, summer camps for Isaiah, and toddler story times at the library for Eli.

I started to notice the variety of restaurants in our new town. Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, Greek, Mexican food. All on one block.

I got an email today offering tickets to the New York Mets games for $10.

My mind starting thinking again and comparing it to the remote mountains. I began to consider the opportunities that we have here.

At first I was overwhelmed and uncertain about my feelings. Would I like it here? Would I really fit in here?

I don’t know. But I plan to find out.

It isn’t my plan to live in New Jersey, as Gary well knows, but I will make the best of it while I can.

This is a season in life and I’m going to grab the chances we are being offered.

And who knows, maybe I will like it after all.

This week’s blog is coming from the back porch of our quiet and quaint home in the western mountains of North Carolina.  The week started out cool and we had to use the furnace and fireplace, but yesterday warmed up to the 80’s and the fresh humid air was wonderful.

The trees are just starting to bud.  We can see Fontana Lake in spots we didn’t know existed because the leaves are so sparse.  The mistletoe is growing in abundance around our house, another pleasant surprise since we are usually here during the late spring or summer months and you can’t see it growing within the branches of the pin oaks and maples.

The depths and ridges of the Nantahala and Smokey Mountains are engaging and magical.  One cannot help but look up and yonder.  Mountain music seems to live in the air here as if a soundtrack is constantly playing.

Without television, cable, Wi-Fi, or phone the days seem peaceful and relaxing.  The only thing to worry about is what’s going to happen next in the book you’re reading or who is going to win the game of checkers. 

It’s seems unbelievable that just last week we were in New York City walking down Madison Avenue and looking at Picasso and Cezanne’ paintings  in the Guggenheim.  The sounds of taxi cars blaring their horns and the smells of pollution are in stark comparison to the quiet of the stars in the mountains and the gravel road leading up to our home. 

Our front and back screen door squeak and slam shut.  I would never want to fix those doors as they seem a part of this world.  It fits here.

I love these mountains and this house with the mixed match furniture and the ugly curtains.  I love it for its lack of concern of being perfect and having all the bells and whistles of other cabins in the woods.  I love it for the memories we have made here for 15 years.  I love it for the traditional bonfires.  I love it because the kids love coming here. 

They are happy at this house on our mountain and not because they are being entertained by things of the world.  But because they also like to sit and be quiet and listen to the mountain air talk to them.  I asked Samuel what has been his favorite part of the week and he replied without hesitation…the chance to get caught up with his thoughts.

And that’s what our Nopad-Nomad adventure is all about this week.