As I'm slowly getting settled in Virginia, (almost all the boxes are gone now! left are only the things I can't find a place for and need help with) I have started actually leaving the apartment and exploring my new area. We've had a series of absolutely gorgeous spring/early summer days lately, which has really helped! I was walking around the other day, and I noticed a few things that struck me as very strange. People--strangers off the street-- talk to you here, and not to yell at you to get out of the way. I have been in New York so long, that I'd forgotten that people did that!
I went for a long walk on Wednesday, down to the waterfront. I brought a book and my plan was to get coffee and read for awhile, maybe get some lunch, and walk back home. On the way, I remembered I was on my last pair of contacts, and decided to stop in at the optometrist on King Street. Ok, new thing I love about Virginia-- the optometrist actually took the time to listen to me! And together, we figured out what was wrong with my eyes during allergy season! She gave me some super cool, extra comfortable contacts that I'm very happy with so far. As I was walking home, this lady crossed the street, and said "Oh, it got cool today, didn't it?"
Not an earth-shattering conversation, mind you. But for someone who spends most of the day with a cat, it was nice. Then I started thinking-- when was the last time someone talked to me on the street, not to yell at me to get out of the way? It's been....awhile!
Yesterday, I decided to once again walk into Old Town and explore a bit. With a bit of a purpose-- there are 80,000 hair salons in Old Town, and I need a haircut, so I figured I'd walk around, pick up some coupons and menus and such and pick a place to cut my hair. I stopped at a coffee shop for a cappuccino on the way, and lo and behold, I sneezed. It is allergy season, after all. The attendants and patrons not only God blessed me, we also then all got into a conversation about how horrible allergy season has been this year, and how we're all glad it's almost over.
I'm about to go on another walk today. It's a gorgeous, warm, sunny day, and I'm going to walk straight across town to check out the CrossFit gym over here. Who knows-- by tomorrow this time, I'll probably have a new best friend.
