The Adventure Begins

Post by R

It's for real now.  J is well on her way to D.C. (or the Imperial City as I'm apt to somewhat affectionately call it) and I'm back at the home front.  It's true, I am completely and totally supportive of J's dream-chasing.  I also fully admit that when she first expressed serious interest in joining the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer I suspected it would be an uphill climb.  Just take a look at J's first blog post if you doubt that; the odds were against her.  We're talking about J though, so odds don't mean so much.  Give her a chance and she will excel, of that I had no doubt. 

I'll miss Wyoming.  Even though I was Jersey born and raised I have become quite fond of this free, honest, wide-open state.  I've spent time in just about every corner of it while travelling for work and I will have some regrets about leaving it.  That said, the itch to move on has always been there.  J and I met as vagabonds and we spent the first 15 years of our married life as vagabonds, living in various parts of the U.S. and Europe.  New adventures are in our DNA.

Right now everything is dependent on what transpires on a certain date, September 26th.  That's when J will find out where in the world she is headed to.  We cannot make any decisions regarding the house, our pets, my employment, etc. until that date.  Meanwhile I've started divesting ourselves of unneeded possessions and am doing some projects around the house to help prepare it for eventual sale.  I also don't know if, and for how long, I might be joining J in Washington.  I will be eligible, on a space-available basis, to attend language training at the same time as J if her first assignment requires foreign language ability.  If it does, I will want to do everything I can to take advantage of that.  We have both spent enough time overseas to know that it is completely worth the effort.  I've been to Poland while speaking Polish, and J has been to the Czech Republic while speaking Czech.  We have also been to numerous countries where we did not speak the native language.  Being able to speak in the local tongue is infinitely more rewarding.

On a side note, 700 or so bicyclists are in town tonight in conjunction with the Tour de Greater Yellowstone (or something like that).  Most are camped out in City Park. I'm sure they'll leave with positive impressions of Lander; it's that kind of town.  We'll miss it too.