It struck me that it was this time two years ago that I came here on a vacation/scouting mission to try to decide if this was a place I wanted to move to. That was a weirdly scary trip because I had no idea what the place would be like (as I learned in last week’s exploring adventure, there can be a big gap between the tourism website and the reality), and I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to like it. If I’d been disappointed in the place and had known for sure it wasn’t for me, then in some ways life would have been a lot easier. I wouldn’t have had to make any big decisions. My life could have kept on going the way it was and I could have quit daydreaming about moving, at least to this place. I could have delayed the decision while trying to find some other place to target.

But if I liked it, then it would change from an idle daydream to a reality, and it meant I would have to make some big decisions and possibly uproot my entire life.

I did like it. In fact, I felt right at home instantly, like I’d always been here. It took me a while to firmly decide to move and to actually take action, but I think in my heart I knew all along that I was going to do it.

Now I have to remind myself that I live here. I’m not a tourist. If I don’t get around to seeing or doing something, I can see or do it some other time. I’m really feeling that this weekend, as there are so many things going on. It’s peak fall color, the last weekend of a lot of the “warm weather” activities, like the sidewalk cafes downtown and the steam train on the scenic railway (I passed it while driving last Friday, but I still haven’t managed to catch it on the nearby tracks to see it up close). Today may be the best day for the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline drive, as the wind is low, it’s sunny, and it’s a weekday (it still may be crowded), but I had a meeting this morning, an online meeting this afternoon, and there’s a special sale at a big bookstore nearby. I’m going to have to choose what to do and maybe find a way to squeeze it all in. Then Saturday there’s an event at the Frontier Culture Museum, as well as the downtown trick-or-treating (it’s so fun to see all the costumes), plus the houseplant store downtown is going out of business and selling off their inventory, and I want to add to my indoor jungle.

One of the things I like about fall, the fact that it’s ephemeral, lasting only a short time and constantly changing, is also the challenge about it, trying to fit in everything I want to do in my favorite season in a short period of time. The mantra is “there’s always next year.” I’m not a tourist fitting everything into a few days. I live here.

Now to go see how much I can cram into today.