Birthday Week Begins

Tomorrow I will be 53 years old. If you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd be launching a different career in a new city at 53, I'd never have believed it. 10 years ago (before my husband's cancer diagnosis) I remember feeling like my life was settled into a dull routine, and I thought the years would just roll on by until retirement. Hah.

The weekend was fun. I never made it to preview the house I mentioned in my last post; I was out with members of the hiking group and we ate a late lunch downtown. I'll reschedule it for an afternoon this week, when I have a block of time for an afternoon of previewing.

The weather was gorgeous on Saturday - sunny and 80 degrees. The sun was intense, but the humidity wasn't bad and there was just a hint of cool in the breeze. We did a city walk instead of a hike, and walked through parts of the Montford neighborhood in North Asheville. Homes there range from sweet little cottages to unfortunate Victorians that have fallen on hard times, chopped up into cheap apartments, to gloriously restored beauties like these bed and breakfasts:




We also walked through the historic Riverside Cemetery, which is much larger and more interesting than I'd expected. I think I will have to revisit it another day to take more photos. Thomas Wolfe and O Henry are both buried there.



It has inspired me to stop by the library for a book of Asheville history. This is a fascinating little city.

On Sunday I met with my new charity knitting group, organized through the Hands On Asheville-Buncombe organization, and really liked the women - it is not, as I'd somewhat expected, a gathering of mostly retirees. The organizer is an energetic little thing who doesn't look a day over 25, and the members range from middle and high schoolers to my age. The group gets together to knit or crochet small items - hats, scarves, etc. - for distribution by various local outreach groups. After the last couple of extra-snowy winters, there is a need for hats and scarves for seniors and others served by organizations like Meals-on-Wheels. They also provide newborn hats for at-risk moms and babies. It's a nice way to combine "TV knitting" with community service, and I'm happy to help out and have fun. I've finished one hat already and have some patterns for stretchy slippers and the like that I'll share at the next meeting.

I won't pretend that launching a new life in a new city at this "advanced age" doesn't feel weird and scary - when I stop to think about the gamble I'm taking here, I get a little sick at times. But when I think of the future I'd have had if I'd stayed put in my corporate cube in Orlando, the gamble is worth it.