Learning Curve

Sitting on my favorite stone wall overlooking the Arno River and the ancient Ponte Vecchio bridge, I am happy as a clam because I am reading. And pondering. Our incredible time in Florence is about to come to an end. I am so saddened and disheartened that I must leave this special place. As Frances Mayes notes in Bringing Tuscany Home, “I love having the memories of living in many places.”

I love the memories of living in many places. What a true statement that is.

As a couple, Rick and I moved eleven times in 15 years. Several of these were short lived because we were moving into a new state and needed to take the time to determine the correct neighborhood to live. Having a rental home for several months gave us that flexibility to take a breath and not rush into a quick decision. Each time Rick was promoted and it was time to pack up and move to another state, both of us felt like we were going on an adventure. One friend remarked that she could not imagine moving across the country. Having movers touch and wrap up the goods in her home. Rick and I looked at her like she was crazy! We were excited about the new experiences we would have. The new people we would meet. The new home we would decorate. The new memories we would create. Even planning and executing a move with two toddlers was cause for delight. The mover who literally emptied an entire wardrobe box of children’s toys onto the bedroom floor in one giant whoomf, hundreds of toy pieces scattering on the carpet, did not curtail our love of moving. Both of us embrace the unknown and we always have.

There is a giddiness, an excitement, a love of change.

So how is living seasonally different from all of our moves over the years? It really isn’t.

Have we learned anything from this first experience? Our first foray into a longer living time frame? Our new normal of living seasonally?

First, we determined that we can do this. Move to another country for a month and truly love it. “We did it,” Reese Witherspoon ecstatically stated in the movie Legally Blonde. We actually embraced the idea of being in a place, a town, a country for a longer length of time. Finding our place in the city. The excitement of arrival was met with fulfillment as we fell into a delightful daily life. So different from the old. And so exhilarating.

We found that we need friends and family to visit with, eat with, share life with. But we knew this going into this new normal. I mean, we enjoy each other’s company, but we are so sociable and thrive on entertaining. Traveling with family and friends or going to see them regularly will have to stay a top priority

Saturday college football, a good enchilada. These are important too. We have to work our travel schedule to minimize these pain points. With a calendar in front of us we can plot our lives and make sure that we are not missing special activities. From a friend’s wedding to a dinner party with our daughters. We cannot miss life while living seasonally.

We will miss walking into our home in Colorado and waving at our neighbors. Forty years of owning a home is hard to quickly dismiss. We lovingly sewed window treatments, put up wallpaper, landscaped our property, built waterfalls, and became settled into each of our communities over those years. Neighborhood parties, kid’s games in the yard, and sitting around our fire pit we designed and built on our own. After a lot of yelling! Drinking wine and talking about life with so many great friends and neighbors at that firepit will forever be a special memory . But I think fewer chores will be a sweet respite. At least for a while.

Language immersion is important. We found that a little smile and a greeting goes a long way in bridging the gap towards being a lovely guest in another country versus being an obnoxious foreigner. Learning a language on phone apps can be an exercise in frustration, but we know the effort is endearing to our guest country. So we will continue with our education.

I don’t think the question is whether I learned new things or not, but if I have settled, if I’m content, if I’m okay in our new lifestyle. I can say without any doubt that transplanting ourselves from Colorado to Florence made me incandescently happy.

I love having the memories of living in many places. I totally agree with Frances.

Adoro avere i ricordi di vivere in molti luoghi.