Linking up this week for five minute Friday. The prompt immediately got my memories going, so I had to jump onboard. If you want to learn all the details, click here. Basic idea is that you free-write for five minutes about the given prompt. The creator of 5MF says it perfectly: "no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write."
So, here we go, the prompt this week is city and go:
In 2011, I made the biggest move of my remembered life. I would say life, but I did move from Jacksonville, Florida to Oregon when I was 3, but I don't remember that! Anyway, we packed up our family (I was married to the girls' dad at the time) and we headed to his hometown of Boise, Idaho.
When you think about the fact that I spent most of my life in small town Oregon, population 17,000, it was huge change for me. Boise has approximately 226,100 people in it as of the 2019 census. If you include the smaller surrounding towns, it brings that number up to 749,200. Not a small town by any measure of the number.
When we first moved I was terrified of the size of the town. My new job ended up being about a 20 minute drive from the place we were staying. On the freeway. The freeway that at one point was 4 lanes each direction! I know it doesn't sound like much to some, but for the small town transplant, it was HUGE. I had my gps plugged in and going. I was NOT going to get lost.
The way to work my first day went well. I gave myself so much extra time so I was very early for my shift. On the way home though, that was a different story. My GPS decided that the freeway wasn't the best route for me and took me through town. Ended up taking me over 45 minutes to get home. Needless to say, I learned the way from the office to the freeway quickly so I wouldn't get taken that direction again.
Ten years later, I still don't love to drive during "rush hour" but I will. Like when we go to visit the bird, it is just past my old office, so I take that same route there. I can't help but chuckle when I think about those first days as a commuter. When I transferred positions, my commute is now 5 minutes (the longest part being if I am stopped at a light or finding parking). Since COVID, I've been at home so commute is the bedroom to the living room.
So, that's what comes to my mind when I think of city: that transition that I had moving from my small town to the "big city" of Boise.
I'm sure that was a shocking move! I was born in a large city, but plan to retire in a small town. I fully expect to have the reverse experience as you (though equally as difficult).
ReplyDeleteAmie, FMF #16