A year later...

It's been exactly one year that we uprooted ourselves from Chapel Hill, NC after 26 years there. During the past year we enjoyed six months on Emerald Isle and then six months in Miami Beach. To celebrate the anniversary we are retracing our steps to Chapel Hill and now to Emerald Isle for a few weeks. Well, it's not only the anniversary but I have to come to do the "homeowner thing" and take advantage to visit friends and enjoy the cooler weather.

As usual we've had a variety of weather changes at the beach but after a cold front that arrived with powerful thunderstorms, the mornings have turned crisp and cool, the days sunny and warm and the evenings cold enough to keep the windows closed at night.

The beach water temperature feels in the low 70s but dropping daily. Sitting on a beach chair by the shore I can already see the schools of finger mullets reflecting the sunlight as the waves break. The fish are followed by flocks of terns that dive from time to time and also by families of dolphins that swim past feeding along the way. Everything is lining up for the beginning of the fall fishing season. Unfortunately we don't plan to be here that long but hopefully Mike (our beach neighbor) will get to enjoy the whole season.

365 days ago we were just arriving to Emerald Isle looking forward to our new life of excitement and adventure. We created fond memories of our peaceful time at the beach. The move to South Beach was also filled with excitement for the novelty of everything. Finding Cuban bread and cafecito (Cuban sweet expresso coffee) walking distance from our new place was just priceless. But of course it has not all been smooth sailing down south. We have had to readjust ourselves to living in much tighter quarters, getting used to living within a much larger population density, dealing with valet parking and then the aftermaths of the housing market meltdown and the big economic mess that this has left us with. The job situation has not been any better for me. A few weeks after arriving in Miami I started looking and applying for jobs within a five mile ratio of home. As the weeks passed, I've been increasing the millage ratio to 100s of miles and pretty soon I may have to increase it to nationwide. In the mean time, the time gap in my resume keeps getting larger and my AARP status doesn't seem to be impressing any potential employer. Prospects for employment now seem confined to acquiring a small business or becoming some sort of consultant if I can figure out how to translate what I did before to something that someone may care to listen to.

Still, I'd be very ungrateful if I was complaining. B is still hanging in there as a patient supportive wife. All family members are in good health. My Wachovia ATM card still gives me money after each request. And sharing this time between Miami Beach and Emerald Isle is not a bad combination. So, a year later, life is still smiling my way. If the rest of my years are half as good as this last year was, I'd consider myself a very lucky (AARP) man.

Note: I'll add photos later since I forgot the cable required to transfer the files from camera to computer.