Email numero quatro, sent March 30, 2013
"The settling in and nestling phases are in full swing. I left off by telling you we arrived safely at our destination late Tuesday night (this is a week ago Tuesday now.) Our host for the next several days was Laurie, who I was introduced to through a thoroughly circuitous route. Laurie is the mother of a med student (Maria, pronounced "Mariah") at the Rocky Vista osteopathic medicine program in Colorado. My Dad met Maria in January when his mom was in the hospital (Grammy is ok.) Grammy's dinner was several hours late; when my dad went to find someone to ask what was going on, he ran into Maria in the hallway. She wasn't working on Grammy's case, but offered to help track down the missing dinner anyway. They got to chatting, my dad mentioned I got a job at Geisinger and Maria told him her mom (the aforementioned Laurie) lived close by. Her mom is fixing up her 1860s farm house to become a bed and breakfast, and welcomes visitors to her home. Not only that, but her mom has two horses and would love to have another person to ride with! What a great happenstance this has turned out to be.
My mom and I stayed with Laurie for four nights. She was a wonderful host. She not only provided warm beds and breakfast, but homemade dinner too! It was great to have a home to go to (Laurie's) at the end of our long days of cleaning, moving and organizing a chaotic house (mine.) What a great welcome to a new state.
I mentioned in one of my previous emails about needing a queen-sized split box springs. Before moving here, I had never heard of such a thing. Evidently they are very common here. The two gentlemen at the mattress store knew exactly what I was asking for. One of them even commented that the house must have been built before 1890 (evidently there was a staircase growth-spurt at the turn of the last century.) As it turns out, the main part of the house I'm renting was built in the 1850s; the garage and master suite were added about 5 years ago. Anyway, I was able to pick up a pair of box springs and take them home that day. They were so easy to manage, my mom took both of them upstairs while I was busy doing something else.
My mom has been such a great help to me with this move. From driving to cleaning to manual labor, it would have been too overwhelming to do alone. We got the majority of the house in order before she went home last Sunday. I was very sad to see her go. It felt like pulling up that last safety line from the shore, before a boat leaves the harbor. Thank goodness for phones, I think we've talked everyday since. She left me with a beautiful, King-sized bed quilt. We picked out the pattern and fabric at the beginning of February; she finished the last stitches on the way to the airport. It's full of love and warmth, I'll cherish it from here on out.
Other things I've learned about the area I've moved to include: a crew team rows the Susquehanna river on Sunday mornings, there are opossums here (based on the road kill I've seen) and wild turkey (I saw these alive and, well, gobbling), the state tree is the Pennsylvania Hemlock (a fur tree) and Tastykake chocolate cupcakes are really tasty...cakes. Oh, and the church bell across the street rings on the hour, every hour of the day and night. One ring per hour of time; thank goodness it's not on military time otherwise it would ring 23 times at 11 p.m.
Over the last week since my mom went back to CO, I have been nesting. I've cooked meals here, taken two baths in the jacuzzi tub, am doing my first loads of laundry and finally got WiFi (I was beginning to have internet withdrawals.) I've had to buy extra furniture, not only to fill our larger space, but because we have a lot of books, binders and other items requiring shelving, eg. towels and linens (narrow staircases and no linen closets in these old 1850's houses.) The office is really the last room to get unpacked. Most of those boxes belong to Warren, so I've been leaving that room alone. I have taken over the future guest room as my stretching/yoga/pilates/
Laurie and I took the horses out for a 2.5 hour long trail ride today. It was a windless, bluebird sunny day in the 50's, free of bugs. Perfect conditions for a long, leisurely ride. Laurie has extensive property that goes up to the side of a mountain. To give you an idea of how much land, there is a highway and large creek (I'm not sure the term "creek" gives it justice, but "river" is a bit of an exaggeration) running through it, with multiple fields large enough to cultivate feeder corn. All leading up to the base of a mountain. A friend of hers owns the lower half of the mountain, while a Mennonite community owns the top half. Neither one minds if Laurie rides her horses onto their respective properties. We took the horses across the highway and creek (low, at about a foot deep this time of year), into the woods and up the mountain. We followed an old train bed at the mountain's base to get to the old logging roads that criss-cross the mountain side. We followed one of the logging roads until it petered out, then headed home (we were getting sore and the horses were tired; they're fat from winter's hay and lack of exercise.) Signs of spring were readily apparent in the woods: buds are forming on the trees (you see them up close when they whack you in the face), the fiddle-head ferns are cropping up, and you have to be on the lookout for black bears again. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Afterward, we had dinner together and Laurie invited me to join her family for Easter dinner tomorrow. I think I've found a surrogate home in Pennsylvania. :-D
Monday marks the start of my employment with Geisinger. I'm super excited for it. I begin with a week of orientation (with a smattering of clinical hours), then jump right into the fray. I will keep you posted. Thanks for sticking with me through this long email. And thank you also for your support. This is a big journey for me and it is made easier knowing I have the encouragement and love of family and friends. :-)
Cheers,
Kristen
p.s. I have photos to show you, but iPhoto is not cooperating at the moment. I'll send them by themselves later."
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