A new city, a new chapter

I have moved to Atlanta.  Although, I had spent a number of weekends before this setting up my apartment here, this is the first official weekend.  I don't have to drive back to Birmingham this afternoon.  Tomorrow I start my new job.

I do have some cleaning to do in my old apartment, along with collecting the last of my things (including my scooter) that didn't fit in my car yesterday.  So I'll go back for a day or weekend in the next month or so.  But officially, this new chapter has begun.

I did my first grocery run this afternoon.  Midtown is quite a bit more pedestrian friendly with maintained and often wide sidewalks and traffic lights that actually take into account the massive amount of pedestrian traffic.  There is one intersection I love where pedestrians actually get a full turn (with no right turn on red allowed) which even allows for (and encourages) diagonal crossing.  There are more hills though than in Birmingham so although the walk to the grocery store is a few blocks closer, I get a bit more of a work out pushing my cart.

The grocery store is really weird because of the hills.  The main entrance is on the higher side of the building and so I then have to take a ramp to go down a level to the food.  It's really close to the MARTA station I'll be taking to work so if there is ever a quick need to grab something on the way home, it will be easy to do (as long as it isn't too heavy for the walk home without my cart).  

I now have so much to explore on foot.  In every direction, there are things I want to explore.  And it looks like finally, I will have everything I need at my fingertips.  I have walked past a pharmacy, the post office, a UPS store, a store for my cell phone, the library, more restaurants than I will be able to try in a year, the symphony, a huge art museum, several major theaters, so much green space including my favorite gardens, so many churches to check out, the belt line, etc.  There is even a strip mall with big box stores like a Home Depot only a mile walk away.  And that doesn't even take into consideration all the places I can go by just hopping on the MARTA!

I don't know yet what, if any role my scooter will play in this next life.  It's rusting, the handlebars are crooked, and the tires are bald. It's ten years old and really probably should be retired.  And there are so many people and electric scooters mingling around that it feels like a lot to navigate through on my own scooter, especially with how walkable everything is.  

Maybe I'll finally invest in and learn to ride a One Wheel and do joy rides through Piedmont Park instead.  I had been seriously considering one just before my ex-husband asked for a divorce.  It's not as whimsical as a kick scooter though and I really enjoy the whimsical aspect of riding a scooter.  I guess we will see what this neighborhood is like.

Grocery Shopping

I walked to the grocery store yesterday evening.  Grocery shopping has become an experience for me and less of a chore.  It's nine blocks away and about half of the walk is along a big, active city park.  Last night the local minor league baseball team was also playing at the stadium across from that park so the streets were even more active than usual.

That walk to and from the grocery store forces me into the present moment as I take in all the life around me and the beauty of this city.  It slows me down.  And one thing I've discovered about a walkable life is that getting out and putting one foot in front of the other calms my nervous system and makes me more prepared to handle the challenges of life.  My grocery shopping routine only adds to that.

It will be a different path when I move to Atlanta but I will still be less than a mile from my grocery store so that I can continue this routine.

I've invested in a really good cart to make transporting the groceries so easy.  The brand name is CLAX.  It is a German-made product that is durable and collapses flat to store easily under my bed.  It came with one removable and collapsable crate for the top and I bought a second for the bottom.  When my now ex-husband and I split, as silly as this may sound, this was the item I cared about the most as we divided our possessions.

One thing I love about this cart is that there really is no need to bag anything so I don't have to worry about disposing all that single-use plastic or remembering to bring my own cloth bags.  I don't even use the single use produce bags unless they are necessary for a lot of really small items or something more sensitive like lettuce.  Avocados, cucumbers, large tomatoes, etc. go directly in my cart.  Another thing I love about this cart is that it can be wheeled directly into my kitchen so that groceries can be put directly away.  

It's also a really interesting conversation piece.  Checkers, cashiers, other shoppers - rarely does a grocery store trip occur without some comment from someone.  Since regaining my energy after the divorce, I have actually come to enjoy those little interactions with strangers.  It makes me feel more connected to a community.

Remembering where I parked

I lost my car yesterday.  No, it wasn't really lost.  It was exactly where I had left it three weeks earlier.  I just couldn't remember exactly where that was.  My car's app shows me a physical location but doesn't have elevation so it is only so helpful in a seven level parking garage.  So at least there was some comfort in knowing it was close.

The problem is that I misread that location information in the app.  And so as I climbed the staircase and poked my head out on each level to look in the direction where I thought it should be, I got discouraged as I reached the top level without any sign of it.  So I did the only other thing I knew to do - circle the entire parking garage.

It's interesting because when I came across a car that looked like my car, I doubted myself because it isn't a location I usually park in.  I walked around to the back to see the license plate and then went to see if the door would open before I finally believed I had found it.

I'm usually better than this.  I usually read my car's app better.  I usually park in the same three or four areas.  It almost becomes a game, a treasure hunt because of how little I drive.  It's now mid-May and I think I've only driven four or five days this year.  I guess this is just the price to pay for such a walkable life.

Some day I dream of getting rid of my car but I'm not sure I'm there yet.  I really like road trips and weekend trips.  Sometimes I just need to get out of the city and immerse myself deeper in nature.

An expansion of my walkable life

After my post last month about reviving this blog, I had plans to reflect on the ways I love my walkable community - my experience grocery shopping, the evenings I put on my shoes and just wander into venues for drinks and dinner, the birdwatching on my commute, the live music I can listen to from my living room when I open the windows, etc.

And then the change I have been waiting for happened faster than I ever could have imagined.  I figured there would be more of a process, a warning, a chance to process before it all happened but that was not meant to be.  I have accepted a job offer in Atlanta and will soon be leaving Birmingham behind.  This is a promotion.  It's a chance for a new start.  I think the distance will push me into the next phase of healing from my divorce.  I am ready.  I am beyond excited.

I've secured an apartment in Midtown.  It backs out onto Piedmont Park and is walking distance from one of my favorite places, the Atlanta Botanical Garden.  I'll have easy access to the MARTA, grocery stores, restaurants, entertainment, etc.  This will be an expansion of my current walkable life.

Time to revive this blog and let it evolve

I think it is time to revive this blog and maybe evolve it a bit.  I have gone through a lot of change since I last posted and I can smell more change in the air (you will have to wait for later posts to see how this next chapter plays out).

Later this year will mark ten years since I bought my Razor scooter.  The logos are all worn off.  The tires are quite bald.  The handlebars are currently a bit crooked - I should get out a wrench and try to fix that this weekend.  But my scooter has been my biggest constant over the past ten years and it still brings me such great joy as the wind flows through my hair on my daily commute.  If I stand on my tip-toes and throw my head back as I coast down a hill, I feel like I'm flying and barely even connected the ground.

Is it weird that as a 44 year old woman, I still cling to this childhood pursuit?  Scratch that question - I don't care.  It is a part of who I am.  And I'm going to enjoy it for as long as my balance holds strong and I have a commute where it makes sense.

I was 34 when this all started.  That seems a lifetime ago.  Since then, I've sold a house, moved over 700 miles away for warmer weather, survived two lengthy government shutdowns and COVID, and got divorced.  That last one still sits a little heavy.  I never expected that after 19 years, my now ex-husband would without warning or explanation throw the towel in.  But oh, how it was a blessing in disguise!  My life has done nothing but improve since the separation.

I still live in Birmingham.  I stayed in the same apartment complex although moved into a small studio that felt too small in the beginning but turned out to be absolutely perfect.  All my belongings have their place and it is so easy to clean.  My scooter has its place under my bed when I'm not out riding it.  Plus, I get to listen to the local music acts that play at the brewery next door and watch the trains that go by all day.  

I've really leaned into a more sustainable life with a smaller carbon-footprint.  That obviously started before the divorce when we chose to live downtown upon moving south.  Ever since moving here in 2019, I've prioritized walking and scootering for work, church, doctors, etc.  Since the divorce, I've also started doing all of my grocery shopping by walking the mile to the downtown grocery store (with a cart) and I've explored so many entertainment, eating, and drinking opportunities within my mile and a half walking distance.  Who knew that even a city like Birmingham could be walkable with a little effort?

I've switched to an electric car that I only drive every 4-6 weeks.  And I've planned travel that allowed me to leave on foot from my apartment to the local Amtrak station or to catch a shuttle to the Atlanta airport.

So as I revive this blog, I plan to not only share scooter stories but also stories about what it is like to live in a walkable community now as a single individual.

I forded a river today.

Towards the end of my day I chatted with a colleague in her office when we noticed the clouds darken the sky.  The question wasn't whether it would rain but when.  My colleague looked down at my practical sandals and then at her leather wedge sandals.  She remarked that clearly I was ready and she was not as she pondered whether she dared make the run to her car barefoot.

I returned to my office to log off and pack up my work laptop.  Fortunately, I keep a poncho in the backpack that I use for my laptop so that I always have one on days like this.

I carried my scooter, poncho, and backpack down the stairs to the ground floor where I unfolded the scooter and donned the poncho.  I can only imagine what a sight I was to see as I passed an attorney from my office on my way out the door.  

Through the streets of my city, I navigated puddles, traffic, and the occasional pedestrian.  When I arrived at my favorite park, the place was so empty the two resident ducks were exploring the usually very busy path now filled with puddles to play in.  They were surprised to watch me zip by.  

The rain had gotten even heavier by now.  Puddles were getting harder and harder to avoid.  My scooter momentarily slipped on some wood boards of a path, nicking me in the ankle as I clumsily stepped off - one of the hazards of riding a scooter.

Then I reached the final block which had a river running down the middle of the road.  There was no way to avoid this puddle so I forded through it, feeling the entire board of my scooter get fully submersed at times until I reached higher ground.

I admit, I smiled throughout the entire journey as the rain washed over me, refreshing me, and cooling me after days of weather that at times reached triple digits.

I reached the main building of my apartment complex.  As I stood under an overhang, I folded up my scooter and then took off my poncho and shook off as much rain as I could.  Aside from my bangs and my legs/feet, I had actually stayed pretty dry.

I entered the building to see the eyes of the office staff on me.  "I don't mind the rain.  I don't melt." I said before continuing on to pick up the mail and head to my apartment.

It's been a while.....

Aside from a post a couple of days ago, you may have noticed a several year gap in posts.  I just thought I would briefly catch you up to what I have been up to.

Sometime in early 2019, I let the scooter gather some dust.  My commute was only 7 blocks, hampered by a lot of uneven sidewalks that took some focus to navigate, and I wanted to slow down even further.  You notice more scootering than you do driving but you notice even more if you start walking.  I got to know the faces of the people that I saw day in and day out.  I learned the schedule of the flowering trees each February and then again in the ones that flower in the summer.  I paid closer attention to the songs of the birds and the occasional lizard scurrying into the bushes.  And since it was only a 12 minute walk, it was still short enough to come home for lunches.  

And then in 2020, it was if the world stopped with the arrival of the coronavirus.  In mid March of 2020, my employer scrambled to make sure everyone had laptops and sent us home to telework.  There were so many advantages we learned from teleworking but it didn't come without some challenges.  The first challenge was our 1 bedroom apartment where the desk where my husband worked physically touched the kitchen table where I worked.  We solved that problem by upgrading to a 2 bedroom apartment with a loft in May of 2021 in the same building.  The other challenges related to the technology we had would somewhat improve over time until we got into a good routine.  During this time, weeks and even sometimes months filled the gaps between my stops in the office which were never more than an hour or two at a time.

Then in late April 2022, over two years since we were sent home, my employer called us all back.  The scooter was still gathering dust at this point as I returned to walking back and forth to work.  My husband's work had not yet called him back so he continued to telework every day for a number of months after that.

Even before the start of the pandemic, our apartment complex had started to rotate through office staff a little too often and that just accelerated with the pandemic when they left some positions unfilled.  The building went on slow decline which for us culminated in having to spend the 2022 Christmas weekend in a hotel because our apartment temperature was in the 40s and management did very little to address what caused that.  So after the first of the year in 2023, we started the apartment hunt.  A number of brand new buildings had opened in the last couple years or were opening soon.

In March of 2023, we moved in to a new apartment in a newer building  This new place is now just about a mile away from work.  It is definitely still walkable and when my husband and I go in together, we do walk.  But the route we take includes almost half a mile through a wonderful park with a paved path plus a couple blocks of a bike lane on the street.  So there aren't as many broken sidewalks to navigate.  And those extra few blocks turned a 12 minute walk into over a 20 minute walk.  So I have dusted off the scooter and ride it to the office usually two days a week plus one evening a week to choir practice.

Stormy days

 One risk of commuting by scooter (or on foot) is the uncertainty of the weather.  In the last hour of my work day, the skies darkened as strong storms approached.  A severe thunderstorm warning was issued and a chorus of thunder sounded between lightening strikes.  I did wonder whether it would pass by the time I was ready to go home.  

Fortunately, the rain had turned to a drizzle and the lightening was in the far distance as I stepped outside onto the sidewalk outside my office.  I swerved around the deepest puddles as my made my way towards the local park that was on my route.  Usually this is a park full of people - dog walkers, runners, children playing, people lounging on a blanket in the grass listening to a guitar player, etc.  Today, it was empty, eerily empty.  I paused as I saw the young yellow-crowned night heron sitting in his favorite tree.  I'm sure he was enjoying the quiet.  Then paused even longer as one of the resident ducks swam towards where I stood, looking for food that I didn't have.  And then I continued on my way.

Update

We have had a rainy winter so far here in Birmingham (it is pouring as I write this post and a mild 64*F - crazy for January!).  This has put a bit of a damper on my normal scooter ride in each day. 

But what has put an even bigger damper on my daily scooter rides is this government shutdown.  My husband is furloughed and his days at home are long so he walks me to work each morning and walks me back to work after I come home for lunch.  And I go into work day after day not knowing when I will get paid for the work I am doing.

So I don't have any new stories or scooter experiences to share.  And my scooter spends most days sitting on our patio unused (although I did get it out a time or two before Christmas after I had decked it out with battery operated Christmas lights).  Hopefully the weather and our situation will improve soon so I can be back out soaring down the sidewalks of our new town.

Check out this YouTube Video

My husband found this YouTube video and I just had to share it with you all (or should I say "all y'all").