An Empty House

I have said goodbye to the bats that swoop around my back yard each night. I have sold or donated almost everything I own (except for that cursed antique but broken 1930´s couch). And on Tuesday I got confirmation that the house sale had gone through. It ended up being harder to sell my house than expected, which was a combination of the state of the market and the state of my not-very-up-to-date house. I finish cleaning and packing today, and then I´ll have the rest of the weekend to hang out with friends and say goodbye.

I still remember how I felt when we drove away from DC in 2010, en route to my new postdoc job, passing the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. I expect I will feel the same way when I drive (again) through the city on my way to Florida (again). I will really miss this city, with its combination of amazing and free museums, gobs of cultural events, and a significant international population. I find the climate here just about perfect, which would shock the people who think of it as a hot and humid swamp, because it has four distinct seasons and none of them are too long. 

This city is also full of friends. Friends who accompanied me through graduate school and who helped me survive Andrew´s death. And newer friends who weathered COVID with me and helped me enjoy the start of my retirement. Making friends does not come naturally to me, but having moved so much in my life means that I go at friend-making with a well-developed plan and research-based methods. So I cam confident I will make new friends, but also that that will take months.

In the meantime, I will focus on the many details of closing down a house, establishing a life in Florida, and starting the visa application process. I see many more to-do lists in the coming months, but they are all pretty exciting to-do lists.