Where...

I've received a lot of emails asking me where I've disappeared to this past week. It's all been a blur really – a box filled blur. Most of this past week has been spent unpacking and settling in. It is taking time figuring out just where everything should go. I am no where near close to finishing.

The above photo is the view from my studio window around dawn. It looks like a landscape by Egon Schiele. I've been listening to books on tape while I sort through and go through everything. It's a daunting task, but it needs to get done.

So far, things are going well out here. Things are falling into place, slowly but surely. Of course, there are challenges. One of them being that we are finding it difficult to get connected to the internet here. My solely connectivity, besides driving 30 minutes away (which I have done to post this), is through an iPhone. It's like a gossamer ribbon, connecting me to the rest of the world... thin and delicate and slowly unfurling. I'll be without the phone this coming week, so my internet time will be even more limited. The other big thing, which I knew about in advance and am becoming more used to is the cold. The mere mention of 63 degrees and my nose would start running... but with the aid of some thick sweaters and heavy socks, 63 degrees turns out to be quite a pleasant temperature. I'm also not used to driving everywhere and that the bodega is not half a block away. Since moving in, I've gotten up more than once with the proclamation that I was running out for some soda, before realizing that Junior's and the Associated Supermarket aren't just down the block. Defeated, I walked over to the refrigerator and wrote it down on the shopping list for my next trip into town for groceries.

I have been enjoying the new apartment and the quiet. I like being up early, watching the deer go by and the birds alighting on the barren branches. There is a peace here which is soothing. At times it can be a little maddening, but all in all, I am happy here – where I am.