We made it to TN on our final round trip for closing on the house and other business.  Mission almost accomplished! We dropped by the old place to visit our nice neighbors one last time, and thank them for all they’ve done to help.  I think they’re getting as fed up with TN as we were, and with good reason.  Who knows, they may decide to move to Ohio, once they visit us next year.

(We also swiped one final load of tomatoes and peppers from our garden!  Hey, it’s “ours” until tomorrow!)

We’re staying at our old familiar Luxbury Inn and Suites, as we did when we were first moving here.  Full circle.  It’s still owned and run by the same lovely Gujerati family, so it’s almost like old friends.  They upgraded us to one of their nice suites, as they often used to do.  It’s a bit updated and redecorated, clean, and has every basic amenity one needs.  And no piles of boxes waiting for furniture we don’t have to store stuff in.

It made me think, for the average American, this would be extremely bare bones and minimalistic, but having lived in India, this would be like the Taj Mahal to many Indians (and much of the world).  It has a functional kitchen with full fridge/freezer and stove, sitting room, two (!) TVs, a bedroom/office desk for me to write this on, comfortable bed, and bath.  And friendly, polite hosts.  What more do you need?  Maybe just a more enlightened state to reside in.

Oh, and a kitty–ours is residing in the garage until we return, where I’m sure she is not amused.  Still better than schlepping her hundreds of miles.  Poor thing, what we’ve put her through!  But it’s almost over.

Not a very appropriate way to spend Rosh haShanah, but as my son says, new beginnings!  Out with the old.  Another chance to start over.

Here are some misty mountain scenes as the sun was just rising in TN, and final approach to Alcoa/Maryville.  (We started out around 3 AM, to avoid the infamous Cincy parking lot.  It worked.)

Happy Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, to those who observe it.  L’shanah tovah, to a good year, or at least better than it’s been, a pretty low bar!  The horrors of the past and present years are too many and too brutal to reiterate.  Just ordinary mundane surviving sounds pretty good right now.

I suppose it’s appropriate that our move back to Ohio and closing on the TN house fell right smack in the middle of High Holy Days.  It’s like one more chance to start over in a less medieval place.  We have one final round trip drive down there tomorrow to wrap things up, then that unfortunate chapter is over.

It wasn’t all bad; I got to see my son and grandkids occasionally, before they all migrated to other states themselves.  Once again, we’re all shuffled and scattered across the map.  COVID just threw an additional wrench into the mix, another layer of separation and isolation.

And we’re some of the fortunate ones who could save up and move when the going got tough, unlike victims of Hurricane Ida or refugees from Afghanistan.  Even if they wanted to leave their ancestral homes and families to be strangers in a strange land, they couldn’t plan or afford it.  It puts our predicament in perspective.

Speaking of perspectives, from Misu’s point of view, after recovering from the trauma of moving, this is a wonderland of nooks and crannies and high windowsills to explore.  Here she is overseeing the ‘hood from “her” office.

And speaking of ‘hoods, happily, this is a very “diverse” (for lack of a better word) neighborhood in many ways.  The only demographic not well represented is critters.  I’ll have to remedy that.

It was a cool rainy day, perfect for our first return to Charleston Falls (and cave) since being back.  The waterfall was just a trickle, but still pretty.  The highlight was revisiting “Thorny Badlands”, actually a beautiful walk through hilly woods.  There were still a few familiar native wildflowers in bloom.

Going to the laundromat (awaiting our W/D delivery next month) was the perfect excuse to revisit Yellow Springs for the first time in years.  It was like a reunion, even if some of our old friends have moved or passed on.  There are always new (agey) characters to meet!

Yellow Springs has re-enforced COVID mandates due to the surge caused by non-compliance to precautions, and it was encouraging to see most people cooperating.  It’s been almost two years since we’ve felt safe enough to hang out in shops or eat out, and it was therapeutic.

First we got some good coffee and sat in Emporium Wines/Underdog Café for a while.

Next we stopped in Dark Star Books and met “Spooky”, the extremely affectionate new cat, rescued from a cemetery.  Sadly our old cat friend Mister Eko had passed on while we were away.  E caught up with one of the proprietors we know.

We strolled around, checking up on other old proprietor friends, then…drum roll…back to our infamous HQ, Ye Olde Trail Tavern!  Our friend Sam is no longer there, but we had a nice time just being back, and sampling a current YS Brewery brew and some munchies.  Happily it was mostly empty at that hour, so we felt OK eating indoors, and catching our breath after all the recent exhaustion.

We dropped in to Import House (the local hippie headshop) and bought a couple of things.  It’s always fun to gaze at all the shiny glass pipes.

Our finale was at House of Ravenwood, full of metaphysical wonders and aromas.  E got something for her upcoming birthday, and I restocked on incense, sage, and a little quartz crystal for our new home.

All in all, a much-needed mental health day, especially before we have to head back down on another whirlwind roundtrip to TN for closing.  Then we’ll be done with that unfortunate chapter for good.