I know, I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been settling in here in the house and in my new office, and getting back to work big-time. So, not much to write about lately. I still need to go on a photo safari of my new town, and I also need to work on finding some good hot weather recipes. (And, yes, I need a new picture for the blog banner.)

In the meantime, I’ve been settling into Southern small town life. It’s a pretty big change from Northern big city life, only I can never be sure which changes are Southern and which are small town.

For example, the friendliness. As Kathy advised me on my first day here, it is customary to greet people when you walk past them. Having grown up in the midwest, I’m finding the friendliness pretty easy to slip back into, even after several years of learning not to make eye contact with others. I’ve also met more of my neighbors and local shop owners in the last few weeks than I did in three years in Queens.

All in all, I’m finding the town pretty charming. The small downtown has most of what I need, including a family owned grocery that lets me buy on account (seriously), a fancy wine and cheese shop for when I’m feeling bourgeois, and an awesome public library. There are a couple of supermarkets on the edge of town when I need them, and a mall several miles down the road. I’m mostly biking places, and it seems that a lot of other people do this too.

I’m sure I’ll miss some things. There is one nice restaurant in town, and otherwise, it’s mostly chain restaurants near the highway. But, Richmond is only 20 minutes away, and that should be enough city for me.