No, I'm not talking about leaving the site. This is my blogo-blags home, and I'm here to stay.
It's a gray day here in the northeast corner of the Sooner State, and I'm sure there are many more of these to come. Our fall season lasts about 48 to 72 hours. It starts looking like winter even though the leaves are still on the trees.
I'm writing today because I've had a mental shift that happened after election day. Something's moved in my brain, and it may not move back. When I drive around or take a walk, I can't look at my state quite the same way again. Maybe those of you who have moved away from a place they've called "home" can relate to this.
For the first time since my family and I moved into our first real house, I'm feeling a certain kind of pull. I feel these kinds of "pulls" occasionally in my life, and I try to pay attention to them when they happen.
One pull led me away from the house I grew up in. The other pulled me from the church I grew up in. Another still pulled me away from conservatism. And another one pulled me away from the reporting profession.
This time I'm feeling pulled to another state. I'm not sure which one, and I'm not sure when it will ever happen. But I've shared this feeling with Mrs. Droogie, and she agrees with me.
I love a lot of things about my state, for all its obvious shortcomings. The people here are good people. The cost of living is low. I am close to my family. And although I just made fun of our lack of a true fall, I'd miss the excitement of Oklahoma's thunderstorm season.
Mrs. Droogie mentioned the Pacific Northwest. I've known people from there, and they had nice things to say. We've talked about Colorado or maybe Texas, both places we have visited before, for a fresh start.
What I'm looking for is a certain energy, not to sound too hippie-dippie. I want a place with young couples like ourselves -- couples who weren't shotgun-married, and who didn't wait until their late 30s to have kids.
I want a place with more culture. An art museum, some historical sites, maybe some music. Not just for Mrs. Droogie and I, but for Droogie Jr's development.
I've never been ashamed of being an Okie. I'll stand up for my state and the people who live in it even if they wouldn't do the same for me because of the way I think. But my family has never been the best fit for this place. Maybe it took an election to show me just how far I have drifted apart from my place of birth.
We're going to have to do some thinking and also some traveling before we'll know anything for sure. Like I say, these "pulls" that I get are always ambiguous at first. You have to put a lot of thought and energy into them before you can figure out what they mean.
But I intend to explore this feeling fully over the next few months, and probably years.
If anyone has any advice for someone like myself who is in a transitional period of sorts, please share them with me. I want to hear from people who have left their homes for someplace new, and what they learned in doing so.
Rec List? Really, guys? Is this a slow news day? There's got to be better things to talk about than where some dumb Okie is going to move to eventually. But if you've gotten something out of this diary, I'm glad. I just had a much lower-profile diary in mind today.