The Blur

Suspending belief for a second, it is undeniable that the change in location has brought with it slight alterations in the terrain. After all, spending 26 years in one place makes one see everything else as a different planet or dimension. I've now lived 2 weeks in North Carolina, and boy has the terrain changed.

I feel like the Mars rover, landing, viewing everything around me with a different camera lens. I rotate my head and I catch a glimpse of something new. I pick up glances, phrases, smells, and I analyze them as a robot would - carefully, inquisitively.

People ask me what it is like, and it is hard to explain in a few words. Perhaps I am still in a state of proverbial shock. Maybe it has not hit me yet that I am a stranger in a strange land. But the best reference I can come up with, is that it is like landing on a new planet.

There's a sense of tranquility that is found in every nook. Supermarkets, restaurants, highways, they all have what I can only refer to as 'the look'. That is the look of relaxation; of less weight on your shoulders. Smiles come by easier. 'Good mornings' and 'thank yous' are heard everywhere, like church bells. I don't suspect people in the state of North Carolina spend much time planning vacations to far off places looking for 'the look'. Why would they, they have it at their doorstep.

The profound civility and the absence of urgency is refreshing. I find myself much more relaxed, without needing to make myself relax. Work is work and it's always busy.  But that element of the heart-pounding rush to get things done, to get anything done, has been subdued.

I like it. Perhaps I'm jaded. And with time, the truth will come out. And I'll find out that the place is crawling with zombies and devils. The experiment continues. I've picked my blue in Tobacco Road, and Coach K will not like it. 

Oh and it rains like it would in a tropical place. Really friggin' hard.

I miss New England terribly. But for now, this is home. And yes it's 4:23 ET and I can't seem to get some much needed sleep... Stay tuned for more happenings from good ol' Cary!