Picturesque New England.
The landscape here is mind-blowing. My brain is still struggling to not expect a high rise or mass traffic around each bend. Instead, I’m conditioning it to anticipate glassine lakes, old train track bridges (that’s the technical term), and trees….lots and lots of trees.
Hiking trails within a few feet of our front door.
Amidst all the nature, I’ve discovered a plethora of resources. A gourmet grocery store chain (ala Whole Foods) that carries local products from 240+ farms, worldly imports (french cheeses!), and a bulk goods section with 17 different types of flours. Each of these stores has a plentitude of parking spaces; a foreign concept coming from a big city. In the next town over, we have some big box stores like Best Buy, Staples, and Home Depot. And let me just tell you, the ice cream shop in the Home Depot parking lot has been a very popular destination point (small cones for $.89).
As the hot weather transitions out of our first summer in the Upper Valley, I admit slight apprehension about the winter. The green leaves and access to outdoors are rumored to become more limited, the roads a little more treacherous, and I still don’t know what to wear on my feet in the snow (any suggestions?). During an afternoon hike through the woods behind our new home, however, I could only focus on the present gorgeousness.
Drizzly warm weather has creating soft and fuzzy moss on the rocks.
Loads of mini mushrooms sprouting underfoot.
The impossible-to-photograph dog endlessly exploring.
As you research business school opportunities, whether a potential new student or partner, environmental considerations will surely factor into the application process. We kept an ever-changing lists of living requirements, most of them directing us to major metropolitan areas. Both of us have traveled the world, but this particular nook of the US was so foreign, so far, and so…natural.
But now that we’re here, I find myself abandoning my high heels, signing up for canoe rides, and I have even been trail hiking on my own. Sure, the bugs still bug and I will undoubtedly start craving a department store soon, but for now? This is a perfect fit.
Nature, glorious nature.
Have specific questions about transitioning here? I’m your gal.
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Read the full article: In My New Backyard.