Moving Intown

Moving Intown.

I remember having a problem calling what I assumed was "downtown" Portland, "intown".  I had lived in many places around the country and that part of the city or town where the businesses and restaurants were located was always called downtown.  Well, it took a few years but when I now say I'll meet you intown, it flows smoothly off my tongue.  See, even though my kids might think otherwise, I can change which brings us to the point of this post, our move intown.

I think many my age (50's) think about or at least dream about selling the house in the country (or in our case, North Deering) and moving downtown... I mean intown.  TA and I figured that we spent so much time there anyway, mostly hitting the restaurants, that it would be an easier life style.  Having grown up in New York City I always considered myself a "city boy" and really missed being able to walk to places.  TA, on the other hand, grew up as a country girl and was a bit harder to convince.  "Wouldn't you miss the yard?" she would ask.  "The only time I'm in the yard, I'm mowing the lawn" would be my answer.  "Won't you miss the house?" she'd ask.  I'd have to think about that one for a moment.  I really did like the house.  I vaguely remember the layout of the upstairs from when I used to tuck the kids into bed but no one has been up there for a few years now.  The finished basement is nice and I'm more familiar with it as I'd make my daily trip downstairs to feed the fish or else I'd have no idea what that place looked like either.  That's not really true as, at least once a year, I would have to accompany the oil guy for my yearly furnace tune-up which also served to remind me of the $3500 I spent the year before heating a mostly empty house.  Yeah, I wanted out and through some arm twisting and lies - "if you don't like living intown we'll move back" (I'm glad she didn't question where the "back" we'd be going back to might be as I assume the people who bought our house probably would not want to give it back to us), I was able to get TA to agree.

Long story short, we now live in the West End of Portland almost in the shadow of Maine Med which is both comforting (I only have to go a few blocks for the best medical treatment in the state) and disconcerting because, as I age, there's a much greater likelihood that I'm going to need some of the best medical care the State has to offer.  So what does one who sold the big house, gave away most of our stuff to charity (to the chagrin of our accountant, we got no receipts), bought a wreck of a condo that had to be gutted, and eats out almost all the time, do with their time?  I figure I'd write about it.  Welcome to my blog.