Journal Entry #19: I Love Living In The South, But…

“What I quickly noticed about this new way of living was how intertwined my life became with nature. And I got my first initiation through a baby black bear.”

We have a baby squirrel running loose in our house.

Some people may find this adorable, but I am freaked out. I am not used to sharing my living space with wild animals who don’t pay bills. On top of that, I am deeply terrified of rodents.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I moved out of the Tri-state area during the beginning of the pandemic. I transitioned from a small studio apartment to a house again. The quiet, tree-lined suburbs was going to be my new address as I left behind a noisy, overcrowded, overstimulating environment where walking everywhere and bumping into tourists was the norm.

And I must say that it took a long time for me to adjust. I kept getting sick as I had to deal with a completely different climate. Not being able to go outside and cross the street to grab some pretzels from the corner store meant that I must travel a minimum of 15 minutes by car to find some snacks. This is probably why I stopped snacking in the first place; it’s a habit that’s too damn inconvenient to keep up with! But even still, I love my new zip code.