With closing on Dekoven Drive at T-minus 14 days and counting I find myself becoming increasingly lost in bittersweet memories of the place that I've always called home...northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. For years - Boss Lady will testify to this - I've dropped hints and outright nagged about wanting to escape da Region. And now we have. While I've long said that the only place I'd willingly move to within Indiana was the Indy area, it's one thing thinking about it and quite another doing it. It was the late, great Erma Bombeck who said it best: The grass is always greener on the other side of the septic tank. Or as everyone's mama said at one time or another, " Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it."
While we've been in Fishers for 7 months now - can't believe it's been that long - calling the movers to have everything brought out of storage somehow makes it seem much more real...and permanent. ApartmIf you've ever moved to a new place then you know what I'm talking about.ent living only has added to our singing the Temporary Blues. We've each done things to help assuage the up-until-now transitory nature of our relocation. My most recent contribution to the cause was forking over some classic dough for Indy 500 tickets for me and the boy. It's something to look forward to, and it'll be fun. But there's an awful lot I'll miss about living up north, and truth be told, an equal number of things I won't miss. If you've ever moved to a new place then you know what I'm talking about. In any event, I've been making a mental list these past few days...
I'll miss living close enough to the Windy City that we don't have to deal with it every day, but are a quick drive or train ride away to enjoy all that it offers. I'll miss knowing my way around the area...the shortcuts, having frequent expressway exits when traffic grinds to a halt (Indy - okay, the state - seems to favor infrequent exits on the monster known as I465)...and knowing the best places to grab a greasy burger or great pizza. I'll miss Lake Michigan and cruising up north toward Hollywood with water on the driver's side (first to email me with the song this refers to wins a t-shirt!) late on a summer afternoon. I'll miss stepping out of the Randolph Street Station into the bright sunlight of a Chicago morning on the way to work. I'll miss the misfits who shop at Wally World at 30 & 41 after midnight...though I did run into a NIPSCO veep there one time and was he embarrassed.
I won't miss losing 3+ hours a day commuting into Chicago. I won't miss the hellish traffic that snarls every highway and byway for miles around, nor will I miss the perpetual construction season up north. Before Punxsatweny Phil moved to Philadelphia and started prognosticating 6 more weeks of winter with his damnable shadow, he had a gig in northwest Indiana with the County Highway Department. He was promptly run out of town the day he saw his shadow and forecasted 6 more milleniums of road construction. I won't miss the buffoons masquerading as civic leaders in Lake County politics, though the entertainment value is sometimes worth the price of admission (read higher taxes).
I could go on with both lists but will stop...for now. I invite you to share your hits and misses with us as well...whether you're a northlander or call the Circle City and its environs home. Whaddaya love and hate most? Don't hold back; tell it like it is. And if you've got a hot tip for getting around backups on 465 there will be a little something extra in your next paycheck. Oh...there is no paycheck...but you'll have my eternal gratitude. What more did you want...a Class 5A state football championship handed to you on a silver platter? Come to think of it, there is this politician up in Lake County whose third cousin twice removed has a friend who knows a judge who has a mistress whose father golfs with an IHSAA...