New York is on my mind

I work with a woman who grew up rather close to where I did, and we're about the same age.  We talked for a while yesterday about all of the things we love about upstate NY.  The scenery, fall foliage, good pizza, favorite diners, shopping malls we loved as teenagers that no longer exist, the Adirondacks, the weather, the Mohawk River valley, old amusement parks, etc., etc.  It made us both a bit melancholy but happy to know someone who shares similar memories.

I've lived out west for about fifteen years now, and I'm finding it difficult to leave an area that means so much to me.  It's not just the prolific wildlife and the gorgeous mountains.  It's the people.  It's the wide open spaces.  It's the kindness you find pretty much every where you go.  It's having pronghorn just beyond my back yard and horses during the summer who come to our fence for apples and carrots.  It's the amazing sunsets and June thunderstorms and short summers that make you appreciate each and every day the warm weather lasts.  And it's the place that made me realize my life had a lot more potential than the narrow existence I believed I was destined for where I grew up.  I don't know that I would have traveled down the path I've walked for the last fifteen years if Yellowstone didn't pop up on my radar.  And, man oh man, am I glad it did.  I've written about this before briefly, but the park and living in it changed my life.  And it led to many other adventures I might never have experienced otherwise.  (Practicing gratitude for this right now!)

We will soon be moving away from this part of the country, and while I'm excited for the next adventure, I'm also sad to leave behind my life in Montana.  As they say, change is good, which I know to be true.  So.....on to the next place in the next month or so.  Meanwhile, I'm in a New York State of Mind.  Been singing the song by Billy Joel for weeks now, even humming it at work.