Big City Folks Navigate Small Town Life . . .

There's going to be a learning curve here for us -- I won't deny it. Despite the fact that neither Jon nor I were raised in the city, after almost 15 years in Chicago for me and nearly 10 for Jon, it's in our blood now. We would only begrudgingly acknowledge that we are horn honkers who rely too much on our car, that we often let our work take precedence over things we'd rather be doing, or that we have grown to expect the convenience and immediacy of city living. But these things are true. We still try to do our part to live small in the big city -- we try to buy locally, we bike when we can, we make an effort to know our neighbors. But it's hard. For all these reasons, our recent experiences and newly formed relationships on the island just go to show you . . .

Example #1: The island approach is different. And slower. After we returned home from our last trip, Jon had been dealing with a construction company who was going to provide him estimates for excavating a driveway and a clearing for our cabin. He provided his fax number so that he could send along the plans. One day goes by, two, three, then a week. No plans. Jon calls the office.

"Hi. I spoke with Arnie last week, and he was going to send along some plans for excavating our property."
"Let's see here. Oh, yes. Indeed. We sent those right along."
"You did? Hmm. We haven't gotten them. Do you have the right fax number?"
"Oh no, sweetie. I mailed them last week. You should be getting them any day now."

There's no rushing island time.

Example #2: Everyone on this island knows everyone -- or is related to them. It began with our realtor, Tina Nelson. Lovely gal. Found us a gem of a property -- next to her brother-in-law -- Gene Nelson -- now our neighbor. Tina also directed us to Elmer Nelson -- her uncle-in-law -- the local fire marshall to obtain aforementioned burn permit (see previous post). When we looked for construction companies, we found Arnie (Arnie from Example #1). Who, yes, you guessed it, also boasts the surname Nelson. But wait, there's more! Tom Nelson owns two local restaurants downtown -- we've been to both. And finally there's Chuckie Nelson, who in the mixed up web that makes up the Nelson clan, we're not quite sure how to identify. The upside is that each Nelson we've met has been more pleasant and easy going as the last.

We'll meet more Nelsons. I'm sure of it. And I'm not a bit sad about it.

In the meantime, we're heading back up in a week or so. Hoping to meet with Arnie (really) and get this land excavated. There are some existing permits on the land that we're trying to figure out -- hoping to be able to use some of what is already there.

After the noise and confusion of this last weekend's Independence Day celebrations in the city, I'm ready. To breathe deep, slow down and enjoy my neighbors.