The first year

We arrived in Rhode Island one year ago today. It was a three-day drive from St. Louis with 11 canaries and three cockatiels, and we arrived to find flooded streets. The front door was supposed to have a combination lock box with the house keys in it, but that was missing. The moving van with most of our worldly belongings didn’t arrive for four more days, and unboxing took another couple weeks. Ahead of us were weeks of plumbing drama and several other expensive repairs/updates. Fortunately, the winter of 2022-23 was mild, and we now have an emergency generator and a snow-blower in anticipation of the winters people have warned us about.

We bid on the house without seeing it in person—just a walk-through with the agent on her cell phone. The house never went on the market and our bid below the asking price with no inspections or pre-conditions was accepted. We closed in June 2022 after a second cell phone walk-through. Only saw it in person on 22 August 2022. Chutzpah or meshuggeneh? In the event, the real estate agents matched our needs well. Quiet, safe, leafy, walkable neighborhood. Friendly neighbors. And I finally got the kitchen I’d always dreamed of!

Rhode Island is the smallest state. Despite being a toy state, there are six states with smaller populations, including Alaska, which is the largest state by geography. But little Rhode Island boasts an Ivy League university, and there’s the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, which are world-famous. We’ve already enjoyed a bunch of theater, some local music and a couple of lectures, as well as some RI state parks. There’s plenty yet to do, and of course we’re next door to Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Rhode Island is called “The Ocean State.” Hawaii actually is an island state out in the ocean, so Hawaii really deserves this moniker, but whatever. There is a good bit of saltwater coastline in Rhode Island, but there are lots of states with much more ocean frontage (e.g., California, Florida, Alaska, etc.). It is what it is.

After 40 years in St. Louis, we were never considered natives. So I don’t expect to feel like a native here, either. But we are starting to learn our way around while using Siri less, and to feel a little more at home as we start our second year in New England. I hope we get to live here awhile.