I have arrived but ...

my stuff has not. Remember how I waxed poetic about the wonder of having a moving company pack, load and deliver all your stuff as you sit and sip mint juleps and refuse to lift a finger (okay I'm exaggerating a bit)? Well, sometimes there's a catch. You may arrive at your destination and your stuff may linger a few states behind. Apparently I am the first case of a late delivery with my moving company here in midwest city. Yay for me. Luckily I brought plenty of clothes and carted my tv in my car. However I've been dividing my nights sleeping on an air mattress I borrowed and a daybed I bought from World Market. Both are relatively comfortable for a short time, but I've been about two weeks without my very therapeutic (and expensive) mattress that I bought during a bout of sciatica. You know that saying that one shouldn't go grocery shopping hungry? Well apply that to mattress shopping while having sciatica pain. The bed was worth it though as I'm realizing during my time without it.

In any case, I'm exploring my surroundings while trying to furnish an apartment twice as big as the one I had in the BK. And believe me, I'll have no trouble making use of my two sizable bedrooms and large living space. My new complex is also surrounded by lots of trees. I've spotted rather cute bunnies running through the yard and lots of black squirrels skittering about. I have no idea why they're all black. Maybe it has something to do with this part of the area. Who knows? Unfortunately, other than the landscapers, the squirrels and I are the only black inhabitants of this complex that I've seen.

This midwest college town that I've made my new home is visibly divided by color. The side of the "city" where the college is has a more expensive property value and consequently more white people. Most of the students live on this side and quite a few faculty do as well. I decided to live near campus in order to make my first year as junior faculty as easy as possible. I know from my other sistadoctafriends that the first year of meetings and committees and gatherings can be demanding so I've cut out the added difficulty of commuting.

On the Other side of the tracks, a good deal of black people and a queer community dwells. A couple of my friends have purchased or are renting houses over there as it doesn't have many apartment rentals, not nice ones anyway. I explored that area when I came out to apartment hunt and thought I'd rent a loft. Leave it to me to try to fashion urban living out of straw. Apparently there is some revitalization going on in the downtown area and when I buy something, I'll definitely be looking for funkier and more diverse digs. Until then, me and the Jacksons (my name for the black squirrel family) are chilling in the lovely historic district, waiting for Others like us to appear.