Living at the Willows in our RV, Tom and I are 1.2 miles away from where we lived for 25 years.  It doesn’t sound like much, but it could be halfway across the US, considering how unfamiliar we are with the neighborhood.  Our new location is in Springfield Township instead of in Mogadore.   We are in a different school district.  I go a different way to work every day.

It is surprising to me how different everything looks from one mile away.  We found a new favorite pizza joint – one that we had never tried even though it was less than one mile from our house (more about that in a future post).  We are taking walks together down roads we have never seen before.  I’m noticing all kinds of odd things about the neighborhood – just little things that I probably wouldn’t notice in more familiar surroundings.  A road that unexpectedly goes up a hill.  An alley that dead-ends in a family compound.  We walked along one of these new roads today and here are a few of the unusual things we saw:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not really all that different or odd – just new.  So we notice them for the first time and wonder about them.  Noticing these little differences opens up a new world for us:  one only a mile away from our old, familiar home.

I find it fascinating to explore new places and see new things.  Tom is even more curious about the world than I am, so life in retirement promises to be interesting when we begin our travels.  But we have already begun – by seeing all kinds of new things in moving just one mile away.   Looking at things from a slightly different perspective can change your view forever.