Cary & Me

Our new home. It’s the town theater, an art house.

The lyrics from the Talking Heads song “Once In A Lifetime,” plays in my head as I think how the plan to move to Cary took flight. Modified to suit of course.

The fires from a few years back were the first nudge to get us thinking outside of California. This is not our beautiful state! As the days went by, some of our neighbors were dropped by their fire insurance carriers. Eventually, one of the last big-name companies stopped enrolling new residences and It made national news. We held on to our coverage, but for how long?

The state is cooking and so is Hubby; he is F.R.I.E.D.! (No pun intended, but it’s kind of funny put together like that.) The stress level of his job is the worst it’s ever been. Bulging eyes and a basketball tummy are not healthy looks. This is not my beautiful hubby! I’ve often kidded with him about selling the house and moving to Arkansas. We won’t really go to Arkansas, it’s just a metaphor, albeit extreme. The stress is too much!

Pondering

We’ve been thinking about leaving California for a long time, but more seriously in the last three years. Many of our friends are in the same boat, wondering what could possibly be better than California?  But where? San Diego possibly, too dry. Seattle, too wet. Denver, snowy, and the pricing has gotten so crazy it would be like trading one expensive frying pan in for another and Colorado has the fires to go with it!

Cary! How did we get here? The long and the short of it, I literally googled the best places to live in North Carolina and Cary was number three. Cary is my middle name so of course I clicked on that link first. The description checked a lot of boxes and really piqued our interest: Climate, affordability, culture, diversity, educated, progressive, and most importantly, an Asian food market.

Hubby’s one thing for wherever we called home, there had to be a Ranch 99 or equivalent. Cary has one: H Mart!

Upon further research, Cary hosts 36 festivals a year, a few themes being Chinese Lantern, July 4th, and Pimento Cheese. Charming!

Cycling is huge even if the hills are not. Pickleball abounds. The food scene is something and expanding. The Turkish restaurant gets lots of accolades. There’s always Raleigh if we’re bored.

Cary feels right.

Research

I texted my friend’s sister that lives in Raleigh as Cary is one of the suburbs.

“What’s it like there? How southern is it?” I probably asked a little more delicately, but I had a feeling I was in like-minded territory.

“You will find friends here!” she proudly announced.  Some states are not too keen on Californians so this was a relief. She’s lived in Raleigh ten years now and wants to share the great find with the world, but then again, she doesn’t. Best kept secret.

“Now, it’s not a big city or anything like that,” my new friend admitted.  We don’t mind. We rarely go into San Francisco and maybe once a month to Oakland.

“It’s very open-minded…” Another sigh of relief. A lot of that is due to the impressive universities attracting talent from all over the world. One of the expressions for Cary is: Trees, trees, and PhDs.

Epiphany

Every morning, Hubby sips coffee from a giant silver Yeti as he walks the neighborhood. He’s in deep thought while admiring nature, playing with kitty-cats, and chatting with neighbors. Then, one day, a light bulb goes off.

“If we’re going to sell, we need to do it in the next two months. Real Estate is softening and the banks are tightening up on loans. A new owner may not qualify,” He says to me as he saunters into the kitchen in early April.

I look up from my laptop and ask the one question that means we’re not just talking any more.

“Should I call Dana?” I ask. Dana is my friend and an accomplished realtor in our area.

“Yeah, I think so.” Hubby answers somberly.

Pulling the trigger.

Within days, the real estate team did a walk-through to get a sense of the size and condition of our home. Two days later, we got all the numbers.

“Are you ready?” Hubby asks.

“Yep.” I answer confidently.

Oddly, we both are at ease about all of it.

Once in a lifetime….

 

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