07/07 2eme semaine/ 2nd week

Cette semaine m'aura vu a Columbus, Ohio pour retourner faire du simulateur, comme tous les 6 mois. Du fait que je "volais" le soir, j'en ai profiter pour visiter l'etat dans la journee, d'autant plus que la semaine a ete magnifique, beau temps tous les jours avec une temperature dans les 25 degres, ce qui change bien sur des 40C de Phoenix en cette saison!

Justement, a chaque fois que ca monte aussi haut, Kate parle de retourner vivre dans les plaines natales de son enfance, et j'avoue que je ne suis pas forcement contre. En effet, Phoenix, dans l'ensemble, aura ete plutot une deception. Certes, la meteo est bonne pour le vol a voile, mais il faut avouer que je fais principalement du local, donc je n'ai pas forcement la possibilite de faire des circuits de 1000Kms! Il y'a le fait que ca devient comme Los Angeles ici, avec son trafic, sa pollution, ses crimes, etc... etc... Cela fait donc deja plusieurs fois que l'on parle de retourner dans ce que nous avons vecu enfant. Normandie/Picardie pour moi, la region de Cincinnati pour elle.

Or il se trouve que l'etat de L'Ohio correspond exactement au climat du nord de la France. Cela ne m'enchante pas forcement lorsque le ciel sera gris, mais voila: il y'a Florence maintenant...
Voulons nous la faire grandir dans une megapolis, ou on passe l'ete a l'interieur d'une maison car les conditions sont trop dures a l'exterieur?
Nous avons trouves la ville de Lebanon, OH qui a une multitude de fetes et parades pour enfants.
Tous les jeudi matin, il y'a le marche, comme on fait en France. Au mois d'aout, il y'a un festival du blues. En septembre, la fete des pommes, en octobre, Halloween bien sur, et en decembre, le pere noel, l'illumination d'un enorme sapin de noel sur la place, etc...etc...

Mais qu'en est-il du vol a voile?
A 15 kms de la se trouve le terrain de Waynesville, site du plus vieux club de vol a voile au Etats-Unis. 200 membres, 50 planeurs bases sur place! Je suis alle leur dire bonjour bien sur, et l'acceuil fut sympa, ils ont meme avoue qu'ils ont besoin de pilotes remorqueurs ou meme instructeurs, ce qui m'arrangerait bien pour aller voler l'hiver!
Ah et juste a cote, il y'a un autre petit terrain en herbe, prive lui aussi, ou je vais pouvoir me louer un Stearman! et puis il y'a a cote le lac de "Cesar Creek" pour aller faire du jet ski, la riviere "Miami" pour la descendre en Kayak, et une multitude de randonnee a pied ou a velo.
Peut-on faire ca dans l'Arizona? Non. Se balader en moto prends 30 minutes pour sortir de la ville, et se retrouver dans le desert de toute maniere.

Alors, on y pense, on cogite, mais comme c'est faisable, on y pense serieusement. Aucune decision n'a ete prise pour l'instand. et puis de toute maniere, c'est pas pour demain: y'a deja 4 maisons a vendre dans notre rue! Affaire a suivre.

En debut de semaine, j'ai visite pour la seconde fois le musee de l'armee de l'air, a Dayton. De superbes avions a decouvrir, dont mon prefere, le Walkyrie, mais que je n'ai pu prendre en photo car ils l'ont mis dans un autre hangar. Le reste des photos sont sur: http://picasaweb.google.com/jeplane/OhioJuillet2007

Ahhh. A little slice of Heaven to call our own.

I have moved many times. Many, many, many, many, many times. I have lived places that are still near and dear to my heart. I have lived in places that I couldn't care for; for example, Washington state. Ohh, it was awful. Rained two out of every three days. And the people had a severe lack for understanding irony. Painful to not be able to exercise irony....

Anyway, I digress. Tis the season to sweat. Just recently we had 112 in the shade. And with the monsoons rolling in it is NOT a dry heat. (Why do the people who always call it a dry heat only visit in Winter and never during Summer, hmmmmmmmmm??????) Anyway, I digress again. So, yeah, it sucks. I read on a National Weather Service board that there are only two other places in the WORLD which match the wretched climate of Arizona - Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Hmmm. Maybe that's why those guys are always crabby and starting wars. If it was 118 in the shade and I didn't have air conditioning or ice cream (I just assume Arabs don't eat ice cream) then I'd be darn crabby too. Anyhooo. I love the desert. It is a beautiful place, unique (save for Iraq and Saudi Arabia). But...it's hot. And, frankly, I can handle that. But it is not so much the weather but the place in which we live wherein we suffer this weather. A concrete jungle. Filled with Starbucks and Bestbuy and McDonald's. And we ask ourselves, on pretty much a regular occassion, is there nothing more?

Of course there is. We had been talking Big Bear for a long time, but it's expensive and the logistics don't work. Then we stumbled upon a place for a possible future which comes directly from out past. Ohio.

Where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye. Well, actually, that's Oklahoma, but the point is the same. I was born in Ohio. I grew up in the Midwest. I lived in smaller towns and we were surrounded by open spaces. Dressing up was wearing a new t-shirt. There were trees, birds, etc. etc. Sorry, can't be too poetic. I'm tired. Florence is in bed and I need to hurry lest I get no sleep tonight (and God help me if that turns out to be the case.) And for Richard, where he grew up in Northern France he says is pretty much the same as Ohio, climate and lifestyle. THe rolling countryside, the farms and cows, the apple orchards and small towns, the birds chirping and the deer lolling through the streams.

Anyway, I have a hankerin' to go home, as it were. And Ohio is just that environment to return to. But it's not just about that. Richard has been sorely disappointed by the glider ports here. Although Arizona is supposed to be in the top three gliding places in the US, the glider ports are pathetic, profit driven operations where comaraderie sorely lacks and support facilities are non-existent. In addition, We're both in hatred of the fact that our once little town is being so overrun with Californians relocating that we have, in effect, become California. Blah, blah. Sorry, severe sleep deprivation here so I can't keep my train of thought and can barely remember my previous sentence.

Turns out that just nearby this town is one of the most active glider ports in the US, with many supportive members where comraderie is the standard. Further...

Anyway. We want more. ANd we want it for us but, mostly, Florence. Lebanon (Ohio, not Arabia's Lebanon!) is small town America at it's best. And no country does small town like America. Homey. Family oriented. The Main Street. The town square. Pumpkin festivals. Farmer's market. Heck, they even have an annual sheep sheering contest (which I am grateful to find out about because when Richard originally told me about it I misunderstood him (his accent) and thought he said sheep killing contest. Thought it was a little odd to kill sheep in front of children but after all there are some weird customs in the world. Just ask Hilary when she sleeps with Bill.

Anyway, I digress. Lebanon has a train depot that goes aroudn Ohio. It has celebrations for every part of the year, including the Thomas the Train rides, Santa rides, the Easter Bunny train, the Pumpkin train, the Harry Potter train, etc. all for kids to see the sights and ride with mom and dad to get a taste of the good life. Then there's the Christmas lights festival where the whole town is lit up and they light the tree in the town center. And in nearby Waynesville, population 2500, is a Sauerkraut festival (though I hate eating it). And at Christmas the town of Lebanon even offers free horse drawn sleigh rides, kisses from Santa, etc. And, heck, where else can you see a fireman dressed in a bikini and blond wig hanging out at the local pond... Don't Ask!!!!!

And there's the pond for swimming, fishing, tubing, etc. And there's fire flies. And there's 4th of July fireworks. And there's the main town center with homes on average 100+ years (big deal for the US) with original wood floors, 200+ year old oak and maple trees, etc. etc.

ANyway, sounds like a dream. Richard toured the places and we're all going to see this winter. Hope it all works out. Now if only the real estate market would allow us to move, that'd be just dandy.

All for now. Must go lie down or die.

And, yes, Florence is terrific, sweet, cute, brilliant, bionic, super powered, and just plain dandy.

Goodnight and goooooooood ice cream!!!!!!!!!!