This is both a hard, and wonderful entry for me to write. As you have guessed by the subject line, I am leaving Houston. In fact, I have already left. I have moved to central Georgia.
It all came down like this:
In early 2005, I met a woman online. We started speaking on the telephone relatively quickly, and by July, I flew to Georgia to meet her for the first time. Two wonderful weeks later, I was on my way back to Houston, and already trying to figure out how to get down there, again.
December 2005/January 2006 saw me visiting again, this time for three weeks. It was during this time that I gave her a ring. Yes, we had only seen each other in person, twice, but we had been talking daily for nearly a year by this point. I knew I wanted to make my life with her.
Over the next several months, she tried desperately to find a job in the Houston area. Unfortunately – despite Texas being desperate for teachers – she couldn’t find a district willing to hire an out-of-state teacher (i.e. no one would sponsor her to get her state certificate in TX). It was at that point that I decided I was moving to Georgia. If she couldn’t come to Houston, I’d go there.
On June 31st, I loaded up the bed of my pickup truck, and headed out with my parents (who were driving their own car, and merely stopping for a couple of days to meet her). We arrived in Dublin, GA late in the evening on July 1st.
About July 15th, we found a new rental home in the same city, and we’re in the process of unpacking from the move, and setting up our lives, together. We will be married on December 23rd of this year, here in Georgia.
So, this begs the big question: What does this mean for me, as a metblog author?
Unfortunately, there is no Middle Georgia metroblog, and since Middle Georgia isn’t really a major metropolitan area (it contains numerous small towns between 15,000 and 25,000 people, as well as Macon, GA (50,000+)), I sincerely doubt that the metblog folks would be interested in a Middle Georgia metblog, despite the rich history and lives in this area.
Also unfortunately, this means I will likely be removed as an author for the Houston Metroblog. Metblog author guidelines specify that authors are required to live (or at least spend a majority of time (i.e. college students)) in the city for which they write. I’m going to beg, plead, and – in general – ask if it would be possible for me to retain my login as an author, as I intend to visit Houston as often as possible, and still keep up with things there. I doubt this will happen, though.
So, Houston, it has come time for me to say goodbye to you. I’ve spent the past fourteen years living in and around you, and I’ve got to say…. I’ll miss it. From the coffee shops, the Denny’s down the road from my house, to the dirt track in Baytown, and the huge fricking malls, I’ll miss Houston for a very long time.
Goodbye, fellow Houstonians. It’s been an adventure!
-Eric Scalf
Dublin, GA (Formerly, Houston (SW), TX)
