Moving.

My life is in boxes. My house has been slowly emptying, room-by-room, and box-by-box. My roommate (not LB, my other roommate!) has moved out most of his things. My parents came and went, taking with them all of the pictures and memories and fragile things that we could not take to Hawaii but couldn’t bear to part with. One of the couches is gone and the other is leaving in a day or so, leaving us with only the floor to sit on as the chairs have already been moved out. Even my plants have found new homes, all except for the one that I’ve had for over 10 years – the one I bought for my college dorm room – that one goes to my dear friend Kristin, for safekeeping. The woman who was going to buy our bed neglected to call this weekend and so, thankfully, we still have a mattress to sleep on until we leave - the extra fifty dollars suddenly taking a backseat to the comfort we seek in our sheets after long evenings of packing and separating, separating and packing...this to Hawaii, that to storage, this to donate, that to toss in the recycling bin or the garbage can...twenty-nine years of accumulation being pared down to only the most important of material things.

My kitchen is packed away, bundled in bubble wrap, coddled by tissue paper and Styrofoam, and taped up - ready to be shipped to Hawaii. Most of my bakeware, my pots and pans and kitchen gadgets, unless exorbantly expensive or very high quality, were given away or sold at our yard sale a week ago. The rest was stored with my parents or went into the 6 uniform cardboard boxes with the U-Haul logo printed on the outside in dark green ink. After our final round of packing tonight, LB will rent a mini-van and haul the boxes to Portland tomorrow to be shipped as freight, arriving a week after we get to the Island. Then, we’ll start the process of cleaning the house, hoping to retrieve as much of our rental deposit as possible, to put towards helping us afford this vastly expensive endeavor. Next weekend, we’ll rent another car (ours will be gone by then – it already belongs to someone else who has graciously offered to let us use it the rest of this week), we'll drive down to San Francisco, California, put our dogs on a plane as “cargo,” and hop on separate flights trekking halfway across the Pacific Ocean to Honolulu, Hawaii.

I hope it all goes well.

Moving is so hard. People keep telling me it is one of the most stressful things we humans go through. I don’t necessarily feel stressed out (more exhausted really), but I know that the increasing ease with which my tears come as I slowly say goodbye to friends that I won’t see again for an indeterminate amount of time is a sure sign that I’m feeling the impact of leaving and this chapter of my life coming to a close.

I know that this is an adventure; a unique experience that will be good for me and open up new opportunities that I never knew existed. It’s a chance to begin again and see what the world has to offer. And, though I haven't said it before on this blog, it’s my last attempt at a job in science – academia anyway. And if I find it isn’t what I want, that it doesn’t enrich my soul or make me excited like it once did, then I know that it will be time to move on to something else. Who knows, perhaps I will no longer be an “accidental” scientist or maybe not even a scientist at all...my forays could lead me to seek a job in the food world. Or, I could fall back in love with science – that complicated companion that has led me through so many ups and downs during graduate school, almost on the verge of quitting more than once. And yet, having given nearly 12 years of my life to it, is so difficult to let go of.

I imagine that I could love coral reefs and the scientific inquiries to be explored within them – that was what I originally set out to do in graduate school, after all. But that remains to be seen – my funding for the job I have there has yet to come through, meaning that the road is wide open and I will have to find a temporary job in the meantime (shhh...I’ve been looking at bakeries and restaurants). I will miss Eugene. I will sorely miss the people here and the community. And of course: the food. This is the town where I found my passion, my love of all things culinary. This is where I fell in love with Pinot Noir, with chanterelles and sweet black truffles, hazelnuts and oysters. This is where I really started cooking (I had only really dabbled before), it’s where I began trying new things in the kitchen and where I started up this little blog (nearly two and a half years ago!). The excitement I feel for a new beginning in Hawaii is tinged with bittersweet sadness. Still, my bags are packed, and the plane leaves in a little less than a week. There’s no turning back now, so I’m trying to face forward with an open mind and an open heart to what Hawaii has to offer.

I know that in a few weeks I’ll be sitting in my new kitchen, opening boxes instead of closing them. I know that my closest friends will be carried with me in my heart and are only a phone call away, and that I will meet new people and make new friends, and that comforts me. And I know you’ll be here, dropping by to say hello and offer support, to see what sort of new culinary adventures Hawaii holds for me – and I’m excited to be able to take you along as I explore my new home.

For those of you in this area, or interested in this area, I leave you in the very capable hands of Culinaria Eugenius – a new food blog here. Go and visit and read about her adventures in her kitchen; she’s sure to keep you entertained and coming back for more about Oregon’s culinary offerings. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I hope you’ll come with me too. The next time I post here will be from Kaneohe, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu – I’m not sure when it will be, but hopefully within a week or two...we’re hoping we have internet access at the house we’ll be renting (just imagine – weekend posts!!).

So, my friends, until then? I’ll see you in Hawaii...