My neighborhood

When I moved to Decatur, almost 2 years ago, I was a little nervous. See, I decided to buy a house for the first time, but I'm notoriously bad at making big, life changing decisions. For instance, know how many colleges I applied to and when I applied? One and during Spring Break of my senior year in high school. Know how many times I've formally searched for, found, and interviewed for a job? None. I know it's a cliche, but I tend to roll with the punches and just go where life leads. Buying a house, though; that was going to take some active decision making on my part. Or so I thought.

In reality, I looked at one house and it turned out to be owned by the relatively new husband of the best friend of a casual friend of mine. I saw the house twice, made an offer, and signed a bunch of papers. I liked the house and I really liked the neighborhood, but I've always worried that I acted too hastily. Those worries have abated somewhat since Decatur has renovated the rose garden [I PROMISE to get some pix up soon]. My neighborhood just has a good feel to it -- lots of big trees, cats lying on the sidewalks (or my porch), the wonderful garden just across the street. I like it.

This past Saturday, though, I got proof positive that I was at "home". The local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism had a "meeting" in the park. Actually, they don't call them chapters. Evidently Decatur's SCA group is known as the Shire of Glynn Rhe. Regardless, you likely remember the SCA from your college days -- the weird guys who dressed up in armor and such and staged sword fights on campus. Given my weirdo magnet, I would never approach the SCA guys, but I liked the fact that they were in my neighborhood. I sat in my porch swing and watched them take turns whacking each other with (apparently) heavy broad swords. Cool! I couldn't find any photos of the actual event, but here's a representative shot from the folks at Glyn Rhe:


Yep, my neighborhood fits me.