Traffic

Now that we're settled into the house, I have time to discover and appreciate benefits of the move that extend beyond the house itself.

I lived and/or worked in the Denver metro area for five years. I could get around pretty well. I knew which route to take depending on the time of day. I never tried to do errands before 10 AM or after 3 PM because traffic would make the trip twice as long.

After moving I kept up the same pattern of thinking, then one day I was on the other side of our new town and it was getting late in the afternoon. When I realized it was nearly 4:30 PM I internally groaned and resigned myself. But then as I climbed into the car I thought to check traffic on my phone first to see the damage. Green everywhere. I was shocked. Then I felt dumb. Duh! I'm not in Denver anymore! As I started driving there were more vehicles on the road than earlier, but I wasn't actually delayed by the heavier volume.

When I brought up this experience to relatives who live nearby they chuckled. They clarified they call it "rush minute" around here instead of rush hour. Traffic gets slow for about 15 minutes at 5PM then clears right up. I feel like my days are suddenly wide open and full of new possibilities now that I can go anywhere at anytime!

Though I was used to it while I lived there, I do not miss the crowds of the big city.  In addition to traffic not existing around here, I've yet to have to wait for a checker at the grocery store no matter when we go, even on evenings and weekends. Costco feels relatively abandoned. We found a parking space right in front at the farmers market. I love it!