They say that certain life events can bring on increased levels of stress. Unforeseen, unexpected and, at the time, unthinkable changes in life's "master plan" can drive you to the point of mental and emotional collapse, and make you envy the lifestyle of prisoners in solitary confinement.
Some of the more common twists in the road that can make you feel like gouging out your own eyes and crawling back into the womb include changes in career path, increased work load, economic uncertainty, moving, having kids and drastic changes in lifestyle.
So, then, what happens when you do all of these things at once? I'd like to give you a comprehensive one-stop shopping answer, but, you see, I'm still sorting that out for myself.
In 2005 I unexectedly left what I had always planned on as a full career in the Navy, and suddenly found myself without a job, without a home and without any clear direction in life in general.
With nothing that could be accused of resembling a coherent plan, my wife Kate and I decided to move back to her home town with our two young daughters to visit for the summer and "sort things out." That was three years ago and, well, we're still here and still sorting. Luckily, we have benefited from the incredible generosity of family and close friends, who have all put in countless pro bono hours keeping us afloat and marginally sane.
The morning after we arrived in Fairview my father-in-law John and brother-in-law Levi gave me a job in the family business moving houses (that's moving the actual structure, not carrying out the boxes and furniture). I'm afraid I didn't realize it at the time, but that was easily one of the most professionally and personally rewarding experiences of my life thus far.
Last year I changed courses yet again and accepted a job as a reporter, photographer, columnist and later editor of the Fairview Republican, a weekly newspaper that covers a county of approximately 7,000 people. By the way, before you have time to wonder, Republican in this case has everything to do with the fact that we live in a somewhat free republic, and nothing to do with the major political party that bears the same name.
Writing my column for the Republican has been somewhat cathartic, allowing me the time and requiring me to take the effort to reflect on some of that sorting that I mentioned earlier. And, as a nice side benefit, it has turned out to be the first position in life that will actually pay me for my random thoughts and my indulgence in sarcasm and general smart-assery.
My current position has also given me the opportunity to observe the wonderful peculiarities of living and working in a good, close-knit small community in rural America. I would like to share those thoughts in coming blogs, not just because I like to hear myself talk, but because I think the anecdotes and lessons of small-town America resonate with all of us, whether it be from personal experience or mere curiosity.
I will be mixing in, in no particular chronological order, re-printed columns from the Republican along with some of my more recent columns and original blog entries covering politics, culture, current events and my sometimes random and perhaps inane thoughts on life in general.
The first installment, below, is taken from my first column at the paper last year, and it will serve as an introduction to anyone whom I have not yet met, or perhaps refresh a few old acquaintances that have suffered from my ineptitude at personal correspondence. I hope you enjoy, and if you have any comments or feedback, please let me know.
--originally published in the Fairview Republican in July, 2007.
Over the last two years I have enjoyed meeting and getting to know a good number of you. For those of you whom I have not met, I hope this will serve as a brief introduction, and I look forward to meeting and talking with you soon. I am a relative newcomer to Fairview, having moved here two brief years ago with my wife, Katie, and our two daughters, Maggie and Lucie. Kate is a native-born member of our community, but it took me a while longer to find Fairview.
I was born to James and Jean Neal (now residents of Fairview) and raised in the town of Marydel, Delaware. When you think of Marydel, think of a town with no stoplights and more feral dogs than people. I grew up around the water, learning to sail and going along on boat deliveries with my father on the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.
My youth in Delaware was broken up by three years during which my family lived in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. We lived on a sailboat and I was home-schooled during that period, which afforded me not only a great education, but lots of time to explore the island and its reefs.
My memories from those days are highlighted by hiking through the jungle's river beds and cliff jumping with the other boat kids. Right now my mother is grinding her teeth over those same memories. Sorry Mom, but I highly recommend being ten years old on a tropical island.
The high points of my remaining days in Delaware were two years of school in a one-room Amish schoolhouse, and four years at Saint Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware. I attended the United States Naval Academy, where I graduated with a degree in political science in 1998. My first tour in the Navy was a temporary assignment to Vance AFB, and it was during that brief tour that I met and fell in love with Kate.
Kate and I were married at Saint Matthew's Church in Enid in 1999, and we quickly embarked on a six year whirlwind of changing duty stations and long deployments. I completed three deployments to western Europe and the Mediterranean, including a combat deployment at the beginning of the current war in Iraq.
Our last assignment in the Navy was to Rice University in Houston, TX, where I taught naval history and navigation to ROTC students.
When my time in the service was complete Kate and I began planning for our future. Adjustment from military to civilian life can be daunting, especially when you find yourself without a town to call home.
We had never lived together in one place for more than two years, and we both wanted to live in a community where we felt safe and comfortable raising our daughters. It did not take long to choose Fairview as our new and first permanent home. In the words of our daughter Maggie, "I like it better here than in the city; it's not so noisy."
For the first two years after we moved to Fairview I worked with my father-in-law, John and brother-in-law, Levi in Kate's family's business moving houses. I will always fondly remember the stories and time that we shared together on those jobs. Kate and I have also kept ourselves busy with the never-ending renovation of our house, and we are thoroughly enjoying our new lives in Fairview.
As I begin work here at the Republican I look forward to the opportunity of not only bringing you the news and events of our community, but also using this column to discuss how those events affect each of us in our daily lives. It is highly likely that we will disagree from time to time on my interpretation and opinions of these events.
It is certainly not my goal to stir up discontent, but I was once told that if everyone agrees with what you say all of the time you are probably not saying much at all. Friendly disagreement and discussion are essential to the health of any community, and I hope that when you do disagree with my writing you will contact me, or better yet write a letter to the editor.
In the words of my little Irish grandmother, "Disagreement is the spice of life." I look forward to sharing thoughts and opinions with all of you, and working together to sustain and improve our community.
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