|
August 01, 2008
View From Lodi, CA Pittsburgh, PA: Starting Afresh
By Joe Guzzardi
Although only two weeks have passed since I
moved from
Lodi to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it seems that my
twenty years in California’s most “lovable,
livable” city were a lifetime ago.
And so it has been with each of the five major moves I
have made. As a young boy, my family transplanted itself
from Los Angeles to
San Juan, Puerto Rico. Then I returned stateside to
attend boarding school and college.
After graduation, I took my first job in New York. Two
decades later, I headed to the
Pacific Northwest and from there to Lodi.
Moving is tough.
I comfort myself with the knowledge that leaving Lodi is
likely to be my final move—at least I hope it is. While
I would like to think that even at my relatively
advanced years more new adventures might lie ahead even,
I have no interest in going through the physically
demanding and emotionally draining process of
relocating.
As I packed up years of my
accumulated belongings during my final months in
Lodi, I involuntarily but inescapably examined my life.
Some of my possessions generated positive, happy
memories. But others like old photos and letters brought
to mind painful losses that we all experience over time.
Each item that I touched triggered the same question:
should it be tossed in the trash or come with me?
Even the good things about a move are tough.
Although I live in a bigger and better home, my former
house—despite its deficiencies— provided security and
tranquility.
Now, the simplest things are foreign to me: the
locations of rooms, doors, steps, windows, cabinets,
electrical and water outlets.
More packing boxes remain sealed than opened. All in
good time, I remind myself.
I miss
Lodi and the comfort level that my old community
provided.
I knew—but took for granted— where everything could be
found, the
store hours and the pulse of the city.
I’ll soon learn all these things about
Pittsburgh but not without a certain effort, even if
it may be an unconscious one.
Most of all I miss—and always will miss—my friends.
Lodi Unified School District classes are back in
session and somehow it isn’t quite right not to be a
part of it.
And what, I wonder, of my
dog park pals—both the
two,
three and
four legged ones? As I fondly recall, we traded a
lot of good gossip and solved many world problems as we
kept a watchful eye on our pets.
We’ve found a dog park not far from the house. But we
don’t know anyone by name and haven’t yet seen the same
people twice.
Despite the initial obstacles and inconveniences,
leaving California is the right decision for me.
And based on what I heard from my friends and neighbors
before I drove off, many others will be following me as
soon as their circumstances permit.
More than anything else, I was weary of California’s
congestion and its exploding
population.
My small Pennsylvania borough has only 1,200 residents.
No matter which window I look out from in my new house,
I see trees and grass. No
construction or development is within miles. Once in
a great while, a car drives by.
At night I sit on the porch, listen to
crickets and watch the
fireflies.
But I’m not stuck in the sticks. By driving only ten
minutes, I can be on the highway and on my way to all
the
diversions of a big city.
I’ve never regretted any previous move that I’ve ever
made.
During them all, I’ve held to the same philosophy: to
look back with gratitude and love and look ahead with
excitement and optimism.
Joe Guzzardi [email
him], an instructor in English
at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly
column since 1988. It currently appears in the
Lodi News-Sentinel. | 
