I guess Independence Day is as good a time as any to restart blogging. Freedom, liberty and the inalienable right to jot down thoughts.


And I've got a lot of them, for there have been a ton of changes for myself and our family.


For one, you may notice the heading for this blog has changed. That's because my job has changed, as well as the location. 


To be brief (since all family knows this already): We live in Iowa, and I am coordinating research coverage and communications for the University of Iowa in Iowa City. More on all this another time.


We have a new home. We will live in Mt. Vernon, a college town of about 4,500 that reminds us very much of Bristol, the beautiful, bayside Rhode Island town from which we moved. Granted, Mt. V. doesn't have the water, but it's eminently livable, with a small, viable, cozy downtown within blocks of our house. It is home to Cornell College, a well-regarded higher-education institution plopped on a hill. Its campus is just three blocks from our new home. For us, it's such a huge quality of life benefit to be able to walk to so many places – from the college to town hall to the library to the coffee shop. We are eager to make Mt. V. our home – we hope for a very long time.


Our house is an 1895 Victorian, like a grand old painting that's been left neglected in a closet. In other words, it has beauty, but it will take some restoration for its original grandeur to be revealed. Even more simply, it's a fixer upper, from the floors to the screened back porch and the overgrown yard. 


I sort of swore to myself that after extensively renovating our home in Bristol, built in 1900, that I wouldn't entertain such work again, especially with two young boys in tow. But when Michelle and I saw this place, and toured the town, we decided to go for it, restoration and all. 


I will save my groans for another time.


Another thing that will take some acclimatization is the weather. For days on end, the temperature has been in the 90s, hot and humid. The heat index today, tomorrow and Friday is around 107 degrees. It's oppressive, it's awful, it sucks the life out of you. Which brings me full circle to July 4th. Normally, we would be lining a street in fair Bristol, taking in the nation's longest running July 4th parade and ensconcing ourselves at our very good friends, the St. Angelos, eating stuffies, having some drinks and laughs and watching home-fired fireworks. We miss that, and we miss our friends.


We hope to make some new ones in our new town.