The New Us

We are, with relief, leaving the Not Us place. We are moving to Cobh, on the south coast of Great Island just to the southeast of Cork City. The jobs/economic front demands it; there are simply no jobs here in the fields that both Sarah and I work in or are moving toward.

But it is a broader course-correction. Sarah first articulated the miscalculation we soon agreed we'd made: we were seeking a carbon copy of Montpelier, Vermont USA. This miscalculated on several fronts. Some of these share the common thread that we're now in a different life stage, as it were. We are no longer established economically or securely employed; we no longer have our friends-and-family net. We need a city in which people establish themselves and can find others doing the same. And: a sizeable piece of the rationale for coming to Ireland was exposure to other languages and cultures, which was not gonna be happening in Listowel but will in Cork.

So you get the idea. Let's say, overall, that we needed a more happening, international place.

We've scored on the housing front. A place on the water minutes by foot from Cobh center and the commuter rail into Cork City. A walk to Susannah's new school. Three bedrooms, nice harborview guestroom, large conservatory, funky comfortable feel. The full address is, I kid you not,

Anton
Whitepoint
Cobh, Co. Cork
IRELAND

No local phone yet, and we won't be able to access the internet or our Vermont phone number for 2 weeks (another example of the really fabulous Eircom customer service).

Here's the documentary evidence: first, the house from the beach


The conservatory from the front terrace:


View of Cobh & harbour from the front garden:


A conservatory's-eye view: