Well, it seems the cat may be out of the bag….but for those of you who haven’t figured it out… I am in Asheville, North Carolina! I made the fairly friendly 14-hour jaunt over a week ago and since have been easing my way into the mountainous world of Asheville.
Technically I am in Swannanoa… just a breezy ten-minute drive from downtown Asheville. Coming to Asheville has been on my mind for some time now. Since returning to the US, I have been open to and exploring ways, a reason to come here. Thanks to an invitation from a host on helpx.net, here I am!
As you may recall, helpx.net is an international network of hosts willing to offer room and/or board to a traveler in exchange for some needed help. My current exchange is with a small bundle of a family… I am living in the mother’s home and helping out the daughter, a busy mom who lives down the street, a modest number of hours in exchange for a place to live. Here are a few photos from my new location.
Here I am… learning to navigate the hilly Asheville terrain and blown away by the nearly constant beauty. I am also exploring work options and opportunities to supplement my current arrangement. It seems my new to me Honda CRV has found her tribe, surrounded by many-a 4-wheel drive brothers, sisters and distant cousins. And me, well I am still adjusting to the hilly landscape doing my best with my manual transmission up the occasionally daunting pitch of roads and driveways.
I am grateful to connect with a friend from New Orleans who now lives in the area. It’s comforting to see a familiar face (although now fuzzy in a winter mountain-man sort of way) after more than ten years. He has become a farmer since his departure from New Orleans and so far our meetings have included a trip to pick up a sheep and conversations of chickens, ducks and other farmy things.
In earnest, I like the possibilities of access to a more rural environment and a growing but still small mountain city with a progressive bend. Like any changes, I am going through my growing pains… the nervousness and excitement of being someplace new, the possibility and anxiety as I sift through the ambiguity and uncertainty.
And so… while I am still adjusting, I am excited about my new chilly, hilly surroundings. Exploring things one step at a time with still much to unfold!
Gypsy Woman 