6 Months In The Fort

My current view.

The other day I had the best time going through our “Bronzan on the Loose” blog.  Our 2018 family trip was a life-changing experience for all of us and not a day goes by that my thoughts don’t drift back to that time we shared together.  

Well, it’s been 15 months since I shared a family update (see May 29, 2020 “Where We Are Now”).  Reading through it brings me back to a time of confusion.  Of frustration.  Are things better now?  I figure I’ll just start writing and we’ll see where we end up.

When I sat on our Town Green patio in Windsor that May afternoon and typed up our most recent entry, I certainly didn’t think the next would come from the office of my house in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Fair to say a lot has changed.  So how did we get to “The Fort”?  Where do we go from here?

As the summer of 2020 rolled along, our intentions were still to move to Spain.  Our window for the move kept shifting back, but enough work had been done in preparation that we figured we could just adjust and continue on with our plans.  By the time Fall set in and it became apparent COVID was here to stay for the long haul, we read the writing on the wall.  It was time for us to come up with Plan B.  

It must have been in August, during our fourth consecutive evacuation of Sonoma County due to wildfires, that I finally said “enough”.  Spain or not, I’m done with California.  High cost of living, no water, the ever present threat of wildfires…. in my eyes it’s just not sustainable.  While moving to Europe for a while might be the dream, leaving California is the absolute necessity.  

And so we sat down one night with a couple laptops and a decent bottle of wine (OK, California still does this well…) and started looking for jobs.  Between the two of us, we applied to a dozen or so jobs.  Got a few interviews.  Did online research of communities.  And, finally, decided a job that Tiffany was offered in Fort Wayne, Indiana was the best one.  This was in about….oh… November?  

As the details of our move emerged, it made sense for Tiffany to go out in early January to start her new job while the kids and I returned to California to pack up and get us ready for our new life as Hoosiers.  We loaded up the Honda CRV right after Christmas and started across the country, through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and into Indiana.  It was a great trip.  I truly think our family is at our best when we are in travel mode.  

Tiffany stayed in an AirBNB in the historic section of downtown Fort Wayne, within walking distance of downtown.  The fact that she walked to work through these winter weeks confounded her co-workers.  It certainly wouldn’t be the last time we confused the hell out of our new Indiana neighbors.  

During our initial week-long stay in Fort Wayne, before the three of us headed back to California, we spent the majority of the time looking for a house.  We explored several neighborhoods and settled on the far north section of the city.  The housing market, especially during the week we were looking was insane.  Almost Bay Area-like, you might say, except for the fact that the prices were a fraction of what we’d pay out west.  It was a bit nerve-wracking, but we made one offer, it was accepted, and we slid into escrow with our mission accomplished.

The house itself is great.  Way more space than we really need.  After selling our house in Windsor back in 2018, I figured that was the end of the big house era for our family, but here we are.  Four bedrooms, a yard that takes me at least an hour to mow (no complains, I love mowing), even an indoor pool.  The pool is really cool, but it does make us sound far richer than we are.  Trust me, it is kind of fun to walk around in a bathing suit while it’s snowing outside.  

Towards the end of February, the kids and I drove east with u-haul trailer while a moving company drove off with way more crap than we really needed to keep.  We got the keys on March 8th and that’s the story of how we got to Fort Wayne.  

So it’s been six months now.  Six months in the Fort.  How’s life?  Instead of more rambling paragraphs, let’s break this down into quick sections so we can evaluate our new home.

Home.

JOBS:  Tiffany is working as the children’s services manager at the main library branch in Fort Wayne.  Like any job, there are things she likes and dislikes.  I am certain she is doing a great job, though.  As for me…  I continue to work several marketing jobs on a remote basis.  My true passion is coaching, though.  That was one thing that came out of our most recent time in California (between Europe and Indiana).  I latched on as a volunteer track and field coach at the University of Saint Francis this spring, then accepted a position at Indiana Tech this summer.  I love coaching.  Doesn’t pay much, but as Tiffany pointed out one night, it “fills my bucket”.  

SCHOOLS:  After distance learning in California, the kids started school in-person upon our arrival.  They are both doing fantastic.  While we loved our little Spanish immersion school in Windsor, the school district here is so much more robust.  Tremendous facilities and opportunities for the kids.  Luke is now in 5th grade at Hickory Center and recently joined the cross country team.  He’s even starting up as a trombone player in the school band.  How about that?   Livi is in 8th grade at Carroll Middle School and did track in the spring and is now on the cross country team, as well.  She also plays for a club soccer team.  They both have made a bunch of friends and seem to be excelling on the academic side.  To be fair, there have been a few challenges in moving from a Spanish language academy in the heart of a pandemic into a more traditional setting.  For instance, they don’t do common core math out here, which has steepened the learning curve, especially for Luke.  But he’s doing a great job.

NEIGHBORHOOD:  We absolutely loved living on the Town Green in Windsor.  Being in the heart of the action.  Walking everywhere.  It was great, so of course we swung 180 degrees for our new neighborhood and, to be honest, we love this too.  We landed on a cul-de-sac with a TON of kids to play with.  We see less of Luke than ever as he is always outside playing.  When the doorbell rings, we don’t answer it.  We just yell for Luke.  It’s certain to be one of his friends.  We have some fantastic neighbors, especially next door.  They have three boys and share many of our interests including sports and trying to stop the spread of Coronavirus by wearing masks in public.  One of the best memories of our time here so far was a block party on July 3rd.  Fireworks aren’t illegal here.  It was absolutely insane.  The kids loved it.  Our only real complaint is that it’s impossible to go anywhere in Fort Wayne without a car.  Many streets don’t have sidewalks.  

CITY:  Fort Wayne is a very underrated city.  There’s a ton to do.  We’ve kayaked down the three rivers that dissect the city.  We’ve been to several hockey games, baseball games, even a couple football games.  We really love the city and the fact that it’s at sort of a crossroads in the Midwest.  We’ve taken trips to Ann Arbor, Milwaukee, Rochester, and a bunch of little towns in Indiana.  It’s flat as a pancake, but the trail system here is absolutely incredible.  Love the Fort.  

THE PEOPLE:  People are very friendly out here, but there is certainly an elephant in the room.  We’re in a red state.  Lots of Trump signs.  A house across the street from our elementary school has a pair of “Fuck Biden” signs flying, which is a classy touch.  I resent a lot of people out here that I don’t even know.  It’s not uncommon to see people standing on the corner of our school with picket signs that say “UNMASK OUR CHILDREN”.   Over the past couple years, I’ve found myself frustrated with a lot of Americans.  This continues, unfortunately.  

FOOD:  Ups and downs here.  Corn sold from wagons on street corners on the honor system is pretty great.  The variety of foods is pretty poor.  You simply can’t get good bread in Fort Wayne.  We miss Burtonz Bakery in Windsor.  Mexican food?  Surprise, it’s good!  We found a place called “Famous Taco” and we are there once a week.  Delicious street tacos.  Italian food on the other hand?  Horrible.  We have good BBQ, several great breweries, even a winery about 10 minutes from our house (no, the wine is not very good).  We joke that there are more restaurants in Fort Wayne than there are people.  We’re not big fans of chain restaurants and as we get to know more people and receive more recommendations, we’re learning where “our” places are.  

SCENERY:  I love the cornfields.  Wide open spaces.  Old barns.  Love it.  Like I said, it’s pretty flat, but other than that, no complaints.  The sky out here is incredible and the sunsets aren’t to be missed.

CLIMATE:  I don’t like the humidity.  That said, it hasn’t been that bad, really.  The spring weather was great and we got a preview of fall last week, which was nice as well.  I haven’t made it through a winter yet and everyone here warns me about it, but Tiffany survived just fine in January and February.  We just have bigger coats.  And I love the thunderstorms.  Oh, and we haven’t had even one threat of wildfires!  Not even one!  Ha!

Almost forgot… we got a dog and named him Ringo.  He’s an absolute idiot, but we keep feeding him.  Lots of puppy energy, but deep down he’s a good boy.

Time to wrap this up.  Went on way longer than I’d hoped.  Here’s the TL/DR version:  

Do we like Fort Wayne?  Yes.

Are we going to live here forever?  No.

Is Europe still in your plans?  Oh hell yes.

Regrets about leaving California?  Oh hell no.

We miss our friends.  We miss our family.  We hope to see them soon.