Settling into Moorhead (Fargo)
We have been in Minnesota a couple of weeks now. Coming across country my husband and I remarked how moving here was such a joke to our California friends. They thought us a little insane. All we would have to do is say, "Fargo" and the smirks and giggles would begin.
Now that we are here, there is a TV commercial recruiting employees for a tech company that outlines the worst job applicant, someone who is lazy and entitled and unskilled. And then they suggest such a person should go to California, but it you want to work here... Being from California is now the joke. All I have to do is tell someone I've never lived in winter and the smirks and giggles begin. They are a little more subtle here, peppered with "So..." and "Oh..." and there is plenty of kind-hearted advice offered.
This is a fun adventure for many reasons. We are living a life that makes people chuckle. Reminds me of being a kid. My grandfather called me a "little dickens." I was known for being outrageous and compared to Curious George and Dennis the Menace. Perhaps I have long lived a life that makes people chuckle. No wonder I'm already comfortable here.
Now that we are here, there is a TV commercial recruiting employees for a tech company that outlines the worst job applicant, someone who is lazy and entitled and unskilled. And then they suggest such a person should go to California, but it you want to work here... Being from California is now the joke. All I have to do is tell someone I've never lived in winter and the smirks and giggles begin. They are a little more subtle here, peppered with "So..." and "Oh..." and there is plenty of kind-hearted advice offered.
This is a fun adventure for many reasons. We are living a life that makes people chuckle. Reminds me of being a kid. My grandfather called me a "little dickens." I was known for being outrageous and compared to Curious George and Dennis the Menace. Perhaps I have long lived a life that makes people chuckle. No wonder I'm already comfortable here.
Moving to Minnesota (North Dakota)
Sometimes the Spirit moves and you find yourself where you never expected to be. My grandfather, Raymond Thollaug, who is now in his 90's, was born in Minnesota and then moved to Fargo, North Dakota. He lived there until he was 11, at which time he was sent to California to live with his maternal grandparents, the Janes', who lived in Petaluma, CA. I have been to the cemetery where they are buried, along with 3 or 4 other generations of my relatives. I now live just 3 hours from there and this is the farthest away from Petaluma I have ever lived. Such history in one place is unusual in California. Even more unusual for an American, in 2010 I visited the farm in Norway where my Great-Grandfather Oscar Tollehaug was born; where he lived until he moved to Minnesota at 17.
Perhaps, then, it is fitting that I am moving to Moorhead, MN, which is part of the Fargo (ND) metropolitan area. Perhaps it is in my blood. Perhaps it is destiny.
I do know one thing. It will be cold there. Colder than I have ever known.
I have seen snow. It even snowed where I have lived- twice. I remember both times. But snow for me has been a novelty or a vacation destination. Cold has been a place to visit for a couple days to enjoy the ways I could play. Living in a cold climate, one where snow actually sticks to the ground and builds up, and remains for months at a time, will be completely new to me. So new that I do not know what to expect. I look forward to this next year as a grand adventure, a journey into seasons I have only visited. Along the way I will share my joys and triumphs, my trials and failures, and collect your advice about how to adapt to this new environment.
Perhaps, then, it is fitting that I am moving to Moorhead, MN, which is part of the Fargo (ND) metropolitan area. Perhaps it is in my blood. Perhaps it is destiny.
I do know one thing. It will be cold there. Colder than I have ever known.
I have seen snow. It even snowed where I have lived- twice. I remember both times. But snow for me has been a novelty or a vacation destination. Cold has been a place to visit for a couple days to enjoy the ways I could play. Living in a cold climate, one where snow actually sticks to the ground and builds up, and remains for months at a time, will be completely new to me. So new that I do not know what to expect. I look forward to this next year as a grand adventure, a journey into seasons I have only visited. Along the way I will share my joys and triumphs, my trials and failures, and collect your advice about how to adapt to this new environment.
Michelle Webber is a California native, and a minister in the United Church of Christ. She has lived in the San Francisco Bay area her whole life, in Richmond, Albany, El Cerrito, Los Altos, and San Jose. She has served as the Associate Minister at Foothills Congregational Church in Los Altos and will be starting as the solo pastor of First Congregational Church Moorhead, in Moorhead, MN in September of 2014. Joining her in Minnesota will be her husband, Mark Hutt, and their daughter, Jerri Lane.