Weekend Bits & Pieces

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After a brutal week of weather (hello 108°) and packing boxes and furniture into a 16 foot pod (hello 180°), this Saturday we bought a new house. I'm going to be honest. I am terrified.

I have lived in the same two mile radius for 15+ years. We were hoping to buy in Webster Groves,  Shrewsbury, or Crestwood, because they are a some of the closest suburbs to the south city area, our territory. But we've had no luck finding homes that match what we are looking for. Saturday we looked at four houses and fell in love with a ranch rambler on a cul-de-sac in the Kirkwood school district. The backyard is private, quiet, cozy, quaint and the basement is huge (studio!). The house has great bones and is in excellent condition, but does need some updating. Many DIY projects are in my future, which I am thrilled about and will chronicle on this blog. Seriously. I love the house and feel really good about its energy. (Sorry to get all hippie about it.)

So why have I been crying almost non-stop since 3:00 p.m. today?

While we will be in the Kirkwood school district, our actual address is Des Peres. That's officially considered West County. And I am having a REALLY BIG emotional barrier with that fact. I grew up in the country but have lived in the city most of my adult life. I always claimed it would be one way or the other. We would live in the country or the city BUT never the suburbs and never ever West County. But here we are headed to Des Peres, land of the tear down/rebuild.

Why? One word. Schools.

Audrey starts kindergarten next year and St. Louis City is a non-accredited school system since 2007. That is unacceptable, embarrassing, and depressing. My guess is that the city will continue in a downward spiral until the problem is addressed regionally. I'm no scholar on the subject, but a moral solution would be pooling school taxes paid by all St. Louis City and St. Louis County residents and then dispersing the money evenly between ALL students, no matter what district they live in. This will never happen in a region as divided as ours or more broadly, in a country as divided as ours. Wake County in North Carolina has had one of the most successful school systems in the country for years under this model. Now it is under attack by national tea party conservatives.

We researched our options for over two years. The few private schools we looked at were impressive, but would leave us financially strapped. I think testing preschool age children to qualify for gifted/magnet programs is questionable science at best (Read Nurture Shock). Area charter schools are dealing with quality and solvency issues. And we would never consider supporting the Catholic church or its schools. Every one of the above options have been chosen by friends. I do not judge anyone and hope not to be judged. I listened to their anguish as they tried to make hard decisions and I believe we are all going with what we instinctively feel will be right for our kids. For a variety of reasons, Lindsey and I believe the public school system will best serve Audrey's needs. So we looked at the best public school system for us and settled on three...Kirkwood, Lindbergh, or Webster.

We know we aren't the first family to face the school issue, and sadly, we won't be the last. We are going to miss terribly living so close to family and friends. [I can't even go into detail here, because that is when I truly turn into a basket case.] And we will miss Biggie's, Chris' Pancakes, Michael's, Anthonino's, Pint Size Bakery, Sweet Art Cafe, LeGrands Market, and all the other local establishments we have enjoyed supporting over the years. I know we will be back, but the reality is, it probably won't be as often. We will miss our neighborhood and such easy access to a unique culture and community, which we value tremendously and have taken full advantage of.

And if I'm really honest, I am mourning for St. Louis, who still can't get its shit together and is losing yet another family to the county. I have invested a lot of energy over the past 10-12 years trying to support and promote this city through a variety of different projects and endeavors. That is why I've been crying since 3:00 p.m. today.

I know we will make friends in our new neighborhood. We already met nice neighbors today. They all appeared to be over sixty, but I'm hopeful we'll find some like-minded families. We are going to embrace this as an experiment, an adventure. We'll explore new parks and restaurants. And when we get itchy, we'll head east.

Des Peres is about a twenty minute drive from where we are now in Clifton Heights. But in a region as divided and parochial as St. Louis, it's like a trip to the moon.

Our new home is on Firethorn, which is the common name for Pyracanthas, a thorny evergreen shrub, particularly valued in situations where an impenetrable barrier is required. They are also a good shrub for a wildlife garden, providing dense cover for roosting and nesting birds, summer flowers for bees and an abundance of berries as a food source. I find irony in this and oddly, a sense of comfort.