Boy it feels good to have a place to call home. My wife and I were New Englanders, Connecticut to be precise. Years ago we ran away. We ran from the high costs, high taxes, difficult Winters and a generally unsatisfying lifestyle. After much dithering we ran fast and far-- to the Middle East. We certainly didn’t come here for the lifestyle. We both found good paying jobs where there is no income tax and the cost of living is pretty low. So yeah we came for the money.
Going to the Middle East has been difficult and exciting. We’ve had some ups and downs. We’ve met many wonderful people, and had a few not so wonderful people try to kill us. We’ve seen a lot of weird and wild things happen, even participated in a few weird and wild events. One thing is for sure, we’ve never been bored. We’ve had a good run out here, but we are winding down. It’s almost time to go home and retire.
The first issue was picking out “home”. When we left Connecticut it was for good. To me the overpriced, overtaxed, overpopulated, liberal controlled bastion known as the Constitution State is pretty much hostile territory. We’ve been searching for a new place for years. To be perfectly honest, we almost decided never to go back to the U.S. For awhile it looked like super-criminal Hillary Clinton would be in the White House. Mind you we never thought she’d actually win; we figured she’d steal the election. Not that having the Orange Jesus as President means everything will be wine and roses. But we were and are convinced that if a Clinton was in the big chair, America would probably not be a viable nation state for much longer. Now at least America has a fighting chance.
After weighing all our options we decided to become Texans. We chose a nice rural part of the Lone Star State based on the low cost of living, conservative values, easy lifestyle and amenable weather. So over a six day period last July we purchased a small office building and a parcel of land for a home. We signed contracts on the hood of a tractor, and closed title on the properties from eleven thousand miles away just days ago. So now we own two tiny slivers of West Texas. After years of living as 21st century bedouins it’s good to know we have a home.
We are so excited to go back to America. After years in this dusty Middle Eastern desert we will surely never get tired of vegetation, rain, or church bells. Certainly, we are going back to a country with big problems. The people are divided, the economy is a mess and our federal and state governments are royally screwed up at every level. Despite all of that we’ve never been more proud to be Americans. With everything that’s going on in it’s easy to get trapped into this “America sucks” mentality. But trust me on this one-- our country doesn’t suck. It’s really, really far from perfect but it is still great.