On leaving Arkansas

The day before we flew to Florida we received an offer on our house. We didn’t expect it to happen this quickly, and I think the realtor was even more floored than we were (We knew we had a great little house, but weren’t always convinced our realtors thought the same way.). After looking it over we decided to accept the offer rather than counter given the current market.

The timing of the offer, considering our present circumstances, seems Divinely orchestrated. Although there are still a myriad of things that could cause the deal to fall through (it’s still quite early in the process), at the moment we expect to be living with my parents up in Nebraska by the end of July.

On the assumption that we’re moving back north, I thought I’d write a little lament about leaving Arkansas and Siloam Springs.

Other than the pervasive lack of sidewalks, Siloam Springs is a great little community. Sure, it has [other] peculiarities and political, um, intrigue, but so does every town. Overall we’ve come to love this place and its people. Upon moving we’ll especially miss:

• The people, first and foremost. It’s quite rotten that, being summer, some of our closest friends are traveling and won’t be back before we move!
• The flora, something the Ozarks are known for. We’ll miss the the golden raintrees, southern magnolias, mimosas, myrtles, dogwoods, wysteria etc etc
• For the time being, we’ll miss being in a community with a liberal arts university.
• I will miss the sound of summer nights, when a chorus of insects pierce the still, muggy air. Although we won’t miss the insects.
• Tower Bar-B-Q, and barbecue in general.

We’ll also miss the quaintness of the community and the renewed downtown with its parks, just three blocks from our house. I walked through yesterday evening and noticed significant progress on one of the few remaining vacant buildings. A swanky Greek restaurant is going into this building, something that downtown Siloam Springs has wanted for years.