Moving to Ohio! <3

Alright, so this has been a long time in the works—with a lot of back and forth—but I suppose I should share the big news. As the title says: we’re moving to Ohio! My husband is graduating from the Virginia Maryland School of Veterinary Medicine, and he took a job at a wonderful clinic in Marietta, Ohio (which is right on the border with West Virginia along the banks of the Ohio River). It’s a gorgeous location and a historic city with a unique background—the origin of the Underground Railroad, in fact, and prior to the establishment of St Lewis it was the gateway to the west—so some of the buildings trace back to the 17- and 1800s (with significant renovations, of course). So, its colonial history is as problematic as any other colonial era city (I am absolutely not condoning the actions of the European colonizers, some of whom I am descended from—the Hessian part of my ancestry—against the Indigenous American populations), but its Civil War era history makes it a place I’ll be proud to call my new home. So...there’s that.

Anyway, Marietta also boasts a thriving music scene, so while it pulls me geographically farther away from the other members of Olga’s Burning Sparrows, we’ve got a plan for how we’ll keep that going. I’m in no hurry to start a new band; I love the people I’ve been making music with for the past six years, and in the modern age we can continue to collaborate digitally and get together when we can to rehearse in person. The in-person rehearsals are just going to require a bit more logistical planning now. BUT: the location also provides us a heckuva lot more gig opportunities, because let’s be real, Ohio has a much better metal scene than Virginia.

Marietta is also only two hours away from Columbus, where all my favorite bands regularly play. Which means I’ll actually be able to go to more than one concert every other year. Not to mention, Inkcarceration is now an annual possibility as well. So excited!

The other fabulous part about moving to Marietta...I’ll actually be able to practice my faith with a group again. I’m a Druid. Specifically, I’m a member of ADF, and have been since 2015. However, I have never lived close enough to an ADF Druid Grove to actually observe the High Days with them. Nearest I’ve lived was about a six hour drive, so super impractical. I haven’t been able to consistently meet with other Pagans in general since I left Fort Bliss, TX (where I led the Open Circle for Pagan servicemembers and their families, prior to my deployment, at which point I passed off leadership to someone else). Incidentally, that was a long time ago. But in Marietta, I’ll be less than two hours away from the Mother Grove, and there’s a local group that meets in Marietta itself. You guys have no idea how big of a deal this is for me. I’ve been resigned to being a solitary practitioner for nearly a decade, and now I’ll actually be able to have a religious community.

So that’s the big life update! We’re moving to Ohio. I’m a little intimidated by the process of changing my state citizenship etc—I’ve been a Virginian for more than thirty years (not saying how many more lol)—but paperwork is what it is. About time for a new driver’s license anyway.