There were times of the year when I worked in Reston that I really did not want to be there. One of those periods happened to be just after the winter holidays.
It is always hard to go back to work after taking some time off, but going back to the grind in January was especially hard.
For some reason the city streets always seemed colder in January. Most people were consumed by work rather quickly with the result being that holiday cheer and memories of the recent vacation disappeared pretty quickly.
If you add to that the long time before another chance for a few days off, January could be a very depressing time. A nice city snow storm can make that even worse. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to clean snow or ice off a car when you are dressed in a suit. Northern Virginia does not handle snow well so I was always pleased when the storms missed the area.
It is probably a good thing that I did not have my feet half in salt water during my Reston days. When I think of pulling back onto the Toll Road and heading to Tyson's Corner for an eight o'clock in the morning meeting in January, it gives me the shivers. If I had any way of escaping to the coast in those days, I probably would have tried it.
The post holiday traffic added frustration and along with normal workplace challenges made it hard to handle the inevitable letdown from returning to your desk in the city.
It seems so much easier to get back into the groove here at the coast.
Of course it is a much easier groove.
There are no early morning traffic jams. Getting to work most days involves going upstairs to my office. Before I can sit down in front of the computers, I have to take the cat for a walk on the deck. While the grass is not green in winter, the view from the deck changes little otherwise. It is a calming view that would be hard to duplicate in the city.
Usually once a week I have to do a half day of duty in the office which is about seven minutes from my home. In addition I try to drop by the office at least once a day, but we usually combine it with a trip to the grocery store, post office, or a hike on the beach or one of the local trails.
Winter is not a busy time at the beach or in real estate these days. Budgets are not being done. People are not under the kind of pressure that corporations feel the need to exert at the beginning of each quarter. Some restaurants here even close for a week or two to give their staff an extended vacation.
The coastal weather is just nice enough that if things are slow, an escape to the beach for a few minutes is always possible.
The intensity of Reston and Northern Virginia keeps an unbelievably complex web of businesses going. That happens even in the dreaded post holiday days.
Our Coastal Paradise operates on a different wavelength far from the pressure cooker of the DC area. The pay is a lot less, but stress is not as much a part of life here.
Perhaps we are the place to which the steam from the pressure cooker escapes. Once in a while the escape might be permanent with a coastal lifestyle becoming a way to avoid the pressure cooker.
I think we are fortunate that people are able to handle different things at different points in their life. That ability to tolerate pressure for an extended period of time is what keeps us moving forward. The opportunity to continue to contribute to society without putting your head in a vise is one of the great safety valves of society.
I am glad that my time in the pressure cooker has passed. I like the ocean waves a lot more than the Dulles Toll Road. Reston is still a great place to visit, I just would not want to working there these days. I would rather have the opportunity to walk the beach. After all, it is only five months before we can go swimming in the surf again.
