Impermanence

Yesterday, I found out that my old sensei closed down his school. I studied under him for about 4 years in the late 80's and early 90's, until the Navy took me away.

Fifteen years later, I come by the old dojo to see it now has an aerial antenna on it and a big dog leashed outside. The "office" sign is worn and faded. And, there are "For Sale" signs out front of both the dojo and the man's home.

This affected me quite a bit, and I was surprised by how much it did affect me. I was going to introduce my SO to him, because she showed an interest in learning martial arts. But that's not possible anymore.

So we looked around to see what other martial arts schools there are around where we live. And we found ... NOTHING! Not even our rival shool is in business anymore. The nearest martial arts school is ONE HOUR AWAY.

I'm really beginning to regret settling down in Houlton. Half the store fronts are empty. There's NO diversity in distractions here (even the movie theater is shut down). What the FUCK is wrong with this God-damned town!!!

Great. Now I've gone from depressed to outraged. Dammit. I have the perfect job (practically), and live in an otherwise good neighborhood. But there's no vitality here. I may as well be living in a house in the middle of a stinking, murky swamp for all the good it'll do.

On the plus side, we do have a gym here. And there's a painter who owns a studio downtown. So there's something...but it's nothing like it was fifteen years ago.

Sigh.

I think it's time to move back to Seattle. If only I could.