If you live on Isle of Hope you must

1) Have a canine companion. I have yet to meet anyone in my explorations who doesn't have a dog. There are dogs in every yard and in every car that passes by and in every golf cart. See #2.
2) Drive around the island in your personally decorated golf cart. There should be enough room for your dog to ride too.
3)Wear bug spray at all times. As our sweet neighbor told us last night - if you think it is a pretty day then it is a buggy day even if you can't see them. Hence the name, "no-see-ums" or Sandgnats (Gosh, that seems weird to spell "gnat" with a "g". I wonder what people would think of me if I told them I was tired of these dang sand-"g"-nats.) I thought the sandgnats were just the minor league baseball team here but now I know and have felt that they are also the main inhabitant on the island.
4)Go on a walk down Bluff Drive. In our 4 days here we have taken enough walks to count on both hands.
5)Be comfortable in the dark. See previous post. No street lights. This will be the last thing to grow on me but I'll get there.
6)Not like anything to do with Atlanta. I have yet to have a conversation with someone here who doesn't comment after I tell them where I moved from. "Oh good for you...away from the traffic, the rain, the flooding, the people, the heat, the peaches, the roads, the cars, the bad schools, the trees, the birds..." You name it and my new neighbors have a reason to not like the big city. Oh Atlanta, I vow to NEVER turn on you! I miss your lights and your plethora of lunching spots and your cars and your exhaust and your roads named Peachtree something..and of course, your amazing constituents who make up my dear friends!
7)Have lived on Isle of Hope for 20 years or more and never have thought of moving anywhere else. I don't say that with any sarcasm - I think it's a neat little idea....raising a family in the same place with the same neighbors and such. Everyone here seems to deeply love our 2 mile Island (though if you ask me - it's not an island but a mass of land bound by water on three sides. I forget my geographical vocab but wouldn't that be a peninsula?) and therefore, everyone keeps close eye on the neighborhood.
8)Have a boat named Miss "Something" and make great use of the investment. Brad and I hope to meet all of these people and allow them to show us on our new place by water rather than by road.
9)Have a riding lawn mower. Brad promises he is going to take care of the yard. Check back with me next week....Brad is amazing but I just don't see this happening.
10)Not mind deer in your yard. They are everywhere!!! This gets Amos so excited in the afternoons. He runs up and down the back of the house chasing them through the window.
11)Have a very Southern name (which I do) and a perfectly slow, Southern accent (which I happen to love)
12)Get used to the heat. And this I am not.....It was just turning into the perfect fall weather as we left Atlanta and now we have jumped right back into summer. Brooks and I do plan to go to the beach today so I guess life isn't too bad.


We'll add to this list as we become more accustomed to our little Isle called Hope. Happy Thursday!