Originally, I set up this website to host and archive the email messages I sent out from far flung destinations, so now I’m going to have to come up with a new premise since living overseas is moving from present to past tense. I’ve come back to DC and moved into a town house in a coop and I expect to be here for the long haul.

Just like Dorothy I took this place for granted when I lived here, and it’s only in coming back to visit the cleverer friends who settled here long before me that it started to dawn on me how great this place is. The mall, the Smithsonian, excellent transit, manageable scale, and the most diverse major US city except New York.  

Also like Dorothy, I’m looking forward to living in technicolor again with better work life balance than I’ve achieved in the past. I’m looking forward to taking advantage of the CWS – compressed work schedule and working 10 hours a day for four days a week and taking every Friday off. I’ll be working for the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) that guarantees mortgage-backed securities issued for government priority home ownership programs that include lending for veterans and active-duty military, rural communities, public and Indian housing, and other underserved borrowers. Nothing can make up for the travesty of redlining, but at least today’s programs are on the right side of financial inclusion.

Wishing everyone a good back to school season and the first one in a while when I’ll be able to enjoy the changing of the seasons from my own back yard. If you like figs, come on over I’ll be happy to share.