Sometimes the greatest risk is not taking one

Barb and I are preparing for a new adventure. In just two weeks we will be moving farther south from the metropolitan Memphis area to the Gulf Coast, where we will make our new home in Gautier, MS. I will start my new job in four weeks as public affairs specialist for the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Naval Sea Systems Command in Pascagoula, MS. It is at the same time scary and exciting. I'm not a risk-taker but, as Dan Miller said and it's one of my favorite quotes: "Sometimes the greatest risk is not taking one." And so we will pack our things and move to the Magnolia State -- just a couple hours east of the Big Easy and smack-dab into hurricane country -- just a mile or so from the Gulf of Mexico. In some ways it's a bigger leap than moving from South Dakota to Tennessee. When we moved the 875 miles south last November we had never set foot in the Volunteer State. It was like going on a blind date. The federal government offered me a job there for which I was considered qualified. We had little choice but to take it, and so we arrived in Millington, TN on November 11, not knowing a soul. That soon changed as I met the people I would work with and we made many good friends in our church. So much so that now we're feeling the ache of leaving our friends. But on August 15 we'll fire up the U-Haul and drive another 410 miles south, stopping just short of the water. Again we'll arrive knowing almost no one. However, we visited Pascagoula before accepting this job, and so in a couple days' time we grew somewhat familiar with the place and also met some of the nice folks I'll be working with at the Ingalls Shipyard. It seems ironic that a guy who doesn't swim and is scared of the water will be working A) for the Navy; and B) at a shipyard that is C) on the Gulf of Mexico. Add the irony of a 30-year Army man now switching teams and working for the Navy. Same military but different uniforms, different rank structure, different focus. There aren't many big ships being built in South Dakota. And as ignorant as it may be, that little voice in my head will probably always advise me to "Watch your step," because when we visited Pascagoula we saw a local newspaper with a front-page photo of an alligator captured in a local park. No matter how unusual that is, this is an environment unlike South Dakota. Already we've both tossed out winter clothes and boots that shouldn't be needed during the winter where the coldest month's low temperature averages 39 degrees and the average high is 60. As Barb would say, "I can live with that." The snow shovel that came with us to Tennessee has been given to friends here who have horses. So in a couple of weeks the adventure begins. We are looking forward to it. After a 15-year break I will be once again working in my chosen professional field -- journalism. It is the opportunity of a lifetime and Barb has signed along for the ride. There will be so many new experiences for us that I should have blog material for years to come. And to be able to share it with with my best friend makes it all the more exciting and fun. We will love it! We couldn't risk not taking this opportunity.