26 Comments
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Patrick Nugent's avatar

Alright! So Raleigh it is. Not a bad place at all. I have family there and have visited occasionally. Hope you are able to settle in and set down roots.

Mike's avatar

Excellent news for you and your family, Steve! We lived in Raleigh back in the late 80’s, and loved it. I always thought my wife and I would move back there, but she’s here in Phoenix at Holy Redeemer cemetery, so I’m not going anywhere, but will highly recommend Raleigh to anyone.

Steve Skojec's avatar

Thanks, Mike. It really seems like a wonderful place. I'm sorry to hear about your reason for staying in Phoenix, but I hope you've come to love it. It certainly has its charms.

Mike's avatar

I have. I’ll have been here 20 years in a few weeks. The only drawback in our time in Raleigh was the summer humidity, but you can always make a day trip to either the mountains or the ocean. The other 3 seasons are sublime, especially spring!

Jeronimus Maximus's avatar

I grew up in the north Texas plains. My family and I did a similar uproot-and-go in 2019 to upstate South Carolina. We went from the barren flat nothingness of TX to the trees, trees, trees, mountains and water everywhere of SC, and it truly seems magical! Greenville is for us what you describe of Raleigh. I really hope y'all find belonging and a rootedness.

Steve Skojec's avatar

Awesome to hear. I have good feelings about this, but right now we just want the stability we've been craving to set in and we have a lot of worry over making things work in a brand new place where we don't know anybody. I hope I get to check out more of SC while I'm there.

But yeah, rootedness. That is what we want more than anything.

Dale Price's avatar

Prayers and best wishes for safe journeys for finding your grubstake!

Also, Imminent was published today, so let me know what you think.

Steve Skojec's avatar

Thanks. And yeah, really looking forward to that book. Pre-ordered it months ago!

Hilary White's avatar

Wait what? Which book? Whatwhat??

Dale Price's avatar

Imminent by Luis Elizondo.

Hilary White's avatar

Should I get it?

Dale Price's avatar

I have it, and I would say yes. Elizondo is the furthest thing from a kook.

Hilary White's avatar

OK. I will look.

Steve Skojec's avatar

Yeah, if you're trying to get up to speed on the most significant developments from a government/military standpoint, Lue is the guy. He is almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing this topic to light back in 2017 when he was the primary source for this piece in the New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html

JDan160's avatar

We hopping a plane to Edinburgh, so no time to write. Praying that this is your family’s new home. I always think that you will know where home is. I still feel that Eastern TN may be a way station, but who knows? We have visited Lexington, KY twice…and there is a pull. Maybe it’s the horses. Best wishes on this next adventure. The journey is the destination.

Steve Skojec's avatar

Thanks, we're hoping so too! I was looking at Lexington as well (though I never visited) but I really prefer to be closer to the coast.

JDan160's avatar

Just saw your comment. Of course, we are back from Edinburgh, which was fabulous. Absolutely a place you can get lost in its beauty and remoteness. (Speaking of the Highlands.) Just keep plugging. That's the only thing I can say.

Leigh's avatar

Welcome to NC! My family and I are located just a little east and I am a transplant myself. I hope you’ll feel at home!

Gary Huber's avatar

Raleigh! Yay! That's my hometown! I left there in 1989, but go back to see family every year. It's great place. If I had not acquired family ties in California, I would have moved back a long time ago. Best of luck with the move!

Anne Heath's avatar

Trust your instincts and "signs." If it keeps happening, it's probably a sign. Besides, there is never a bad time to move to a Red State. Hope it works out fabulous for the entire family. And if you need to go to VA for any reason (friends and family), you're not that far away. Good luck!

Hilary White's avatar

this is one thing I love about you and Jamie, Steve: you're problem solvers. (I mean, on the other hand a lot of the problems you solve so decisively are problems you've created yourselves, but that makes you no different from everyone else... bit of human condition there). It reminds me of what I did after the earthquake. I had gone roaming around Umbria for two weeks looking for anything at all to move to that was within shouting distance of the monastery, and came up with nothing. It was awful. I was on the train back down to Rome and Santa Marinella, in complete defeat, talking to the friend who was cat sitting for me, and just suddenly said, Right, I'm getting a winter flat in Santa Marinella. At least I know the place and have friends there, and it's within shouting distance of the parish in Rome. Got off the train at S. Mar and marched straight over to the local realtor who knew me pretty well already. I explained that I'd just been living in Norcia for two years until That Morning, and needed a place immediately. Two hours later, I had the keys and was at the local dollar store buying towels. When the pressure's on, just fix the damn problem, so you can get to the bigger stuff. Pragmatic and sensible, even though it can look a bit mad from the outside.

~

my wife and I decided to drive back down to Raleigh. We identified a couple of houses for rent that we liked, and applied. I won’t bore you with the details, but it all came together in about 24-48 hours, and yes, I kept seeing dragonflies the whole time. I mean, flying right up to my car at stoplights or when I pulled over for something, and nowhere else that I could see. Butterflies too.

Suffice to say, we quickly got an approval, and decided to sign. Our lease here in Virginia was flexible, so we had an out. We didn’t have to stay. So on Friday of this week, we’ll be moving to Raleigh instead.

Steve Skojec's avatar

LOL, we definitely make a lot of our own problems, but we really are trying to find longer term solutions.

Hilary White's avatar

When your religion is nothing but lists of regulations, you tend to miss the bigger picture (though I've observed over the years that the Bigger Picture has an odd habit of grasping you by the noggin and pushing you toward the right things anyway). I find it very telling that you think you refused to see miraculous or wonderful signs around you because of it. if the regulations don't stem from that larger reality, they are going to seem like a lot of arbitrary nonsense, power games made up by (bad) men. The problem isn't the regulations, its the inversion of reality: mysticism first, rules derived from that later.

https://youtu.be/kkGeOWYOFoA?si=9axdnJNYTVWUfmtv

Fr. Dwight P. Campbell's avatar

Steve, Fr. Dwight P. Campbell here. Last year I made a one-time donation to the Skojec Substack. On July 27, I was charged $50 on my VISA. I did not a recurring donation. Please refund my $50 to my VISA account and make sure my account is not charged again. My email is FrCamp@Juno.com. Please confirm that you received this, and know that I will continue to keep you and your families in my prayers.

Steve Skojec's avatar

I just took care of this. Please let me know if you don't get confirmation.