Four years on

October 9th and I have a history.

Over the past few years I've come to associate the date with big life changes and important events. For example, on October 9th, 2002 I got the final word that my California house had officially sold, just hours before heading to the airport to board a plane for Barcelona. I arrived the next day at just about the time that I'm writing this, making this the official four-year mark of my move to Spain.

A lot can change over the course of four years. A lot of the changes between then and now have been expected: buying an apartment, the restaurant taking off, the occasional vacation. At the same time, a lot of things that I expected to change have remained the same. The fact that I'm still working at the same job almost four years later, nearly making it a record, is a big surprise. The fact that we haven't gotten around to having a baby yet isn't really a surprise, but four years ago I would have given it better-than-even odds. And for some inexplicable reason, I haven't vaulted to fame and fortune as a world-famous travel photographer. Sometimes lack of change is as hard to predict as change itself.

So far, the biggest event to mark this year's anniversary is the installation of our kitchen door frame after six months of waiting, going on behind me as I type. As October changes go, it's pretty minor; I'm not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. In either case, the day is still young.