ouch

I saw it coming, but it feels like a slap in the face nonetheless.

The huge huge profits.

We were going to move out of Albany this year, partly to be in a different schooldistrict for our daughter. We were looking at houses for a few months before we realized: these gas prices are going to take the joy out of living in the country. My husband and I would have to commute about 15 miles each day each way. While that is not a big commute by a lot of standards, it was going to be too much for us.

Right now, we live close enough to our workplaces to bike and even walk if we have enough time in the morning. Our daughter will be able to walk to her new middle school. How much sense does it make to move out of the city, when we have everything right here?

Sure, I had dreams of a vegetable garden and a compost heap. More open sky. Country roads to ride our bikes on. But then I started thinking about what I'd lose: a great neighborhood where everyone watches out for each other. The guy with the snowblower keeps going right down the street and cleans up 3 driveways. If you're going on vacation and your fish needs feeding, the kid across the street will do it.

Just last Saturday, we had a graduation party for Tall Son for our friends and neighbors, and it felt like a mini block party. We all hung out, ate good food and talked for a few hours. Even neighbors that used to live here came.

So we are staying in the city for now. We do have a nice big garden, I just can't grow vegetable in it. (It's too shady. It floods. It is owned by squirrels.) We are waiting to see how Crafty Girl's schoolyear is going, and by February we will re-evaluate and see what we want to do.

Meanwhile, we have one car, which gets decent mileage. Dear Husband bikes to work during the summer session he is teaching, and when we have errands to run, we try to combine them into one day.

How are you trying to save on gas?