Introducing the Cardinal Direction

By Kendall Kroesen
This blog chronicles our move from Tucson, Arizona to Richmond, Indiana, and our ongoing exploration of our new home region. I lived in Tucson, Arizona, for over 25 years and my wife, Mary Beth, lived there for 45 years. So it's a big move socially, psychologically, and in distance: 1,800 miles! 

Here we are before the move at one of my favorite places: San Pedro Overlook in the Santa Catalina Mountains, north of Tucson, a high point that affords a grand view over the San Pedro River Valley. (See below for us after the move, at Indiana's highest point.)

Mary Beth grew up in Richmond so she knows her way around a bit. But many things have changed since when she last lived there, which was 1980. So while it's a homecoming, it's also a new beginning. It is a great new exploration for me, having always lived in the West.

I also thought about calling this blog The Big Move, or A Vivid Green for the saturated verdure of eastern Indiana as we arrived in July. But then I remembered my previous, short-lived, blog: The Verdin News. Verdins are a bird species common in Tucson but poorly known by the general public. My handle was VerdinWatcher. Now that we have moved to Indiana, I decided to call this one The Cardinal Direction because I am now a cardinal watcher. Although there are cardinals in Tucson, we definitely moved in the direction of more cardinals. They are at my backyard seed feeder every few minutes. The cardinal is the state bird of Indiana, named by science as Cardinalis cardinalis, to which you could possibly add indianaensis. They are widespread and, unlike verdins, very well known by Hoosiers.

I can't call myself a Hoosier yet. I don't know how long it will take. Probably a long time. Yesterday we visited a senior center. After hearing the story of our recent move, the greeter couldn't seem to fathom that we had moved to little Richmond, IN, from Tucson. "You moved here... from there? You moved back here?" I felt like some kind of exotic import.

Eventually it will feel normal to be here, and perhaps it will seem normal to others. Notwithstanding her surprise, the greeter was genuinely friendly and helpful. And that has been the rule for our encounters here. At the bank, at the gym, walking the dogs, meeting neighbors, people have been universally kind and welcoming. How hard will it be to really get to know them? That I shall see--the anthropologist in me.

Another post comes soon, about The Big Move!

Indiana's highpoint. Charming, but not really very high (1,257 ft ASL).

Comments

  1. Jim GessamanJuly 14, 2026 at 10:07 AM

    Kendall,
    Thanks for including me in your Cardinal Direction communications. I have a memorable connection to Richmond and Indiana. I grew up in Dayton, OH, went to undergraduate school at Earlham College and worked as a State Park Naturalist during my undergraduate summers; 3 summers at Turkey Run State Park in west-central IN and 1 summer at the Indiana Dunes State Park at the southern end of Lake Michigan. You will learn that there is a vibrant birding community at Earlham among the faculty and students. Check out the Joseph Moore Museum on the Earlham campus, which is a fine natural history museum.
    I look forward to your future communications from IN.
    Jim Gessaman

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kendall KroesenJuly 18, 2026 at 7:51 AM

      I hope you will look us up if you are visiting your old haunts!

      Delete
  2. MarysiaJuly 28, 2026 at 2:54 AM

    Congrats on the big move! I hope you enjoy getting to know a new part of the country. It sounds like you're off to a good start!

    ReplyDelete

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