TVTT White Ajah Edition - Leala's Two Rivers

Author: Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum
Published: June 4, 2021 Tar Valon Times Blog Link

Until recently, my Location said “Louisiana, USA;” and when I came back in early April, I changed it to “Illinois, USA.” So “What under the Light happened?” you hypothetically ask, as if I haven’t talked about it since I got back. Well, I mean a lot happened to move in with Ignis al'Caleum, Aspired Accepted of the Yellow Ajah. But, I thought I’d tell you about the two cities that I’ve called home.

Shreveport, Louisiana is in the northwest corner of the state, far and away from the capital and the most tourist-y of cities. It’s also pretty far from most of the tropical storms. It sits on the banks of the Red River, so called for the red clay on its floor. The city was named after Capt. Henry Miller Shreve when he made the river passable. There are several things named after him in town. (Or, if you’re me showing Ignis around: the city was named after him, the street I lived on was named after his brother, the school was named after his cousin, etc…) My hometown has a sister city across from the river called Bossier City (pronounced BOH-zhur). It was named after a French guy, but when we appropriated his last name, we changed the pronunciation. Welcome to Louisiana.

It took a fair bit of searching to find us a place, but Ignis found us a good apartment in Rockford, Illinois. Pretty early on, I found out that Rockford had a river flowing through it too, the Rock River. Three guesses why it’s called that! Rockford is also named after the river…a lot like some other towns and businesses and streets around here. My new city has a similar population to my previous city too, though being so far away, there is a different atmosphere. Ignis is a bit of a movie buff, and he showed me A League of Their Own recently, because…well, you might have seen the movie, honestly. It was hugely popular in the 90s. But, yeah. The Rockford Peaches were the stars of the movie. And Rockford, Illinois doesn’t let you forget it! Our wedding venue even has merch for them in their gift shop!

The move was stressful, as all moves are. But I’m here now, and I’m having fun finding out different things about my new city.