If I were to head back states-side, I suppose the salto mortale to the mountaintop would be to land in NYC or LA in a position to reinvigorate myself by actually doing theatre, but the cost of living, and the fact that both places are dominated by the same professional networks that I hit a bit of a brick wall with before the JD likely mean that those doors would be closed, at least to start with. The second scenario would be either a law job or a survival job near a large research library that I had access to, so I could continue the present work on some level. The third scenario, largely recognizing the difficulties of the first two, would be very humble quarters in the far upper Midwest: Dakotas, Minnesota, etc. near modest libraries to which I had access. (Minnesota might be good for that, as their public system has interlibrary rights within the state universities.)
To be clear, all of these plans would involve some real difficulty, thanks to certain specific headwinds. The choice is probably whether the difficulty is to be characterized by the salto mortale to what is likely a rigged game, but still proximate to the art -- or the long, difficult journey to humble winter quarters and a supply of books that, while it might not be optimal, would at least be sufficient.
On the other hand, something interesting might appear in the interval.
"Events, dear boy, events..."