All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ~Anatole France
After years of renting (16?), we finally decided it was time to buy our own house. For the last seven years we have been renting my husband's childhood home, a 1970's ranch on 17 acres. The boys and I have loved living here, but my husband (who works 6 days a week) has been feeling like the house and the land owns him. Last month we were relaxing in the den when he turned to me and said "I am not going to have time to really take care of this place until I retire, and then I will be too old to take care of it."
That really opened my eyes to his feelings about living in the suburban country. I look around and see a field of green grass, fences full of juicy blackberries, chickens scratching around happily in the dirt, and a pond full of catfish ready to be caught and thrown back. My husband sees high grass that needs to be cut for hay, fences overgrown with weeds, a chicken coop full of rat snakes and black widow spiders, and a pond that is not only drying up, but full of water lilies that need to be removed.
My nature retreat has become a nature nightmare to my husband. And the house is well-built and a great size, but very outdated and constantly needing repairs (which we handle since it is part of our rent). And I must mention that this land is close to town and incredibly expensive, completely out of our price range for the foreseeable future.
So this Christmas we decided it was time to find our own place (preferably without green shag carpeting and flocked wallpaper, they are a pain to remove) and we fell in love with a cute house (pictured above) that will be perfect for our family. It was built only 30 years ago but looks vintage, is only 10 minutes from my husband's work, is located in the town where my husband and I grew up in and met for the very first time, is close to both our families, and has a large yard with trees and plenty of room for my little boys to run and play.
So the chickens have been divided among neighbors, friends, and my parents (they have a baker's dozen so that we can share the fresh eggs) and I am sitting typing in a room covered in half-filled (or half-empty, however you want to see it) boxes of books, toys, albums, etc. And right now I am reminded how much I really hate moving. It is a bit overwhelming.
I will be hit or miss on the computer the next week until we settle in our new home. But I am really excited about our new adventure and will be taking plenty of photos. The boys aren't bittersweet at all about the move because the new house has dirt and stairs, two of their favorite things.
My husband is not going to miss those chicken snakes. He really hates snakes. ;-)
I think I am going to turn off the computer and drink a glass of red wine with my husband. And take a bubble bath. It is going to be a long week...
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. It was written in the 40's, but it has some of the best quotes and it really helps me when I am feeling stressed. I actually bought a few copies for some of my family members, it is that good.
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