It is not an imminent move, we are not packing any bags quite yet. There are a lot of logistics to sort out but first we had to make sure. So we spent a weekend exploring the curves and secrets and contours of a place that we would like to call home someday. We visited the library because the library can speak volumes for a town. I found the mother lode of buttons at the local antique shop (a good omen, I believe). We saw land and farms and found ourselves climbing steep mountain roads that made me ill.
It is still California but North, far from the dry Southland we now call home. And yet, there is a continuity to California, something that fits like a good coat.
We want some breathing room, some not so suburban living, access to the things that we love so dearly and try to appreciate daily.
We want to be closer to a family that is performing a mass exodus north with no designs on returning to the L.A. basin. I want chickens and maybe a goat, a pond would be nice. And I want a place to wear these. I want my boys to be able to roam a little freer in an area that still rolls without the interruption of tract home after tract home coating the once oak filled hills.
So, we took the first tentative step into a new world of unknowns. The next steps are much more concrete and involve finishing home projects and deck building and front door refurbishing with the aim to invite someone else into my childhood home and ask them to live here (for a fee, of course). It feels good/odd/scary/different but it does not feel bad and it does not feel sad. And I think that is what matters most.
The up side? If we do fix up this place and decide not to sell, I anticipate we will have one hell of a nice place to live.
7 comments:
Oooh.. change. Scary, intoxicating, expanding. And fresh air! And woods! Smiling for you. And yeah. Your house never looks as good as it does when it's an open house. :)
That set of stone steps made me swoon.
You can wear Wellies like those anywhere! But, you obviously don't see woods and that kind of gorgeous open space in the city. Best of luck on the journey.
How extremely exciting!! :)
Sounds exciting! Beautiful photos and storytelling, as usual!
I hope you find exactly what you're looking for.
So fun! I loved going to open houses and trying to imagine ourselves in various places.
Mark and I actually checked out a small hobby farm that was for sale once. It had a HUGE country kitchen, barn and chicken coop. I kept asking, "Are we FARM people?" It wouldn't be just buying a house and land... it'd be buying into a new lifestyle.
Today, looking around at my dying houseplants, I'm glad we didn't get it. Those chickens wouldn't have stood a chance.
Enjoy this new adventure!
Exciting! I loved Northern CA, and would love to move back there some day. It looks like a gorgeous place! And I would be ever-so-jealous if you guys get a goat and chickens :)
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