grandie f and his friends take a short walk
through their neighborhood
(and now mine)
to help bring a few first things over to my new digs.
the friendliest movers ever.
—
“i get by with a little help from my friends.”
-John lennon
what a year it’s been
on July 15th of last year
I put my 100+ year old cottage up for sale
through 2 sales – (the first a near miss, the second a hit)
showings, open houses, fixing, cleaning, clearing, minimizing, negotiating
a roller coaster ride
filled with lots of ups and downs
lessons learned
money spent
tears and laughs
fingers crossed
then moving and storing and staying with family
while waiting for the place I wanted to be next
hoping someone would be wiling to sell it
at just the right time
at just the right price
and with all this
somehow
it has fallen into place
here I am
exactly 1 year later
on july 15th once again
and today
I’ll be taking ownership
of the place that is exactly where I want to be
a simplified life begins
in the perfect home for me
happy to make it my own
in the ‘july’ of my life
near family, near the trees, near the water, near the town
what a wonderful difference 1 year can make.
—
“my life, i realize suddenly, is july.
childhood is june, and old age is august,
but here it is, july, and my life, this year, is july inside of july.”
-rick bass
—
photo credit: mark bugnaski – MLive.com
with
one sister visiting
one sister gone too soon
only brother on his way
grandchildren in tow
we visited the place
where we had grown up.
it looked much the same
yet felt somehow not.
much like us.
—
“there is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged
to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
-nelson mandela
and so I have sold the cottage
the place where I have lived the longest
where I have spent some of my best years
after a whirling roller coaster ride of a sale
each grandie takes a fairy house
to begin a village at their own home
family and friends help with the first steps
to move the things that I most want to keep
into a small space
(some of my grandies working hard)
then arrive at a daughter’s house
for a short stay
with olive the cat not the oil, in tow
while I await my new home
still to be in ann arbor
as I move to simplify my life
and live near what matters to me most
family, friends,
the natural beauty of a park, the water, a garden
and a town which is only a short walk away.
(not my new home, but pretty comfortable)
in what can best be described as a ‘math miracle”
there is room to spare after filling this small space
with only my favorite things.
interesting to consider how much space
we would each need
to store
only those things that we really want to keep.
the adventure continues
along a path that is never a straight course
but always exactly right where I need to be.
—
“all deep changes are preceded by chaos.”
-deepak chopra
olive is not quite ready yet for our move from the cottage
and then suddenly
she is.
more on our adventure soon.
—
“in winter, i plot and plan. in spring, i move.”
-henry rollins
when hiking in the winter woods,
we came upon this dwelling.
house, fort, cottage, hideaway, castle?
—
“home is any four walls that enclose the right person.”
-helen rowland
what a lovely little place
discovered on a walk in the woods
nestled beneath the old trees
resting on a blanket
of the softest pine needles
open to all who happen by
who lives here?
—
“when you’re wide open, the world is a good place.”
-sharon salzberg
—
nichols arboretum, ann arbor, mi, usa. november 2018
