Category Archives: home

already home.

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when giving a friend my new address

she was surprised 

to discover

that she already was familiar with that address

and she could let herself in

as she already possessed a key. 

she used to care for a little black cat who lived there,

bonnie.

her client happened to be

the woman who sold me my condo

and now 

there is a new little black cat living there,

my olive. 

there must be something about the house 

that needs a little black cat living there

to feel like home

I think they would have liked each other. 

 

“I believe that life is chaotic, a jumble of accidents, ambitions, misconceptions, bold intentions, lazy happenstances, and unintended consequences, yet I also believe that there are connections that illuminate our world, revealing its endless mystery and wonder.”

-david maraniss

 

 

image credit: getdrawings.com

new signs?

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now that I’ve moved from the west side to the north side

do I have to learn new signs?

 

 

“search for beauty without features, something deeper than any signs.”

-francesca da rimini

 

 

 

image credit: babycommunity.com

 

 

 

la casita pacifica.

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at last

I’ve moved into my new home

I’m going to call it

la casita pacifica

(the tiny peaceful house)

near the river, the flowers, the woods, the town, the family

“i’m really quite simple. i plant flowers and watch them grow…

I stay at home and watch the river flow.”

-george harrison

helpers.

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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

 

this year.

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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

returning.

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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

moving to simplicity.

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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