Day 37
I’ve been doing a lot of searching lately. Well, for the last few years at least about a variety of issues in my life … finding a new location, new hometown, new house has been forefront on my mind and in my actions.
I’ve gone on a lot of trips. A LOT of trips. I’m sure people think, by now, that I’ve got a few screws loose in this ever-changing color of hair head of mine.
And maybe I do. But home is important to me. And I know the saying “Home is where the heart is.” Yeah … okay … but …
I’m a nester. I like to gather and feather. It’s what I do. It’s who I am and it’s important to me. I don’t need a big place – though starting a B&B in a big old victorian has always been on my radar – but a small Cape Cod or bungalow or cottage or farmhouse would work equally well for my life at present. I don’t need a huge yard; don’t want a huge yard … but some place to garden a bit and let the dogs chase squirrels and for me to drink lemonade under a shady tree that resides in it – would be wonderful.
It doesn’t have to be updated … I can do that myself. Like to do that myself. I just need good bones. A house that I could call home – wherever it may be – in a well cared for area of whatever well cared for city or town.
How hard can that be to find?
A LOT harder than one might think given the zillion options out there in this country! My plight would be easier if I knew what city I HAD to move to … but the options are extensive and my time is running out.
I want a quaint town … something hilly, green and with trees would be ideal. Pretty falls and springs are a must. Some sort of nearby water would be great (river, lake, ocean, stream, puddle). One with older homes (nice older homes) would be even better. I’m a visual person. Environment – whether I’m in a restaurant or looking out my kitchen window – are important to me. I don’t want to look out on garbage.
I was in Kentucky the past four days … me and my rental car kept great company as we zipped and zig zagged around the central Kentucky landscape some 1400 miles. And besides being tired and weary … I’m equally or more so … frustrated and disappointed. At people, in general, and myself, too.
In all the areas I came to I couldn’t find one that met the criteria I had in mind. Was I being too picky? So, I zig zagged through the towns one more time – taking deep breaths and telling myself to buck up … I could DO THIS. I could live here. That my expectations were too high for these people and their towns and homes. That good enough should be well, good enough.
Why should it bother me so much that most of the homes and towns I was looking at needed extensive repair and landscaping … and sidewalks … and garbage control … and ordinances that said one’s truck should not be parked on their front lawn. Who am I to demand such things as fences that are intact and trees that don’t have dead hanging branches on them or towns that have half their stores boarded up or empty? The Bargain Bin and Pawn Shop have every right to be in business … along with the Dollar Stores.
It was then I realized I was dreading what was to be the next phase of my life. Why move to a place that you didn’t really like and BUCK UP if you really didn’t have to?
So … I came home. A day early. With a clearer understanding of what I want … and what I don’t. I’m not going to buck up. I’ve looked all around and though I haven’t yet – I WILL find it. It’s been out there waiting for me to come to my senses and have a change of heart.