Just As Well
Just as well...
It's not often that you sell your house to a friend, but that is what we did in 2000. Our friends, temporarily residing in Alaska, were ready to come home to Georgia. We lived on acreage west of Newnan and were ready to move closer to...anywhere.
Every trip, whether for groceries, stamps, or doctor appointments, took, at minimum, 40 minutes round trip. And, David was finally tired of mowing. In fact, he entertained moving in 1999 after continuously mowing to keep up with the voracious growth of the season. He settled back in when the grass and weeds settled down.
At first mention of moving in 1999, I had my eye on a two-story white house under construction that reminded me of my grandmother's farmhouse. At the end of the growing season, and David's suspended interest, I shelved the thought.
Once again, as mowing and weeding cranked up in 2000, we rekindled the conversation about moving. I excitedly shared the news with Renee, who was near freezing in Alaska. Bottom line: we struck a deal; they moved to our homestead; we moved into the white house waiting for me in town.
Last week we revisited our old home. As guests ambled around the great room overlooking the lake, inching closer to the warmth of the wood stove, memories rolled off the shelf. The house and property felt just as comfortable as it did all the years we enjoyed sunrise, sunset, and everything in between.
One of the 'betweens' was David's favorite, "Goose."
We had two ducks and one goose, which we 'creatively' named Duck, Duck, Goose. Goose was as good a watchdog as any, alerting us to unexpected guests. This was her pond, and she was prepared to defend it. Her nesting instinct was on high alert, but she lacked a mate, so she sat on nest after nest of infertile eggs. One time she made a nest in a protected corner off the back of the house. We needed that corner for our cat and her new kittens, so we changed out the nest. Goose, anxious to nurture, didn't realize the kitties weren't her newborn babes. She nuzzled them and ran off anyone who came close, including mother cat. Goose eventually forfeited the kittens. Just as well--the parent-child imprinting would not have ended well.
We fondly look back at these memories--without the mowing.
Yes, we relinquished the homestead and moved to town. Just as well--the endless mowing and weeding would have eventually ended about as well as kittens learning to swim.
~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran
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