it's really amazing what 72 hours in the mountains can do for me. i get up in that air, and all the stresses just seem to melt away. the air is so crisp and fresh. the smell of pine and cedar are so heady, it almost makes me drunk. and then the smoke from fires burning in fireplaces and wood stoves? just adds to it. that smell takes me back to my childhood.
my maternal grandparents didn't have central heat in their house. i don't think they even had a furnace. i know they had a pump in the kitchen to bring water in for cooking and cleaning. there was an outhouse, which was rather um, an experience for a townie kid. my grandfather had a little bit of land, and a large garden or small farm, whichever you choose to call it. he had chickens, he had a cow for a while, i remember. i can remember picking strawberries, currants, peas, beans, digging potatoes, helping out in the garden with things like that. and i did so at our own house, too. we had raspberries and a garden that rotated crops every year. constants were lettuces, tomatoes, beans. we each got to choose a crop a year. i can remember the zucchini year, far too many zucchini! the popcorn year, that was fun. mine was the pumpkin year. we had pumpkins galore! our neighbors grew wonderful potatoes, and we helped them plant, tend and dig (harvest) the potatoes. a lot of hard work, but for kids, it was good work.
but this brings me back to this weekend. we went to visit family, in the southern california mountains. i sleep so well there. i actually get rest. the water is the best water EVER! sunday, before we were leaving, we stopped over at the real estate office to see if there were any new listings. there were two. we looked at one, and i didn't like it from the get go. i saw potential, but i also saw a money pit. we went back to the office, with every intention of leaving, and hubby saw another listing on the board. well, why not check that one out, too?
awkward is the first word that comes to mind. tiny, awkward, almost unworkable, and i'm completely in love with the place. yes, it could be a money pit, too. but at least it's a LIVABLE money pit, at least for a year or two, until we can get things going. small projects can take up most of the time, until the big stuff has to happen. and there's big stuff. but it can be a GREAT house. i've been wanting to "live small." and this would be doing just that. 734 square feet. we'd have to really purge our lifestyle and our home to fit all three of us in this little cabin in the mountains. but wouldn't that be a good thing? teaching responsible living to our daughter? don't try to take more than you actually need? and try to learn how to be self sufficient? what a great lesson we could be living. now, if i could just find the money for it.
i'm more relaxed after a few days in the mountains. i'm also more tired. i'm wanting to go, so we can be closer to family. because i'm grateful that little one has a bigger sister, and she has a nephew that she loves to play with. and i would just love to give them the opportunity to see each other more. and a mental health moment of going outside and just hiking up a hill to clear my mind? what more could anyone ask for?
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