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We've bought a house in Roseville,smaller than our previous house (thankfully) and more suited to our needs. It is a beautiful place, in a modest arts-and-crafts kind of way. Wood floors throughout the main level, and fully finished, carpeted, and comfortable in the basement. The bedroom in the basement has a huge window facing south.
Even in Kyoto--
hearing the cuckoo's cry--
I long for Kyoto.
This is our third house together, plus a rental for one year before we bought our first house, and a rental the past 3 months. What is it about moving to a new home that elicits such hope, expectation, worry, and excitement?
I see this house and hope that it will be a place of peace, contentment and joy; that it will be a place of refuge from the strains of life. I see how it is and imagine how it might be - with a raised garden bed in back, and a spa for Joanne. I imagine it as spare and uncluttered inside, containing all that we need and nothing that we don't, with every thing fitting into its place and enhancing that place.
Wherever you go in the world, there you are.
Of course, the house is, was, and remains simply there; independent of who and how we are. We think we will be different, better, more in tune with ourselves and our surroundings. And in many ways we have become so over the years. Still, it is best to recognize and to know that this house will not change us, and that we needn't adapt to expectations beyond our range. We move forward, mostly, with each year better in most ways than the year before. Not with more insight or wisdom but with more humility and kindness.
--
DaleBrayden - 13 Mar 2004
Moving to Minnesota in December is proving to be ... interesting. We arrived here on December 4 and
found that the weather was Not That Bad. A little colder than we're used to, but basically not much
different than cold wet days in Vancouver. We were pleasantly surprised, since we had run into snow
and freezing rain on the way here, in North Dakota between Bismarck and Fargo.
The NTB weather was not to last, though. It began to snow on Tuesday the 9th and by the next morning
St. Paul had declared a snow emergency. I guessed that a snow emergency could not be a Good Thing,
and I was right. I decided I better get started a little early so as not to be late for work. So at
6:30 I trudged out to the garage, fired up the Ranger, backed out, and promptly got stuck. No
problem, I thought, I'll just rock the truck back and forth a little and try again. I dug a pair of
beautiful little ice pits before I decided that rocking back and forth just wasn't going to cut it.
So, 3 feet out of my garage I decided to put on the tire chains - a procedure that I probably should
have practiced earlier. Thirty minutes and 2 frozen hands later I managed to get the chains on well
enough to pull the truck back into the garage. Being a red blooded American male I did the one
sensible thing and walked back out into the driveway to stare at the snow, scratch my head, and
wonder how the
hell I could get stuck in 10 inches of apparently dry snow. It was then that I
shifted my gaze upward and saw that there was actually a 3 foot high snowbank between me and the
street, where the city snowplows had come through that morning. Even if I hadn't gotten stuck in the
drive I would have never made it to the street. Of course, being new to the area, and being a
renter, I didn't have a snow shovel. That was part of the
point of renting : I wouldn't be
out shoveling snow or raking leaves, or mowing grass, or doing any of the other assorted scut work
that goes with being a homeowner.
By now it was getting on towards eight o'clock, and I was beginning to wonder when the landloard was
going to come out and do the driveway plowing that he had promised to do following a 'heavy snow'.
Looking back at the rental agreement I saw that the only promise was that the plowing would be done
after the heavy snow, but no mention of how long after. After a number of phone calls (remarkably
non-confrontational if I do say so) the plow showed up at about 10 o'clock. By now I was at least 2
hours late for work at my new job at my new company. And in fact, by the time the plowing was done
and I finally made my way to work and in the door it was 11 o'clock. Embarrassing, and not a great
start to my career at Guidant.
Of course, I came here knowing full well that it gets cold in Minnesota and that along with the cold
comes snow and ice. But, perhaps through simple psychological denial, I never really thought through
the many implications of Minnesota winters.
For one, you have to have boots and good gloves. My street shoes were soon filled with snow as I was
in the driveway putting on the chains. Wet shoes and 20 degree temperatures are not a good mix. And
the thin leather driving gloves I was wearing offered no protection at all. It is amazing how
quickly fingers become stiff and sore when handling metal chains in those conditions.
A snow shovel is a must. I have one now, and I've already developed a bit of a close relationship
with it. I think I'll name it 'Rex'.
A 4 wheel drive vehicle would be good. My rear drive Ford Ranger has an alarming habit of spinning
its tires no matter how softly I press on the gas pedal. On the other hand it does brake well, as
far as I can tell.
I learned today that you can buy jeans lined with thinsulate. When the temperature got down to zero
degrees (as it did on Thursday) thinsulate would come in handy.
Finally, I've been told (and I believe it) that having a small container of lock de-icer is a good
idea. Preferably a container that you do not keep locked inside your vehicle.
I don't mean to sound negative about this. We're living in a really nice little community with a
"Main Street USA" kind of downtown. ACE Hardware, a café, a restaurant, shoe repair shop, a
nice library, lots of small stores, no stoplights except at the hiway. I have an easy commute to
work except, apparently, immediately after freezing rain or a snow storm. The people here are
amazingly 'nice', and I mean that in the best way.
But it's an adjustment. Vancouver Washington's climate is mild - wet in the winter to be sure, but
on the other hand it seldom gets far below freezing and a typical winter day has a low of 33 degrees
and a high of 45 degrees. And it seldom gets too uncomfortably hot in the summer, and humidity is
just not a problem in the summer. Minnesota is more extreme, and I'm just going to have to get used
to telling people from out of state that it's refreshing to have 4 seasons. Whatever that means. I
think the key to pulling that one off is to say it with great sincerity, and then look at the other
person as if to say "you
do understand that, don't you?"
--
DaleBrayden - 14 Dec 2003
- The house in winter:
- Living room with bay window:
- Deck, rails, barbecue, lamp:
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