May 1, 2006

Pre-missing, Part II

On Sunday afternoon we sat under our newly completed trellis and just appreciated the yard. The trellis was intended to make the yard feel enclosed and cozy, which it does. The great optical illusion is that it feels larger at the same time. I finally got the yard to the point where it's all perennials, mulch, and grass. Minimal work for maximal use. I thought I would at least get a few years to enjoy it. Not that anything is definite yet, but I just have a feeling in my gut that our time here is ending. Sigh. [click to enlarge photos]

When we first moved here we wanted a row house with no exterior upkeep. Now we not only have a free-standing house, but a treehouse that needs upkeep. How often have you had a coworker mutter, "I have to stain the treehouse this weekend"?

I won't miss the upkeep: mowing, raking, pruning and weeding (oh the weeds, oh the weeds, if there's one thing the Grinch hated most it was the weeds,weeds, weeds!). As much as I enjoy the end product, part of me feels guilty every time I spend a Saturday just working on the yard. Life feels too short to invest in something so temporary, I guess having to move would emphasize that point!

What about you? When you've moved, what was the hardest thing to leave? If you had to leave your current house, what would you miss?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hardest thing to leave when we left Amherst: our housemates. Oh, and the red currant bushes and wild black raspberries behind the house.

Hardest thing we'll be leaving here: the security of a steady middle-class income and the places the kids love (the barn and anything outdoors and green). But that's it. I'm ready to go. Prestigious Academy can even keep the fancy-schmancy hybrid lilac I put in a few years ago.

I can always steal a cutting, anyway.

weigook saram said...

From the previous pic, your backyard looks beautiful. I am jealous. Our backyard is cute, but it isn't really ours, because we are tenants and we share it with three other apartments.

But I really love the place we're in now. I would miss the neighborhoody feeling here. Our neighbors hang out in front of their places and talk, and they spend a lot of time and effort on landscaping, so the flowers are really gorgeous right now.

scarp said...

My family has moved in and out of quite a few houses over the years - I think I miss most the one with the ravine in the back yard, all the dogwood trees and the weeping cherry and the sycamore and pacassandra everywhere, with the backdrop of the woods and always the possibility of spotting a deer.

Of course, at the time, we were moving to the lake, so it was easy. But that beautiful house/view was never meant to be ours for long, and now we all miss the other...

Anonymous said...

For me it's the people. Always the people. In good and bad ways; I miss the community of friends, but I love going places and knowing I won't run into anyone I know. There's a freedom in that I can't seem to get anyone to understand. My daughter thinks it's terrible. Maybe I just like being a stranger in a strange land.

OTRgirl said...

k. are you moving, or is that wishful thinking!? Tell me more!

weigook: good neighbors are priceless. I would miss the one's we have now.

scarp: I remember that house. It seemed to fit your family more than the lake house.

otrmama: hmm...after years of dealing with major political fights throughout our neighborhood, I can see the appeal of anonymity. It's part of why I could never live in Cincy. "Oh, you're Their daughter/sister. I've always loved your father/mother/brother." That got old.

Everblest said...

Leaving Amherst was hard because of the people I would miss. I liked our house or parts of it anyway. Then in the rental, I liked the feeling of being up on a hill in the summer but hated the winters. Now I am still getting to know our newest abode. Black bear got into the trash last night. Still don't know how I feel about that.

Yankee, Transferred said...

Leaving Boston, I missed (and still do) my friends. Yes, the people. And, crazy as it sounds, I also miss the accent. I traded it for a drawl, and it was a down-trade, in my opinion

Anonymous said...

I would miss my church. It is so rare and nice to be part of a healthy congregation.

And I think I always want to live near mountains now that I have come to depend on them. It is a visceral reaction that I don't want to give up.

Anonymous said...

if i left my current house, i would leave neighbor kids yelling my name every time they see me or think i am home...i would leave bars on the windows and a great view from the roof...and i would leave an awesome shower and a comfy bed.
I would also probably leave Iraq and be headed for less interesting parts of the world! :)