WOO HOO

Yesterday when I left work, I stopped by OUR NEW HOUSE. The bid was accepted, and we are on our way to making my dream come true. I have wanted roots forever and pray that now I will have them.

I bought a house in Logansport when the kids were really little. I worked almost every day until it was a home - a beautiful home with hardwood floors and the warm scent of recently used fireplace. I planted and painted and spackled until it was acceptable. Loved that house and I never wanted to leave. We had family and roots there. After Jacob survived brain surgery, and I was subsisting on $23,000 with three kids, I decided it was time to go. There was no choice, we could no longer function on those meager funds and we had to make a change. Since then, it has felt like we have not been able to stay anywhere. Two years in Arizona, three and a half years back in Indiana with three different addresses. I have felt like a gypsy - which is tough if you are inherently a farmer.

So I pulled into the driveway, as the sun was sinking behind the neighbor's house. The ivy-covered slope yielded to some small trees and then the creek. Crunching through the ivy and the leaves it was evident no one has touched the leaves in a long time. The ground is rested and ready for a spade. I walked along the curve of the creek that will be mine - as much as anything is mine - marveling at the pine trees that had to be fifty feet tall, needled dancing in the breeze that I couldn't feel down below. One lone bush graces the little garden blocked off in front of the porch. I decided it might do with the company of some azaleas in a couple months. The moss-covered area next to the driveway was begging for some early spring bulbs - hyacinths and tulips and maybe some others in blue and purple that I have yet to learn the names of.

It is a good house, and there is a lot of room - enough to corral the dogs, till a garden, pen up some new ducks and maybe even a bunny or two. I think the deck might need a pair of finches in a huge cage to sing the sun awake in the morning. The backyard feeders are empty, so when time comes I look forward to throngs of birds coming. I need a new field guide since there are birds and trees in the yard I don't know. I did recognize some raspberry canes as they tugged at my legs, and I walked through a very old rose bush anxious for pruning.

What a blessing for a brain that loves intrigue - new plants, new trees, new house, new birds, and eventually new ducks. More to come as this dream unfolds, I cannot wait to share a season of joy with you, since 2004 held lots of days without joy.