I woke this morning to see a gray haze outside my window. It was hard to make out the house across the street. The very first thought that went through my mind, was FIRE, it was smoke. Then, the more rational, but less awake part of my mind says, "Yo, dumb ass, if it was fire and there was that much smoke, think it might smell?"
Good point, so it is fog. Fog in Illinois. When I went to get the paper, I expected to smell the salt in the air. Fog smells like ocean. It makes the electrical wires crackle, it means that what ever fire is burning where ever will slow dramatically. It means that planes won't take off from the airport. It means June. When it happens in September, it means that it won't be so hot today.
Yet, it hasn't been hot here. It doesn't smell like ocean, because that stupid lake is NOT an ocean, it is NOT even a reasonable ocean substitute. There are no electrical wires above ground to make that crackle sound. I doubt OHare will be impacted and it isn't June. This was some random unprecedented fog. I have lived here for a little over a year, and never seen fog.
All of this was making me very nostalgic for home. A friend of mine is going to the 'hood on vacation and has been asking me for advice about where to stay, what to do, where to eat, etc. I have been missing my hometown very much. I guess the fog was a little piece of home.
When I got in after getting the paper, Sam asked me what to do in an earthquake. Maybe I am living in some sort of parallel universe? Maybe this is now Chicago, California.
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
1 Year
1 year ago today, I went to a lawyers office and ended my brief period of homelessness. We signed our lives away on what we thought would be the perfect home for our family.
Now, the period of homelessness, was because we sold our home in Connecticut faster than we could find one in Illinois, so it sounds way more dramatic than it really was. But, living in a 1,000 square foot apartment with 3 kids, a husband and dog for a month, was not walk in the park. Yet, significantly better than actually homelessness. I survived by pretending it was a condo in Maui. I was still optimistic and this was going to be an adventure.
I guess it has been an adventure, but we have fixed or replaced: 1 leaky roof, 24 rotten windows, 1 door that leaked so much cold air it snowed in the house, 1 washer (it exploded), 1 dryer, 1 dishwasher, 1 refrigerator, 1 sump pump (which survived 17 inches of rain in 2 days, praise God.), 1 sump pump back-up battery, 3 toilets, every single outlet, switch, switch plate, wall register grate, entry lock, and door handle in the entire place. I am sure that I have left something out. We have battled more ants than is really necessary. I am now more handy than I ever expected. I have talked to my brother more than I would have imagined. We have painted, scrubbed, cleaned and otherwise made habitable our hugely expensive home. The thing is that when we bought this house, we didn't think it would be a fixer, it was supposed to be move in ready.
There are still things that don't work right or need to be replaced, but we are off life support and can manage these items as we have time and money. Nothing is earth shattering, but I live in fear that there is something I missed! I knew all the warts in our old house. I knew what needed to be done, what would probably go wrong.
This house was unloved, and uninhabited for 2 years. That takes a toll on a home. Even though it looked lovely on the outside, it was sad on the inside. The house didn't feel the love. I think the house feels the love now. I think the house realizes we are friends. Our trash compactor stopped working about 4 weeks after we arrived. I didn't care, we are planning to redo the kitchen anyway, so let it be a big trash can. One day about 6 months later, Hannah was playing with the buttons and it started working again. The house regenerated itself. At the moment, we knew that the house was on the team.
You might think we are crazy, a house is not an animate object, but they are in some fashion living things. They need to be loved. If you don't love them, they make you pay, and pay dearly. Our house is still without a name. It still really doesn't feel like home yet, but at least I don't feel like it hates us. Maybe next year we will be on a first name basis and it will feel like home.
Now, the period of homelessness, was because we sold our home in Connecticut faster than we could find one in Illinois, so it sounds way more dramatic than it really was. But, living in a 1,000 square foot apartment with 3 kids, a husband and dog for a month, was not walk in the park. Yet, significantly better than actually homelessness. I survived by pretending it was a condo in Maui. I was still optimistic and this was going to be an adventure.
I guess it has been an adventure, but we have fixed or replaced: 1 leaky roof, 24 rotten windows, 1 door that leaked so much cold air it snowed in the house, 1 washer (it exploded), 1 dryer, 1 dishwasher, 1 refrigerator, 1 sump pump (which survived 17 inches of rain in 2 days, praise God.), 1 sump pump back-up battery, 3 toilets, every single outlet, switch, switch plate, wall register grate, entry lock, and door handle in the entire place. I am sure that I have left something out. We have battled more ants than is really necessary. I am now more handy than I ever expected. I have talked to my brother more than I would have imagined. We have painted, scrubbed, cleaned and otherwise made habitable our hugely expensive home. The thing is that when we bought this house, we didn't think it would be a fixer, it was supposed to be move in ready.
There are still things that don't work right or need to be replaced, but we are off life support and can manage these items as we have time and money. Nothing is earth shattering, but I live in fear that there is something I missed! I knew all the warts in our old house. I knew what needed to be done, what would probably go wrong.
This house was unloved, and uninhabited for 2 years. That takes a toll on a home. Even though it looked lovely on the outside, it was sad on the inside. The house didn't feel the love. I think the house feels the love now. I think the house realizes we are friends. Our trash compactor stopped working about 4 weeks after we arrived. I didn't care, we are planning to redo the kitchen anyway, so let it be a big trash can. One day about 6 months later, Hannah was playing with the buttons and it started working again. The house regenerated itself. At the moment, we knew that the house was on the team.
You might think we are crazy, a house is not an animate object, but they are in some fashion living things. They need to be loved. If you don't love them, they make you pay, and pay dearly. Our house is still without a name. It still really doesn't feel like home yet, but at least I don't feel like it hates us. Maybe next year we will be on a first name basis and it will feel like home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)