Here is our little house. Ben and I will be the official owners in five days. We can hardly believe that we will finally be home owners. It's something we've talked and dreamed about in the eight years we've been together (five of those married years).
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| The 'Garden of Eden' House |
We call it the 'Garden of Eden' house because it's on Eden Street and it has the
biggest fenced in back yard of all the houses we looked at.
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| Fenced in back yard with loads of potential. |
Now we aren't church going folk, and in fact, not so long ago I may have been turned off by the idea of living in a house that we could nickname the 'Garden of Eden'. However, last summer I wrote a song on the ukulele called 'Eve in Eden'. The song offers an alternative to the traditional Adam and Eve story, maintaining that Eve actually invented clothing and shelter because she was rather uncomfortable living nude in the garden environment (as soon as I have a good recording I'll post it).
Point is, we were comfortable living in the 'Garden of Eden' despite our religious beliefs, and of all the houses we'd looked at it was the house with the most character, the most potential, and the fewest poorly executed 'updates'. But one must always look for a sign...
...enter the taxidermic Goose in the flight position.
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| Me stroking the neck of the Taxidermic Snow Goose in the basement. Worst picture ever... better one soon to come. |
We found this little guy in the basement of the house. Now, here is another instance where I may have felt differently a few years ago about a stuffed Goose. But since then, several things have happened.
1. I have lived with a stuffed Mahi Mahi (caught by Ben's great grandfather Hampton). 'The Mahi Mahi' has been a member of the family for four years now and have grown to love him.
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| Here is 'The Mahi Mahi' installed above our back door as if he is hunting the carved wooden fish, 'Fishy Guy'. |
2. I have begun to identify myself as a Tundra Swan in flight. You see one day Ben and I were driving along, towing Ben's 1972 VW Beetle 'Bob', and we'd just decided that Ben would use 'Bob' as his commuter car instead of us buying a new fancy car. It was a wonderful feeling. A flock of migrating mallards caught my eye, and I was so surprised to see right behind them a Tundra Swan in flight. Swans in the lake are alright, but a swan in flight is a truly amazing thing. They have a 10' wing span and weigh 16 pounds! Slow and powerful strokes keep them in the air. It is an uncanny combination of majesty and comedy. Something that I feel within myself at all times.
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| Here is a stock photograph of a Tundra Swan or Whistling Swan in flight. |
Upon feasting my eyes on the swan, my good mood transformed into a feeling of euphoria. Since that moment, I have become quite interested in birds-in-flight. Finding that Goose in the flight position in the basement of this potential new house was, as you can now see, a good omen. "The only way it could get better," we thought, "is if we could actually have the Goose." And I'm happy to report that during negotiations, this document (which I have cropped and edited for privacy purposes) is now on file as a part of our purchase. I do so hope that a genealogist gets a good chuckle from it one day.
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| The official Amendment Offer which includes the stuffed goose with the sale of the house. |
I have decided to keep a blog about our little house. We have much work to do on it, and I want to keep track of the improvements, and share this sure to be adventure with my family who live a bit farther away then I'd like them to.
