This month marks seven years since we moved to our current home here in Inman, SC. And it has officially become the longest time we have stayed in one home in the past 26 years. Since I married Bill in 1996, we have moved five times. Seven years in this one home feels good to me now.
Before I met Bill, I lived on the second floor in a three-family house. I lived there for a little more than 10 years, and I LOVED that apartment. It had fabulous oak hardwood floors and trim around every door and window, glass french doors from the kitchen into the living room and beautiful high ceilings. It had a long clothesline outside the back porch attached to a pole way in the backyard. That was the beginning of my fondness and obsession with hanging clothes in the fresh air. Outside of the home I grew up in, I lived in this apartment the longest.
Sometimes when I can't fall back to sleep, I return there. I start out walking from my car around the side path, up the stairs, past by back porch and into the apartment. In my mind, I recall every single detail in its place. Sometimes I start on the right and work my mind around and sometimes I start on the left, but it's not long before I am asleep, comforted. I loved that home, not only because it was fabulous, but because of my history there.
Over the past 26 years, Bill and I have lived in some beautiful homes. Each home had great qualities that I miss, but none of them have given me the comfort of history. Seven years, granted, doesn't seem that long, but I find that having 'history' in this home is very comforting to me right now.
I like knowing when the morning sun will clear the top of the house and shine on the backyard. I like the light from the western sun when it shines on my plants in the kitchen in the evening and I like that I know the time of day to lower the blinds to keep the house cooler in the summer.
I like knowing when the Carolina Jasmine in the back yard will start blooming. I like knowing when to expect the hummingbirds to return and when it's time to put out my feeders. I like knowing which trees the birds return to every year to build their nests. I like being able to say "Four years ago, we had a great Fig harvest". We've never really lived anywhere long enough to enjoy the bounty of Bill's hard work in the yard.
I like that when I take Missy for a walk I'm guaranteed to stop and talk with friends and neighbors, and Missy's sure to get a belly rub, or two. I like knowing which house is going to be the first to put up their Christmas lights and which house changes their yard flags with every holiday.
We were the 14th house (out of 75) to be built here in Bushfork and outside of three houses, I know who lives in every single home in my community, and I like that. There have been 24 sales here in Bushfork since 2014 and 6 of the homes are on their third owners, and I knew every one of the owners. Having this knowledge, I realize, may not mean anything to anyone outside of me, but I like that I know my neighbors and neighborhood so well. I find great peace and contentment knowing the history and people in the community where I now live.
We talk about moving again, Bill would really like to move to Florida, and it may very well happen, but at this point in my life, I am finding great comfort in staying put.
