Little Hands, Big Ideas

I thought it was just a doodle, until the artist explained it to me.

It's a kitty, sleeping with her tail curled all around her (as kitties do). She is dreaming about eating bread, which she loves (and which you can see in the dream balloon over her head). But instead of bread, the kitty tried to take a bite out of her bed, which is why she has that funny squiggle on her face.

Whew!

Change

We have enjoyed our home in suburban Massachusetts so much (and lived here long enough to learn to spell Massachusetts). Even though we complain about the cold, and how we can have summer and winter weather in the same day, it is so nice to always have a new season to look forward to.

Here is a picture of Summy digging herself out of our driveway in Winter after a snowstorm.

And here she is in Spring, picking out what we grown-ups called weeds.




Here it's Summer, and she's mixed up with the roses.











And here she is in the Fall.











We'll miss all the surprises we see here - the deer that crossed the street, the turkeys that visit occasionally, the baby turtles that take a shortcut across the grass in Spring, even the coyote that we could hear howling last year, and the fox that scurried through the snow in the backyard while we watched amazed. Not to mention the birds, rabbits, and squirrels, all of whose adorable babies frolic in the backyard.

Last Sunday, two weeks before we are to leave, another surprise floated right over our house and toward the horizon.




We will miss our home and all that comes with it, and look forward to the new surprises that a new home will bring.

Finding Home

As we prepare to move and sell our house, I've seen different views of what makes a good home. More bedrooms than the number of people in your household, more living space than you can clean, and hardwoods and granites and stainless steel appliances and tile and sunrooms and fireplaces and vaulted ceilings and decks and jacuzzis and master suites and swimming pools that you didn't even know you wanted until you found out that everybody else wants them (or until you started watching HGTV). More house = more happiness.

Until you meet Sara of livelightlytour. I came across one of her blogs for the first time last October, when she, her husband, and her little daughter had sold their house in Iowa and moved to a little apartment. I was amazed at how she had made such an inviting lovely home out of such a small space.

Since then, they have moved out of Iowa and moved into another small apartment in Bozeman, Montana. Sara (aided by her husband) used her magic to transform the place into a finalist entry in the 2007 Apartment Therapy contest. Now, her family moved out of the apartment, bought an RV, converted its engine to use veggie oil, redid the RV in sustainable materials, and yes - made it into a beautiful home that you would want to move right into. They mean to travel around the country for a year, educating people about sustainable living.

All this time, I never read a word of regret in her blogs about the places they have left behind. Fond memories, yes, but not regret. She has found her home, and it's not in a fixed location or structure. Her home, her place of happiness, seems to be in in being with her husband and daughter, in getting together with friends and family, in making new friends, in doing the things she loves and believes in, and in doing them well.

Here's to Sara!

Surf's Up!

We are moving to South Bay, California. From the Northeast corner of the country to the Southwest. From the Atlantic coast to the Pacific. From a large (for us) house to a small apartment. If that is a big change for us, it's huge for little Summy.

She has lived in this house since she was born, played in the yard, grew tomatoes there, picked flowers, colored on the walls, spilled juice on the carpet :) She has known her friends in daycare since they were babies.

So far, she is thrilled about living close to the beach, about the new apartment, about not having to go to school for a while. She tends to develop strong bonds with people, so she is naturally sad about leaving behind friends and family. She even suggested that it would be a better idea to go there for "just three days" on "bacation" to California and then come back to the old familiar. But now, she has come to terms with this move and has even sorted out her toys and books into ones that will go to California and ones that will be given away.

I know and hope that she will adapt quickly and be happy.