You can take the boy out of the country – for a while…
How much of who you are is defined by the space you occupy – by your office, your home, your community? How much of the character of those spaces can you define or at least influence? No doubt there are infinite variations in what occurs. The cycle that develops, though, can range from terminally destructive to mutually fulfilling, and I think it’s worth spending some time thinking about how to work towards the mutually fulfilling option.
I’m thinking a lot about such things right now because in 4 days, Cathy and I are moving again. It’s a short move physically but another huge move in terms of changing the character of the space we occupy as a family.
A year ago, I said and truly believed that I would never leave Carcross. I had created a space that I deeply loved, and I liked the person that cabin life had helped create.
But it wasn’t a space that Cathy could function in – high on a list of challenges is the fact that the commute to her job in Whitehorse is just too difficult. A little less than 3 years ago we bought a house in Whitehorse that took me away from Carcross part-time. It was to be a renovation project that would eventually finance our forever-home on the cabin property, though, so I could rationalize it as “short term pain for long term gain.”. Then a series of very negative events in Carcross this past summer killed that dream for the foreseeable future, and in September I boarded up the cabin and came to town.
As I sit here watching the bumper-to-bumper traffic leaving Granger and Copper Ridge for downtown, I’m uncomfortable. I don’t belong in the city – although I’ve lived for short periods of time in high-rise towers and even in Vancouver’s West End, I’ve never belonged in such places. While there are things about my current address in “Vinyl Village” that I like (being close to everything), there are things I hate about it (being close to everything!). Cathy tried to convince me that this is “our home,” but I could never buy into that – this is merely a place where I live. That, of course, has always bothered both of us, and a solution had to be found.
And that brings us to next Monday’s move. I have huge hopes for this move – hopes that it will truly become “our home.” The house is large and needs a fair bit of work, but the 3 acres it sits on is beautiful. It’s private and it’s peaceful – though it doesn’t have the incredible views I have at the cabin, it’s more private and more peaceful. The hot tub that’s being delivered on Wednesday won’t hurt the ambiance at all, I’m sure!
Cathy has dreamed about living in one of Whitehorse’s “rural residential” subdivisions since she moved here 7 years ago. It’s a concept that seems to be quite unusual in a world sense – being on secluded acreage only 10 minutes from the downtown offices. Our new home has space to do whatever we want, a great barn and horse paddock, and had a good feel to it even when we first saw it, when it was surrounded by junk. We bought it almost on impulse – while I’m quite used to doing that, Cathy isn’t, and she’s pretty nervous about the whole process (even after doing something fairly similar with the Granger house). I’m just plain thrilled by the possibilities. It will take a while to feel the Feng shui of the place, but I’m already sure it has the positive energy we’re looking for. 🙂
While I’m buzzing around having fun with real estate, this lands in my Inbox:
“U.S. foreclosure filings increased 93 percent in July of 2007 compared to the same time last year. Five states – Michigan, Ohio, California, Florida, and Georgia – accounted for more than half of the nation’s total foreclosure filings. Other states in the top ten included Nevada, Indiana, Colorado, Massachusetts and Arizona. Foreclosure filings increased 289.16 percent in California in a year over year comparison. Georgia’s foreclosure rate was 2.3 times the national average. Nevada had one foreclosure filing for every 199 households.”
Ouch!
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