Aug 19 2009
Plan B (i)?
Wow, guys. Thanks for all the supportive emails and comments. No wonder I love you all!
Dad used to refer to the collection of little houses where my brother and sister live as “The Compound” (on the 40th anniversary of the Manson murders, it sounds a little ominous, doesn’t it?). Before I give you the latest on the potential Green Acres Experiment, I’ll just fill you in on The Compound’s configuration.
You follow the rough, curving two-lane road from the store and post office for about five miles. You turn onto an even rougher dirt road, with obstacles such as pipes sticking out of the ground, holes, extremely forward rhododendrons, and the occasional deer. The road is pretty narrow, and just forget about your car’s paint job.
On your left is the front house, the biggest house and also where I slept with Tubby a couple of Thanksgivings ago. Keep going, and when you see a water tower, that’s where my sister’s house is, although it’s hidden from view at this point. Continuing down the dusty (or muddy) road, you’ll come across a biggish house with a balcony. This belonged to the landlord, neighbor, friend, and builder of all the houses, James, and his wonderful, artistic, warm-hearted long-time girlfriend, Rose. Both Rose and James passed away recently, and are much missed by all.
Keep going, and you’ll pass the house where Rose’s daughter and her family live. Further on, right at the very end of the road, is my brother’s house, which is more or less vacant now that he’s living on the land just down the road.
The latest idea is that I could move into James and Rose’s place. It’s empty now, and it’s bigger than the house I live in now. It has propane heat, so I wouldn’t have to chop wood in the winter, which is a definite plus. The balcony I mentioned earlier is off the bedroom, or sleeping loft, which I remember as being bigger than my current bedroom/office. I haven’t seen the house since Rose built a new bathroom, but I hear it’s really nice. There might actually be enough room to get all my things out of The Boxes! And what there isn’t room for can go into my brother’s huge storage container. The thought of having more room and no boxes makes me positively giddy.
Of course, the rent will be higher than it is for my sister’s little house, but it would still be around half of what I pay now. Rose’s daughter is happy with the idea of someone who knew and cares about her mother living in the house, so I think it could be good all the way around.
I’m off tomorrow to have a look at it. I’ll be back on Saturday with a full report.