Lazarus joined in on the drum circle tonight, and it was pretty amazing to watch this little guy figure out that when he hits the drum, it makes a cool noise just like Papa's does.
Here's my Saturday Six (borrowed and modified from the divine a.):
1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life?
twenty-two -- no, I'm not kidding. I lived in my childhood home from age 3 months to 17 years, and it's been move move move ever since -- more than half my life now. I'm restless, the landlord jacks up the rent, my neighbors get noisy, I get restless again.... And my cat Georgia has been with me for the last 15 moves, poor faithful kitty. But I think we're home now. She already has several choice window seats (old adobe houses have nice deep window sills).
2. where did you stay the longest? the shortest?
-longest: childhood home, for 17 years
-shortest: with a temporary host family in Brussels, Belgium, for two weeks while the AFS coordinator hooked me up with another host family (the first one was nuts)
3. Which was your favorite and why?
1) childhood home -- small house at the edge of the woods with huge trees all around filled with birds and chattering squirrels, beautiful yard that my mom landscaped, hundreds of daffodils every spring, loft looking out on the woods that mom and dad built, funky small hippie-ish town, total freedom to run and bike and be a kid.
2) Whittier house -- because it was ours and once we renovated it, it was beautiful and sunny. I loved creating the gardens out of nothing, and I could hear the birds in the morning as I awoke. But it had a bad stress vibe that took about six months to dissipate.
3) present home -- we just got here, so it isn't "ours" yet, but I'm excited to start gardening again, painting and tiling and putting up curtains, feeding the birds, ...
this one may well move to #2 soon, especially since it has a very good feeling to it already. Dunno about it ever replacing #1, though -- that's a tough act to follow.
4. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why?
stressful because I've done it way too often, and not always because I wanted to but because I had to -- money, bad neighbors, lease up, etc. I hope I've made my last move for a long while -- more than two and a half years, at least. I do enjoy unpacking and setting up house, though, so once all the stress is over, at least I get a bit of a treat. Putting up curtains -- no, window treatments -- is definitely my favorite settling-in activity, along with watching the cat nose around and figure out the sunny spots for each part of the day.
5. What's more important, location or price?
they kind of go together, but if I have to choose: location, but not for the usual reasons. I'd rather live out here in the middle of a beautiful nowhere in a house that needs TLC than in the middle of the action in a swanky city neighborhood or tony suburb, because that's who I am (i.e. weird). I want freedom, not material luxury. Not that I could afford the latter anyway, so go with the flow, right? :-D
6. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?
-very quiet location, with a wide variety of birds around
-lots of sunlight coming through big windows with amazing views of hills and valleys
-a quiet, spacious, bright room away from the main house where I can relax, create, be on my own
-a sauna and an outdoor whirlpool
-a gravel path directly from the my bedroom deck to the stable
