A New View

Research is not my strong suit. My daughter and my husband are very good researchers. Not me. I only research when I am really involved in an immediate, or need to know soon, situation. For instance, our dishwasher just died and now I need to get a new one. I will research that, because it is an immediate need. Larry is different. As soon as he gets an idea of something he may want to buy or a place he may want to go, he will hit the Google switch and start researching. Several years ago, he started focusing on retirement (which would happen this year). At least 3 years ago, he started house hunting. I went along grudgingly. I mean, really! Why are we looking at homes when we have no plans to buy one for another 3 years or so? It is time to admit, that although, I never would have done it his way, and as exasperated as I got, that 3 year research project probably worked for the best.

When we first started looking for a house in this area we were focused on View, Style, Room....but not too much room, and land. One of the first houses we found that we fell in love with was a chalet style home overlooking a vineyard at the edge of a national forest with a fantastic view of the mountains.

I envisioned breakfast on the deck in the morning and drinks on the deck in the afternoon, watching the deer and wild turkey roam below. I imagined the colors the sky would carry as the sun set over the mountains. However, Eden is a hard place to find and can be pretty remote. When I accepted reality, this is what I had to face up to. 1) It was a 30 minute drive from ANYTHING on a very winding road!!! I do mean anything. Gas, food, town. In order to start going anywhere you had a half hour drive before you got to town so you could start your journey. And coming home...once you made it to town it was a half hour winding tour back home to this peaceful abode. 2)...no cell phone signal, period, and no chance of getting one. It was at the edge of a national forest! For most people, it wouldn't have taken long to rule it out, but for me, it was tough. I loved that house, and that view. In the end the drive and the cell phone and internet service did us in.

Even so, I carried that house in my heart for months and measured it against every other home we looked at for years.

As we looked at other properties, I slowly readjusted my priorities.  Larry refined his. 2-3 acres of flat land turned into 2-3 car detached garage and a house with usable land. That's important because so many places are what I like to call, Cliff Hangers, houses that are built on the side of a steep mountainside, with a single car garage tucked underneath it. Master bedroom on the main floor, became a bedroom and bath on the main floor. And my desire for a room with a view, changed too. In the beginning we had a vision. In the end I think we got exactly what we were looking for.

When I look out my cabin window, what do I see? Mountains?  Not in the summer, but as soon as I leave the neighborhood and head down the highway, I can see them all around me. It makes every drive to town a treat. For those of you who like water, we have that too. The drive to Wal-Mart follows the lakeshore.

Trees? Ah, that's what I see! We are in the woods.
When I wake up in the morning I feel like I'm in a tree house.

View as I lay in bed

There is no vineyard to look out over, but we have a large yard behind the house that pushes the woods back and gives us a clearing.

Today we saw a fawn and her mother run along the fence line at the edge of the woods.

As I sit on the back porch hummingbirds buzz by me on their way to the feeders. If you can see the blurr just in front of the flower petal, that's my miracle shot. They take off as soon as they sense the camera. But my presence doesn't scare them. They fly so close by me, I can feel them.

Two bluebirds are raising their second family in the bird house out back.

They come and go all day long bringing food for the babies inside. When they leave a chorus of loud chirps follows them and then dies down as they wait for mom and pop to come back.

The biggest treat for me was watching them on the day they left the nest. It amazes me to think that a bird that has never flown can fly from their house to mine, and then up to the tree tops!

Birds can keep me occupied for hours. The other day a Carolina Wren sat on the rail ten feet from me and squawked loudly at its mate five feet away. And I love trying to identify a new species to the feeders. But sometimes they have a hard time getting to it.

This species I recognize. It can turn mild mannered me into a crazy woman as I charge down the porch steps flailing my arms and yelling. But sometimes I just watch and take pictures.


It is the view I always wanted. The distant, majestic one was exciting at first. But as time went on, I realized I wanted the closer, more intimate one. A place where I could watch life in action right outside my door.

I wanted this view.