Monday, February 4, 2013

This Old House

The house we live in was built 101 years ago. The wood floors talk when we walk them and are especially noisy near the big brown chair. Surrounded by trees, this place has temperamental plumbing and the garage holds secrets of the people who have lived here before us.

The front porch smells of the sweet olive hedge and the redwood on the other side of the fence.
The dirt under Bob's window holds the buried ashes of pets we have loved, marked with seashells and orange roses. Sunshine warms the lemon trees and hydrangea bushes and burns through the west facing windows at sunset.

The fireplace, long blocked, is filled with books. Each morning we find a family of crickets in our bathtub. We carry them outside to the safety of the backyard, and yet they return again each day.

We are living our days inside these walls and I am so grateful.

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19 comments:

  1. Jaimie SKSFebruary 4, 2013 at 12:39 AM

    Sounds like a really great place for a kid to grow up.

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  2. Ms. MoonFebruary 4, 2013 at 5:13 AM

    I, too, take so much comfort in the walls of my old house. There is just something so comforting about it. It has held and sheltered so much life and now it holds ours. I understand how you feel.

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  3. Anna LeflerFebruary 4, 2013 at 5:55 AM

    What a gorgeous post, Lisa. I'm so happy to start my day with it.

    Cheers to your cozy home and its lucky inhabitants.

    XOXO

    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2013 at 6:39 AM

    Thanks for this reminder of what is truly wonderful in life

    gramps

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ann ImigFebruary 4, 2013 at 6:50 AM

    Your gratitude is contagious. Beautiful post.

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  6. MissyFebruary 4, 2013 at 8:21 AM

    Lovely. Makes me miss my old house, but also reminds me to be grateful for my home (suburbia and all).

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  7. TRAVELBUGGINFebruary 4, 2013 at 8:26 AM

    LOVELY. I CAN SMELL THE LEMONS NOW! Anyways, I had to say that I find crickets in my tub too! I try to get them out safely too. Apparently, according to Chinese folklore, they are very good luck. :-)

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  8. KnadeleFebruary 4, 2013 at 9:07 AM

    Even though I pay the mortgage, I know I'm just technically renting my house for the next 30 or so years. It's had a lot of tenants before me. And there will be many after.

    I exhale deeply when I get home every night.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownFebruary 4, 2013 at 2:35 PM

    Lisa - This sounds wonderful and you've written beautifully about your experience in your home. As a realtor, this is what I love most about my work, knowing that people can feel as warm and poetic about their home as you have expressed here. Thanks for sharing! I hope you continue to enjoy your home for many years to come!

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  10. KatherineFebruary 5, 2013 at 12:29 PM

    Lovely. This is why I have always wanted to live in an old home. Minus the tempermental plumbing.

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  11. SuzyFebruary 6, 2013 at 4:11 AM

    I used to get crickets in my old apartment and they would drive me nuts. Then one day my mom told me that crickets in the house brings good luck. So they drove me less nuts after that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. D. RhodesFebruary 10, 2013 at 7:53 AM

    the crickets! how lovely, and how lucky. =) i live in a 200 year old granite house with friendly ghosts. alas, no crickets.

    ReplyDelete
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