"My way into a life...."

One of the first books I read this year was A Place in the World by Frances Mayes. In it she writes of buying her house Bramasole in Italy that: "I thought that living in my house would be my way into a life in Italy, and that turned out to be right." (124)

At the time I read it, that line struck me and I folded the corner of the page so that I could find it again. That idea of a house helping you find your way into your life is how I feel about our new house here in southeastern Arizona.

For the first time ever I have what might be considered a 'forever' home. This home -- IS IT. Tom jokes that the only way he's moving off the hill is in a hearse. As a military brat and having my own civilian career with the military, I have lived in 7 states, 3 countries, and had 16 homes. My parents have moved too so there was never a childhood home.

We've owned this property for 12 years and spent the past 10 years working towards this moment. Whether it was the pre-Italy investments of cutting in the road, leveling the pad for the house, putting in the well, the septic and the electricity. Or the years we spent working with Cavco on personalized changes to the floor plan and securing financing. Or the past 10 months that included tree trimming, laying water/propane/electric lines, the installation of the house, flooring, stucco, and the next big project, porches.

In two weeks we'll be completely out of our rental house in Tucson. We've been making mortgage and rental payments for five months so it feels really good to be at the end of our rental agreement.

I've been living in the house for nearly two months. I say "I" only because Tom has been staying in the rental off and on during the week. But he's decided that this week he'll start making the daily commute.

Something we began to learn and cultivate while living in Italy was really living in a place. We didn't use our dryer the last two years we lived there because we were drying our clothes outside or on drying racks in the house like the locals. We cultivated a small garden and bought seasonal vegetables in the grocery store. I looked forward to citrus season and waited in anticipation for the mulberries to ripen on the neighborhood trees. I didn't use the oven during the summer - except to make Tom's birthday pecan pie - because there was no a/c on the main level of the house and the oven heated up the house unnecessarily. We grilled on the weekends and would grill enough vegetables and meat to last the week.

We lived in a rural area so we watched the fields and observed when the farmers were tilling the ground, planting, harvesting, etc. I became more observant of the cycles of nature. We felt part of a place during those years. More than we ever had.

And now, we're home. For good. I want to bring those lessons of seasonality and observation into our lives now.

I've downloaded a bird app, recommended by a friend, that allows me to record the songs / calls of birds and it makes suggestions on what bird it might be. The birds have included Cactus and Canyon Wrens; Vesper, Black Throated, Cassin's, and White Crowned Sparrows; Curve Billed and Sage Thrashers; Quail; Dove; Black-Tailed Gnat Catchers; Western Meadowlark, and Pyrrhuloxia. I discover a new bird on a walk and come home and consult our bird guides to learn more. Just this morning there were three more: Brewers Sparrow, Western Kingbird and Northern Mockingbird.

We've been observing a red-tail hawk's nest that's in one of the giant power lines near the house. The birds have been smart and the nest is NOT on the electric line side of the pole. We also keep an eye out for the house herd of deer. Friday morning I saw three. A few weeks ago, I saw 12 on the saddle of land that's just to the east of the house.

Primrose dot the road I walk the dogs on. In the morning they are open and by afternoon they have curled up from the heat. I am anxiously waiting to see what the Mexican poppy situation will be and if any of our prickly pear will bloom. It has been a long, cooler-than-usual, wetter-than-usual winter. Everyone says the wildflowers should be beautiful because of the precipitation. It even snowed twice our first few weeks in the house.

Early last week it got below freezing for the last time and an arctic-like wind battered the house and the property for about two days. It appears to have been winter's last stand and temps are now on the rise, for good. It's supposed to be a high of 87 degrees today.

Last week I discovered Jill Winger and The Prairie Homestead. I listened to a few of her podcasts Saturday while I baked for Easter Sunday. One of her interviews is with Rory Feek and it's called "Rethinking the Old Fashioned Life." I really enjoyed the conversation, particularly the end when they were talking about choosing to REALLY live where you are. The idea is that we can all make where we live special and amazing by just choosing to really live there and not waste time looking outward. Not wishing we were somewhere else. Rory said "It isn't that you have to choose the right location. It's that you have to choose to live in the location that you chose." It's about investing in where you are are and the community you are part of.

I suspect the conversation must have really resonated with Jill because her latest blog post is called "Love Your Place and It'll Love you Back." I haven't had a chance to listen to it but thought I'd still go ahead and link it.

Everything before this home has been temporary. So this is totally new for me. For us. We're putting down roots. We'll be rooted somewhere. And it's something I'm looking forward to. I want to simplify my life. De-clutter my life. Finally go through things that have been in storage for 10, 20 years. Plant things. Observe, live, and interact with the natural world around me.

This house is starting a whole new chapter for us and after talking and dreaming about it for more than a decade - we are SO ready for it!

Here are some exterior shots of the house showing the wide ranging weather we've had since moving into the house.