What I miss about L.A.

The day I made my husband buy this piece of land with lake and ocean views, I was besides myself, drunk with excitement, ready to dive into deep waters with my clothes on.

As the real estate agent pulled up to  the house, I spied the water, and asked her if the house had access to the water. When she said yes, I ran down to the edge of the lake, my whole body convulsing  with happy thoughts. How perfect this was, water and pine trees all around.  In the distance, a lighthouse, a very good sign in my book.

 I ran back up the driveway,  and into a tiny dark cottage where Hubby and Real Estate Lady were discussing structural beams and water pressure. The tiny, dark place was not on my radar. I was buying here to buy that VIEW!

 "Hon, this is it!" I blurted out.

Now, we had agreed that if one of us just loved a place, so much so that we couldn't wait to declare our spilling enthusiasm, the other would consider this effluence as The Sign!  Hubby got the message.  He made an offer.

We returned to L.A. with pictures like this.  Everyone we knew drooled over these pictures. Really?  You are moving from L.A.?  After you built yourself such a beautiful home in those hills?  How can you do that?  Doesn't it rain in Oregon all the time? What is the house like?

Yes! Yes! Yes! The house is small; but it doesn't matter!

Hubby was most surprised by my rash decision. Our children were all in L.A. Our jobs were in L.A. We had most of our adult lives in L.A.  We had just finished building a house after a major earthquake. Didn't we go to major trauma together?  Could we afford giving up our jobs and retiring before everybody else? Was I sure about this big move?

He worked out the details, including the sale of our brand-new, custom home, our early retirement, our disassembling of household.  Our children chose the furniture and furnishings they liked, and in a very civil way, they all got what they wanted, including books and art pieces.  We left for Oregon with our clothes, a couple of boxes of books, our computers six months after that first visit to Port Orford.

So,do I miss  L.A.?  Do I miss the shops, the museums, the theaters, the many attractions? Do I miss my furniture, my great kitchen, my friends and neighbors?
None of these. 
Do I miss the children? Yes.
Do I miss them terribly? No.  They are all grown and settled,  busy with their lives.  It was a lucky day when we could all get together for a meal now and then.

Do I miss the beaches, the beautiful people? No. No.

I don't miss the crowds, the traffic, the delays, the sheer elbowing that occurrs in a city that never ends.
 
Do I miss the sunshine?  Yes.
Do I miss it terribly? No. After each storm, there are glorious sunny, temperate and  comfortable days  to take long walks on the beaches, to remind myself of how lucky I am.

You see, I was always the one dreaming of living at a cottage by the sea. Hubby wanted a cottage in the mountains, by a lake.  We got them both, actually, one side of the house faces the water, the other, the mountains. We only regret not having moved sooner. Our children would have loved living here.

Happy Holidays, wherever you are.
Dream your dream and seek it far and wide.