Road Trip

Tomorrow I head west toward Denver.  A day of driving for a day of training followed by another day of driving.  I am confident it will be worth the effort. 

Another blog theme - "The Things I Love" will document the many things I have just fallen head over heals about at the Freedom place.  In no particular order, I will describe these things that amaze me and continue to remind me of how thankful I am we were able to get and have this wonderful place.  I will forever be astonished that we pulled this off!! 

The light.  The light in the house is amazing.  In the winter, the open cathedral style face of the house receives the winter's full southern sunlight.  One can watch the thermostat click up, degree by degree, heat passively heating the inside air.  To work in the kitchen on a sunny day requires the shades be pulled or one is blinded by the intense light beaming across the counter tops.  The glass dining table was a find.  I cover the cloth chairs when we leave to preserve their color.  I love the way the light plays on things in the front room.  A dried-out weed, plucked from the strawberry garden and standing now in a hand blown glass jar shimmers in the sun.  The woody carcass finds a new home and becomes art.

When we finished the renovation of the rental house, the fogging windows replaced and shimmery cleaned, the light poured throughout the space.  Now, the renters have the shades pulled, the light blocked off with brown fabric and plastic blinds.  Each to their own.  I prefer the light.  Bright, shining, and warm. (Probably why skin cancer showed up on my lip this year!) 

The sun is now on its northbound path.  By the heat of the summer, the sun's rays will hit the side of the house rather than the full front windows.  Brilliant planning!  Location, location, location.  I wonder if someone thought about the sun when this house was built or if it was just sheer luck.

(Yes, that is an indoor bug zapper.  I am in the midst of a war against the flies.  When the sun shines, they appear, inside and out.  Mike ponders, "are you a redneck if you use your bug zapper as a night light?"  He has a point.  However, I have a battle.  So far, the flies are winning.  In the end, the flies always win.)