The humongous news is a major life change for Ted and Missy.
Her new job is not fun, rewarding, nor good for her. That was becoming increasingly obvious to me. Enter The Fixer.
Wednesday evening, the 6th, I realized we had to change something.
Thursday I researched real estate near our best friends in Montana.
Thursday evening Missy agreed that it was worth further investigation.
Friday our great friends previewed the nearby manufactured home along the Bitterroot River for me.
Sunday I took my clapped-out econo-box for the best run of its life bobbing and weaving up over 350 miles of gloriously twisty mountain roads in 5 1/2 hours of unadulterated joy. I haven’t had fun like that since I sold my Speedster. With better brakes, stronger engine, no snow runoff and fallen rock in the corners, I coulda cut that elapsed time, but I couldn’t have had a much more enjoyable drive no matter what … oh, I digressed.
Monday I looked at a 750 sq. ft. cabin right on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River at the end of a cul-de-sac in a trailer park. I made an offer and accepted the counter-offer.
Tuesday my friend and I drafted the plans for his replacement barn that would house my workshop and his equipment. We agreed an a myriad of details including Missy and Carol’s new sewing room – also at their house 7.2 miles from our cabin. I also finalized the details to get the ball rolling on our cabin escrow.
Wednesday I took the boring route home as the snowstorm that followed me to Montana had closed my carnival ride. That evening, Missy and I began wrapping our minds around moving to a half-sized home a normal 8-9 hour drive from our Idaho friends and neighbors.
One week flat, from idea to execution. I may be getting older, but I still don’t fart around.
Now everything is up in the air. Ideas, plans, concerns, hopes and dreams all stirring around in our heads, interrupting sleep and making a general mess of any stability we pretended to have.
But we are definitely looking forward to our cabin on the river. I even have a recently-acquired copy of Walden
By the way, I still smart over the hammock my daughters bought me that I never even put up… too busy putting one foot in front of the other to relax and ruminate over whether those feet were being placed in a good direction or not. Sorry girls. Sorry Ted.
