Maine Report
Posted 12/4/2010
Posted in
Now and again, I have written a personal blog, and today is time for another. Some of you know that, after years of visiting Mt Desert Island, Maine, staying in a series of lovely rented homes, last summer we rather impulsively purchased a tiny water-side cottage on the island . We are here this wet and cold week-end to celebrate my birthday and to meet with the architect and builder who are promising to transform the dump into something lovely.
Currently, it looks really awful. We stayed at the cottage over the Labor Day week-end, and, in its pre-make-over condition, it was primitive and not so pretty, but comfortable (except for the rather major leaks). Now that the site has been prepared and the interior has been gutted, it looks horrific. We are trusting in the beautiful plans we have seen and the renderings the architect has shown us.
We have talked a lot about what motivated us to buy this house. We are, by nature, very financially cautious and conservative, and I, especially, have never been interested in the responsibility of a second home. It was, I think, a confluence of factors that led to the decision. Most importantly, the land is absolutely magical, and the house is sited about 50 feet from a very large tidal pond. It was built long enough ago that the current restrictions did not apply; it would not be legal to build so close to the water now. Standing by the windows, you almost feel that you are on a boat--the water is that close. (If you are thinking, "uh oh, what about floods?". fair question. Since the land is actually very protected and the water is tidal, not open ocean, we are assured that there could never be a problem. Additionally, the house sits up on stilts, above the land.) The house itself is very small, so it won't be akin to managing a "real" house; it hopefully will feel more like playing house. We have insisted to the architect that we want as little maintenance as possible, so that is part of all the plans.
The very most important reasons, I'm sure, have to do with our lives and all that has happened to us. We understand that life is uncertain, and we have been shown, over and over again, that we need to grab joy whenever we can because grief and worry most certainly will sometimes find us. This little house, where we will retreat and relax and heal and love, where our family will be always welcomed and at home, is our way of saying: "L'Chaim." To life. With gratitude.
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