Location, Location & Location

I spent the first 10 years or so of my life in the country. For most people this would be a dream come true. We lived in a beautiful, white brick colonial house with 6 huge pilars in front. It was on an acre and 3/4 with an all-sports lake out back. The lake was stocked with large mouth bass. It was nearly picture perfect. Most of my "city-folk" cousins thought I had it made in the shade, and in some ways I did. My dad traded 10 acres further out in the country for the lake lot. Eventually he saved up enough to build a house and years later finnished the house by adding a 2 car garage. He was pretty frugal and smart. He and my mom worked hard to build their dream house and it was exactly that... A dream house.
10 years later that dream house became more of a burdon than a blessing. We wanted to move to Ann Arbor to be closer to church, school and friends. The market in the early 1980s was pretty bad. They had a lot of trouble selling the house.
I learned a lot from living in that house. I learned about the beauty of multi-generation families. I learned about the joys of pet ownership. I learned how to water ski, snow ski, ice skate and drive a snow mobile. I learned it takes 2 days and 2 people to mow an acre and 3/4. I also learned it is easier to mow a hill sideways rather than up and down. One of the most important things that I learned from living there is a realtor's favorite expression. Location, Location, Location. Why is that important? Well, I challenge you to think about the neighborhood you grew up in. Who were your friends and neighbors? What did you do for fun?
When I was 10 I moved to a "real" neighborhood. It wasn't a dream house at first. Eventually it was bigger and better than the lake house. Oh yea, and it took all of an hour to mow the lawn.
I believe that going to birthday parties after school is important. Playing little league sports is important. Having pride in your neighborhood, town, state and country is important and you shouldn't miss out on anyone of those four. I still remember the address and phone number out at our house on the lake. I have fond memories but I did wish that I lived in a traditional neighborhood. There is a huge difference.
There is a simple beauty in watching life as it happens around you: seeing people age, taking care of the elderly lady down the street (We called her Grandma West). We would shovel her driveway, mow her lawn, check in on her often and in return we were rewarded with hot cookies and a sense of community. Remember that? A sense of community? (I will talk more about that in future posts.) I have memories of watching families grow. Children leaving home for the service, college or to start their own families. The circle of life was always close to home with people passing on and others having babies or adopting and everyone in the neighborhood was involved. Some were pall bearers, others made meals for the families concerned and a couple of the families would share the use of their huge, flat yard to put up the big tent for someones wedding reception. I miss those days of the "old neighborhood" and darn-it-all I'm bringing it back!