At breakfast this morning, The Wife pointed out that we’ve been back in California for a year and a day. And that means that we’ve been in this gigantic house for an entire year now. I’ve been so busy recently I would certainly have not noticed this anniversary had The Wife not pointed it out to me. Once I swore I’d never come back here. Now, I’m glad that I did; while it’s not Santa Barbara, unless we win the lottery we can’t afford somewhere like that anyway, and California simply suits us better than Tennessee ever did.
Certainly we’re comfortable here (how could we not be, with three times more space in the house than we need?) and our circumstances today feel much improved from where they were in Tennessee. We can contemplate the possibility of buying a (smaller) house in the reasonably near future, even in hyperinflated California, due to a confluence of good employment and a favorable local housing market. I’m quite grateful that things have worked out so well.
Last year at this time we had to save all our money and could not even afford a few extra dollars to go to the U-pick cherry orchard. But things are different, today. Later on, we’re going to Leona Valley, and we’ll get as many as we can eat before we get sick to our stomachs tonight. It’ll be hot out and I’ll wear my floppy wide-brimmed hat. The cherries will be fresh and tart. It’ll be a good time.
