I was a somewhat reluctant participant in my husband’s condo living scheme. However, if the past several days are any indication, I am now a whole-hearted convert!
I’ve had the past several days off from work, which in our past (house-dwelling) life would typically mean getting caught up on yard chores. This week has been different.
Wednesday, instead of zipping through the lawn mowing and house cleaning before packing into the car and heading off to find “just the right spot” in the nearest mall parking lot to watch the local Fourth of July fireworks, we took a leisurely bike ride up the road to a nearby Independence Day festival. That night, we walked up the hill to watch the fireworks with friends.
Yesterday, instead of trimming the rhododendrons and transplanting the “name that plant” that always needs transplanting, we went on a trail run at a nearby park, and then spent some time wandering through the park’s vast rose garden. Today, instead of weeding the back yard flower beds and cleaning out the fish pond, we went on a hike in Mount Rainier National Park and “met” a curious mountain goat…and ate lunch while we gazed out over a panoramic view of Mts. Rainier, St. Helen’s, Adams, and Hood!
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Tonight, instead of watering the garden, I plan to sit out on the deck with a glass of wine and do some serious people-watching. Tomorrow, instead of pressure-washing the deck, we plan to sleep in. And when we awaken, in those lazy morning hours, we may walk up the street for a pastry and a latte.
Aaah…life is good. I am definitely converted! (But do I have to tell him he was right?)
It is the mowing of the lawn (well, the general fight to turn my lawn from a weed-riddled mess to a real lawn actually), that I could easily give up. The rest I'm not so sure about... :)
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting a condo, but my husband is having none of it for the same reasons you posted your wife was against it in the beginning. She makes a great case for it which I will use to continue to 'work' on my husband!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteFrom your post I can see the benefits of condo living to give you more time to do the things you love and explore new options. I think this adds to the value of the small house movement as well. The whole idea of down-sizing and less is more is something many are trying to figure out. It is downright scary to think of how much time we can spend on our self-made chores. There is always something keeping us from looking up and embracing our lives. Sounds like this was just what you needed.
As the person that only enjoys the benefits and does ZERO yard work, I am not sure I could do condo-living, but thats a pretty big reality for us if we want to move out of the suburbs and back to the city. I love being in the center of the city (we did that the first three months we were married), but Im not sure I want to go back :) Thanks for sharing! --dm
ReplyDeleteYou know, there are times when I think that homeownership is a MUST do, but after this past weekend, I'm not so sure. Everything you've said about yard work is absolutely relevant here. My grandmother lives in Toledo, Ohio, where they had the terrible storms recently. Since the city of Toledo stopped burning and disposing of leaves and branches near the road, everyone is responsible for their own. 4 trees (all about 25 feet tall) fell across her beautifully manicured lawn, crushing rose bushes and a few pine trees. We spent the entire afternoon cleaning up leaves, chainsawing through huge trunks and loading wood into family trucks to be shipped off for firewood. And after all that, I looked at my husband and said, "Honey, homeownership can wait." :) Congrats on your new adventure and may you love the lack of things tying you down :)
ReplyDeleteWe've lived in our one & only owned home for about 7 years now. Finances have fallen short of being able to do the upgrades/renovations we wanted to so far and every summer our yard is a thorn in our sides!! I'd rather just tear it all out than try to fix what is here!
ReplyDeleteAlthough our 4 BR home has been a blessings at times. We've been able to provide a short-term place for several people to stay during emergencies and always had plenty of storage which has turned into having TOO MUCH STUFF!! Presently our 25 year old daughter and 2 year old grandson live with us. AND this summer this old house will be a blessing again as our 27 year old daughter with our other FOUR grandkids (ages 8,6,4,3) move in for a couple of months! Who knows what the future holds! But I hope that I holds the experiences you are having now.
I'll take a condo with a view of the water, a small yard or outside space to grow a few things and much less accumulated STUFF!! I'm ready at this point in my life to downsize and simplify! Maybe we should all live on a Price Family Compound where everyone can have their own space, yet live together!! Hmmmm!
Thanks for sharing everyone! I love hearing other people's stories and points of view on downsizing and "small space living."
ReplyDeleteSounds like many of you are like me, in that after a while yard work has just became a chore. Yes, we all love gardens and trees and flowers, but when you're spending all of your free time tending to your yard, I think it makes you resentful. So for us, the trade-off was NOT having our own yard space, but GAINING the free time to go out and enjoy public open spaces.
Tammy, I completely agree that when you have kids (of any age) and they need extra space, it is nice to be able to offer the space to them. That is one of the biggest issues my wife and I dealt with in deciding to get the condo: will we have space for our sons and their families when they have them? But we purposely bought a condo that is near a lot of park space, and half a block from the children's museum. So we'll have to see about that.