The House for this Season in our Sojourning

Welcome to our 11^th home in 20 years – not bad for an Army family but I believe we’re still well qualified for the distinction of Nomads.

We live in the same neighborhood as the last time we were at West Point except that they’ve torn down all of the houses and “built” new ones. The old houses were seriously ugly, designed in the 60’s when middle-class residential architecture was void of good ideas and plans were even worse when perpetrated by federal design teams. However, the neighborhood had big beautiful trees and a sense of coziness. Those are gone but the houses are 1000 square feet bigger and we don’t have to park in lots, so I guess there are up sides. I really miss the trees though – especially the big evergreen that stood in defiance of the winter gray outside of my back window. Now, I will pass the winter in anticipation of the daffodils I’m going to plant all over the hill outside the dining room window.

Some of you have been asking for a tour, so come on in!

This is the first time we’ve ever had a double-car garage. Such an idea was unknown in military housing until very recently.

Step onto the front porch…

…and through the door.

To the immediate left sits the boys’ office which gets morning sunshine for their schoolwork.

To the right you step down a hallway that leads to a powder room, laundry room and the kitchen on the left.

The dog was determined to be in every picture.

Here’s the view back to the laundry room which is just inside from those chairs you saw on the porch.

Here’s the view from the back door into the kitchen.

What is black and white and red all over? My living room! We have purchased paint but obviously it isn’t on the wall.

The dining room…

…which also serves as my office.

Upstairs we have four bedrooms, arranged in a square around the landing. Surely you can visualize that without pictures. On to the back yard…

Speaking of visualizing, this is where the garden is going next spring. The consolation for the trees being murdered is that I will have enough sun for vegetables.

Here’s the patio.

I have to digress for a moment since the dog was so determined to follow the camera… The photography book I bought says to focus on the spark in the eye of the subject. I don’t think Jackson has enough going on in his head to generate sparks. He is sweet but he is spark-less. Anyway, back to the tour… behind him is part of the view from our patio – a “rain garden” to drain runoff from the hillside behind us. We’ll see how it does with the rain we’re supposed to get from Hurricane Irene. I like the Black-Eyed Susans they planted in them though. I’ll be dividing them and moving some up front in the spring.

So that is our house, and it’s a fine house. We like it. It works well for us and it’s what you get for 20 years in the army and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Chemistry. I can’t help showing you how these houses are made though. They come on trucks and they sit in a parking lot down the hill while they wait for a crane to drop them onto their foundations. So essentially, we’re living in a double-decker doublewide.

It makes for a homogenous feel that reminds me of when I was in junior high and my friend Christy and I were trying to get under one another’s skin. She popped off with an insult that I didn’t really understand at the time but always remembered. She said that when I grew up I would live in tract housing. She had no idea! Here’s the view one direction from my front yard…

…and here’s looking the other way.

Of course, the rooflines are tremendously varied. There are three different styles, and the ones with plain roofs have porches with an extra pillar on each side of the entry. There are also four different exterior paint colors and, at least 5 different colors of Honda Odysseys can be observed in the matching driveways!

Seriously, I’m very thankful to God for my home, especially when so many go without. The houses on my street may not be unique but the nomadic lives that bring families to live in them certainly are.

Wishing you all joy on your own journeys!

Lisa