It’s only mid-November, and the back deck is piling up.  I look out the kitchen door, thinking, “This will be the last winter I see this view.”

It’s sad, and yet it’s a great relief.  In our new residence, we’ll also have a big glass door that opens onto a balcony.  The view through that wide window is on woods, too.  BUT– we won’t be paying the plow guy to clear our long, steep driveway.

As the move draws closer, I have “last time” thoughts. The last time I’ll have to pay for a heating repair.  The last time we’ll have to buy water conditioner salt and haul the 40 pound bags down to the basement.  No more house insurance payments!  No more checking the oil level in the tank!

And yet—Ladythorn Place has been a good house.  So many sweet times, so many memories are in her walls.  Yes, she’s quite a prima donna when it comes to behaving well, but we’ve loved her high ceilings, the sunlight pouring into the bedrooms, the glow of the bamboo floors.  The quiet.

It’s a time of letting go, entering a new phase of life, admitting the limits of age, and looking forward to more ease, with lightness ahead.