Off The Fence...Again

This time we think it's for real.

Some of you know when we left Minnesota at the end of this last summer, we had decided to sell the AZ house in a couple years and move back north. We started making plans, varying on the estimated price of this (paid for) house depending on fluctuations in the local market or how inaccurate the description of the house is by people who've obviously never been inside or don't know how to count bedrooms and bathrooms.

We looked at staying with Paul, but that one bedroom to ourselves in a house we'd share, while OK for a few summer months, just wouldn't do long term. So we looked at manufactured homes - not mobile - placed on a lot somewhere. So many decisions to be made there. First there were parks with lot rent but some amenities. None of which match what we have here, of course. Then perhaps a solo lot somewhere, but at what price? And our own utilities like well and septic tank, which neither of us have experience with first hand. Solar would be a must of course, but we'd also need to hook up to the grid for stability.

Even if we'd made all those decisions, what community would we want to be near? We both love country, but transportation becomes an issue. No more scootering for Steve to the local grocery store/pizza place/bank/pharmacy/tobacco shop (pipe) like he can do now. No more community center(s) with all their amenities and clubs and people to socialize with. Every distance would require a car. 

There would be mowing and raking and shoveling and ALL THOSE BITING BUGS! Winter would far exceed the ability of our current wardrobe to keep us comfortable for 8 months a year since we no longer own heavy jackets, mittens, or boots. Driving on ice was barely tolerable back when I was both used to it and paid for doing it. Storms are much worse up there than here. Fishing spots would take a car to get to, and unless we're real close to his favorite spot like we are now in the summers, he'd have to find one, and it would be unlikely to offer parking where you can put your chair right next to the vehicle and cast right there. He can only fish 3 months now, but the likelihood of nice weather to stretch that season if we moved up there is slim. There are a couple of "manufactured" public fishing holes in reasonable driving distance down here, and we were just going to start taking advantage of one of them when covid struck.

Practical considerations of leaving here are mounting up. We fit right here in this house with its arrangement of space. There is a fenced yard for the dog that manages to keep coyotes out. Our furniture fits us and the space, and would prove unlikely to fit (well if at all) in a new space. Our stuff would have to be sorted and much sold off, including a few collections we're fond of, one of which is very fragile and unlikely to find any buyer(s) respectful of their value, in whole or per piece. Everybody thinks garage sale pricing  when one moves.

We've been making changes to this house as we go, mostly because of urgent need. New higher toilets, new water heater, new AC/gas furnace on the roof (!!! Yes we know.), new solar panels, new copper pipe routing of water from the curbside meter into the house following a slab leak, new wall oven, kitchen countertop, sink and faucet. We've had built-ins installed in two rooms, thanks to Paul - and possibly a reason he declines to come visit despite promises we won't ask again. The third bedroom is 3 walls of installed library shelves, and the back wall of the master bedroom is corner to corner storage/display/headboard w/mirror custom made (again Paul) to snug around a platform queen bed. More storage under there of course. There's a new security system, new siding on a section of the front of the house. The bathrooms have been partially remodeled, and we have plans to finish either later this year or early next. It'll involve replacing wood laminate with ceramic tile, pull out one wall to replace their common plumbing, and put a new tub/shower enclosure in the master.

Incidentally, who ever thought it was a good idea to put wood laminate floors in the bathrooms? Seriously! Spills make bubbles and nobody, but nobody, wants to spend any time imagining what those spills were and what soaked into the bottom of the laminate. We don't have to imagine. It's a bathroom.

The one big advantage, the one that lures us northwards, is the closeness to family. Part of that family has already moved to Tennessee, not exactly reachable from Minnesota in a day trip. Not from here either, but it's neutral that way. It just takes away part of our reason to move again.

Coming back down here, things started to filter into our consciousness, the reasons we moved down here in the first place. After 4 months away, they'd kind of faded and our love for Minnesota and the family there took over. Working to make decisions, looking at all the work involved in planning a move back, even with a couple years to accomplish it all, stress started building up. Fortunately it's been tempered by reattaching to this locale again. Steve took me out to lunch one day recently and while waiting for our entres, we looked at each other and broached the idea of not moving. We both smiled in relief.

Of course, we changed our minds again, or as we put, we were keeping an open mind. All the initial hassles of being back down here, the oven installation crap, the insurance claim on the vandalism, the issues Rich was having with Adam, followed by a significant betrayal by another person he considered a friend, those were pushing us to go away.

Until they weren't. Things got fixed, threats diminished, contacts severed. We were able to relax. Steve and I were going to go to a factory down here later today that makes manufactured homes, chosen because it has branches in Minnesota which make the same things, in order to get a real feel for how they were made, whether we fit their design or vice versa, costs, etc. I had a couple errands to run before we could go, and when I returned, he suggested not that we postpone it, but simply just accept that our best choice is to keep doing what we are doing, snowbirding with Arizona as our main base. Maybe spend a little longer in Minnesota in those years when we can, Take a trip now and then to Tennessee, but otherwise stay put.

Feels pretty good for both of us.