Today marks the one-year anniversary of our move to the new house in Upstate New York. We left Tennessee on November 22, 2024 and reached our house the next day, but, by design, our stuff didn’t arrive until the 24th, so that’s the day we moved in. (BTW, shout-out to Two Men and a Truck out of Chattanooga — they were reasonably priced, they arrived when they said they would both for pick-up and delivery, and they packed our furniture with utmost care.)

So, yeah, a year ago today, the movers left us with our furniture and many, many boxes labeled in ways we had thought were clear a couple of weeks earlier when we packed them, but which now struck us as annoyingly cryptic. Many hours of work, many cans of paint, many pounds of topsoil, many dollars, and many small repairs later, the house and yard are shaping up quite nicely, thanks very much. Believe it or not, we’re still finishing up some of our projects, and a few others remain in the planning stages. But overall, we are settled in and very happy in our new-ish home.

We designed and oversaw the construction of our old home in Tennessee, and so I expect we will never feel about any house the way we felt about that one. It was the first house we owned, it was the place where we built our careers and raised our wonderful daughters. What can possibly compete with that? But to be honest, I have never loved any setting for a home more than I love this new one. Our property is exquisite and offers mountain views to both the southeast and southwest. We have sunrise and sunset views. The place teems with wildlife. The fall foliage was lovely. Last winter’s snows were gorgeous, and spring and summer brought blooms of riotous color to every corner of the yard. Eagles and hawks fly over with some frequency. Our flock of wild turkeys, which appears at least once a day, now numbers in the high forties. Finches, chickadees, and woodpeckers are eating seed faster than I can fill our feeders. Bliss.

We are near my brother and sister-in-law. We are near dear friends. And we have loved, loved, loved, being able to see them all with regularity and frequency. We have also already hosted many visitors and are always happy to host more. Just sayin’.

Until our paths cross again, be well, and have a wonderful week.