009 MISSES AND MEMORIES

I suppose it’s a natural thing that the closer it gets to moving time, the more there is to find fault with the old place.  There are so many good memories wrapped up in this old house, but there are a significant number of annoyances that I won’t miss at all.

I certainly won’t miss the dingy, tiny, cold basement that has been home for almost 20 years to the day.  I moved in here March 13, 1996 and if all goes to plan it will be March 1, 2016 that I leave and start my new life.  I have three tiny windows, two of which I cannot open the blinds, because people can look right in.  The other window is the only one that opens to allow fresh air during the warm months.  It’s also either open or shut, there is no opening it just a little.

It’s cluttered, as I have virtually no storage space, so things get stacked wherever.  With that, it makes it almost impossible to keep clean.  Not that I am by any means a good house keeper or anything, but having storage space and open areas will make this task easier.  Granted, with more space means more work keeping it clean, but I have that covered as well.  Robotics comes to the rescue in the iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner.  Fully controlled by smart phone, I will be able to activate them while I am out.

I will miss the trees, but I won’t miss the gigantic upheaval of the driveway caused by the roots of the cherry tree.  The cherry tree that does not bear any edible cherries.  It also drops all manner of gunk and stuff on my boat that is parked underneath it.  For the first time my boat will get to reside indoors during the winter months.

I’m not a big apple eater, so for that reason I won’t miss the apple tree.  Then again, now that I will have a fully equipped kitchen I will miss the steady supply of fresh fruit to try my hand at baking some amazing treats.  I will also miss the tree because it was planted by my Grandfather on the day I was born.

While I will miss the wildlife in the neighbourhood for photographic opportunities, there will be even more available in the countryside I am moving to.  I may even be able to get that elusive bear photo.  What I won’t miss is the critters that have taken up residence with me.  I have squirrels that get into the attic under the roof.  There are racoons living under the front porch, which kick up a ruckus every night with their fights.  I certainly won’t miss the mice that run across my tiny kitchen counter.

I really won’t miss the rats that took up residence in the pile of junk Dad had in the back yard.  They even started infiltrating the house but several traps put a stop to that.  2011 was a bad year for rats all over the city, but it was getting nuts.  They disappeared when I got rid of the pile of junk in the back yard while Dad was in hospital for three months.  Prior to that I was not allowed to touch it.

I won’t miss the coyotes that roam the neighbourhood, although I’m sure they will be at the new place as well.  There is one that sits across the street at the park and howls, which gets Toby going too.  In the daytime it wouldn’t be so bad, but this is at 2:30 in the morning.  During the day there is apparently one that comes to the back fence and visits with Toby through the fence.  I have never seen it but I have had several neighbours who have driven by and seen them “chatting”.

TELEPHOTO LOOK FROM MY CHILDHOOD BEDROOM

It will be nice to not to have to hand wash dishes anymore and to have fully hot water.  We turned down the temperature on the hot water heater so that Dad would not accidentally scald himself.  It’s low enough that I can take a shower with just pure hot water and no cold mixed in.

WIDE ANGLE LOOK FROM MY BEDROOM AS A KID

What I will miss most is my old neighbourhood and the park across the street.  This is where I grew up and played, went to cubs and scouts and played Little League baseball.  That will always be in my memory and I’m glad my kids got to experience some of this as well during visits here.  It is a new adventure and a new life that I embark on and I am so looking forward to waking up in my new house.