Another Place I Almost Lived

Another Place I Almost Lived. Oil on Linen Panel. 6" x 8".

The west is littered with places and houses my husband and I considered living in. There's an old stone house in Torrey, Utah on 1 acre, with apple trees. It was vacant in 1989 and cost just $19,000. We still drive by to see our house when we visit Capital Reef.

Near where I live there are many, oh so many houses we went to see and talk about later. We looked at dozens in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Then we considered Walla Walla of course. Who wouldn't? It's lovely. And Waterville. I think my husband has an additional and lengthy list of houses in Jefferson County, including at least one in a crazy place called Quilcene. I refuse to discuss this place with him: I'm not moving to Quilcene.

It's odd, but I have company in this pursuit. One of my best friends and I spend a lot of time driving around looking at houses and talking about houses. We consider with great care which house we want. The difference is, she actually moves and moves often. Her list contains 'the brick Grandma house' she lived in a few years ago, a house in Bellingham where she lived when I met her, and 2 cottages near Anacortes. Me? I've lived in the same home for almost 22 years. Nonetheless, these houses we considered are part of our mental map of our world. I can say: Hey! Remember that blue house at the base of Blanchard, just north of Edison that I thought about moving to? And she'll know exactly which farmhouse surrounded by 5 acres of blueberry fields I'm talking about.

So here's the view from that farmhouse I never bought, but almost lived in.