At home
Saturday, September 17th, 2011I realized we’ve got a tradition going; every time we come to Oregon, we each buy a pair of boots. Last summer when we visited in June (the trip where we came out fully expecting to buy another house but found this much better one instead) we each bought a pair of cowboy boots, light brown. Ted, who finds his feet get very cold when walking between office buildings wearing dress shoes in a Dutch winter, had actually planned to buy a pair; I just sort of got sucked in. Those worked out very well; he likes the warmth and comfort while I liked that they are comfortable, go with both skirts and pants, and are a bit unique (in the Netherlans, anyway) and distinctly American. So when we came back at Christmas, we each bought a black pair. We skipped the boot-buying in April when my parents visited (maybe I should have talked Mom into getting a pair!) but succumbed again to the lure of the boot this trip. He got a new pair of work boots (the old pair died after fifteen years or so, which is why he replaced them with the same brand, Danners) and I got a pair of tall boots I fell in love with at DSW. (You mat notice that I am very carefully not mentioning how many other pair of shoes I bought. I’m not impressed with the selection available in Eindhoven – tons of shoe stores, but they tend to be both expensive and uncomfortable.)
I don’t think this is a sustainable tradition, but it’s fun while it lasts. We are certainly doing our bit to resuscitate the US economy.
Aside from the shopping, though, we’re really glad we took this holiday. We hadn’t originally planned a trip home now, but we realized we had both the time and the money available and that we both really wanted to go. Since buying the house, I’d never been here when it was warm enough to really enjoy the deck – in fact, I’m out on it now. The star-watching hasn’t baan as good as I hoped due to the full moon, but one night before it rose I did get to see both a satellite and a shooting star. Later that night Ted brought out the spotting scope and we had an amazing view of the moon itself. Tycho crater was bright and even the smallest craters on the horizon were crystal-sharp.
We still don’t have our rowing shells here, though everything is set up and ready for them, but Ted’s parents have brought their inflatable kayaks up and I took one of those out a couple of times. It’s a bit clumsy, being made more for floating downstream, but it was good to have water under my butt – it’s not enough for me to just look at the lake!
I have confirmed that gardening is still not my favorite thing in the world, but I suppose there’s a satisfaction in tending to your own land. Also, Ted’s parents do like gardening, but they have a tendency to work too hard when they come up here if we don’t get to it first. So the gardens are now pristine, until the next batch of weeds spring up and the willow next door decides it’s autumn and drop all its leaves.
All we need to do now is to figure out how to live here full-time. Anyone want to hire a couple of telecommuters?