The back yard in the spring (Centralia)Life and home ownership west of the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest generally involves a lot of lawn mowing. That is particularly true of the Willamette Valley where the climate is perfect for growing grass and the topsoil is generally around 200 feet deep. From the picture Bob and Gena sent us of the back yard, it appears Centralia is pretty prime lawn growing territory, too. So, today, I get to start calling lawn services to try to figure out how to keep the long whacked down. If I am fortunate, I will find one who I can just keep on the job.

We had company for a lot of the weekend this weekend. It dawned on us that it is a lot easier to get a small apartment ready for visitors than a big house. There are lots of trade-offs and we are ready to end our apartment living stint, but to say that we do not enjoy it would be wrong. There are no lawns to cut, way fewer utility bills, maintenance is just a phone call away, etc., etc. We are half-way through the process of lining up all our services (lawn, propane, electricity, water, internet, etc.) and it is returning to us that we have quite a bit of joy ahead of us with respect to those normal upkeep chores associated with the American dream of owning a house.