First Thoughts

We just finished hosting our friends Tom, Lena and Nika from Portland. It was a great visit. Now we have the house to ourselves again and are getting more used to living in it - things like ...

• Stairs. We're used to having everything close by, all one one floor, but now, with three storeys, it's a little different. When I open my mail upstairs, I don't want to take the envelope all the way down to the garage to recycle it. We have to come up with a caching system for intra-floor delivery of rubbish, recycling, and laundry. We're getting into the habit of looking for things to grab as we go up or down.
• Dust. We keep upper windows open all the time, and have hardwoods and low-profile carpeting, yet I'm still impressed with just how much dust we've accumulated in the last week.
• First dings. I know I will die some day, and I don't feel afraid of it. But getting the first scratches and dings in our new hardwood flooring was another matter.
• Privacy. With lots of big windows and neighbours close by, I'm changing my habits a bit. I have to remember to close my curtains before getting dressed, and I wear a bathrobe coming out of the shower now.
• Dishwasher. Having one is nice. I hardly used the one we had at our rental, but I find myself using this one more.
• Garage. I'm chuffed to be taking a garage door opener with me when I go on bike trips.
• Quiet. Early this morning I took some coffee out on the patio and read newspapers online. All I heard were birds. Half our house faces a large grassy courtyard dotted with trees. I saw a crow fly past and I could hear its wings.