Skip to main content

31 Days of Five-Minute Free Writes: Day 5 - Home


This is my house on a lovely winter day. Before the awning above the front door shredded from the years of sun, rain, and snow. Before the shutters on the right were painted a pea green as a test for all of the windows and trim. Before straight-line winds took out the tree. With all its imperfections, this little 1200-sq-ft bungalow is home to me. It is my haven. Even though it holds some sad memories, it is the place I want to be in more than any other. (Well, besides the Hotel Minerve in Paris).

I have grand plans to replace that awning, one full of vibrant colors instead of the muted greens and reds it held before. I have plans to match all of the shutters and windows with a bright gold or yellow. And I may even plant a new tree to provide the shade that would keep my west-facing house so much cooler in the summer.

I have so many plans for this house. To finish all of the projects started before he left. To cover all of the white on the walls with cheerful hues. To finally install the hardware and light fixtures that sit in boxes, waiting for the right drill bit and the expertise to deal with electricity.

I have so many plans for this home. To build happy memories that will overpower the sad ones. To invite new friends over to share my corner of the world. To discover the life that is waiting for me.
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 8, 2015 at 12:53 AM

    I love your bungalow. Mine is 932 sq. ft. so I understand cozy. You will make new memories...and if you don't know how to use a screw gun yet, it can change your life! It did mine. :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Minute Friday: Roots

Lisa-Jo Baker (lisajobaker.com) hosts a weekly event on her blog called "Five Minute Friday". The rules are 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.. So here's my first try at this. Today's topic was Roots. Roots – I think about my grandparents who lived on a farm until my grandfather’s diabetes worsened and they moved to a town with a hospital nearby. My father still says he wished he could have kept that farm. I think of my grandmother who was a widow for 20 years. Every year she would stand over my PaPa’s grave, wishing she was with him. I think of my parents, a product of those grandparents, how hard my father worked to put 2 girls through
10 comments
Read more

Five Minute Friday: Time

Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/ . This week's word is Time. Sometimes time feels like this, like we are in it. Standing inside it, watching life pass by. It is so easy to get stuck in a time - in our pain, in our hurt. We hear the ache tick away in our head like a giant clock. Time, instead, is a gift. More time with family, more time to accomplish goals, more time to see the world. When you are hurting, it seems like time takes forever. One day turns into another day, turns into another day. When we hate a job, the five days of time that make up a work week seem to go on forever. But those five days are also a gift. Because these days, a job is not a guarantee. I want to see time as gift, not as a chore. I want to be on the other side of it, wishing there was more of it. Making the most of every hour, minute, and second instead of
6 comments
Read more

Five Minute Friday: Dwell

Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/ . This week's word is Dwell. I have thought about this word a lot - where should I dwell. After my divorce, I had a big decision to make - did I buy X's half of the house and continue to dwell where I had for the past 15 years or did I sell and move to a new dwelling. After crunching numbers and weighing my options, I decide to stay in the house we had bought together. Because, when it came right down to it, I loved my house. I felt safe there. I try not to dwell on the sadness that happened in this place but instead try to dwell on making it my own. I have painted rooms in colors X would have never agreed upon, I have bought artwork that he would never have hung. I want to dwell in a place that reflects who I am. When the yard is full of weeds and the basement full of water, I long to dwell in
6 comments
Read more