I really like to look at houses and property, speculating on the lives lived there, wondering what it would be like for me and mine to live there. When I travel, I really enjoy seeing the homes along the way.
I often see a place that charms me completely. The house, its property, the surrounding area, everything about it seems wonderful. I sigh in admiration, then remember where I am.I’m usually on a road, most often a major highway. Sometimes, I’m on a passenger train. I experience a moment of realization, when my view of the home I’m admiring switches to the view from the home, which is, of course, of a major highway, or busy railroad track!
I’m writing this in a motel room in Lovelock, Nevada. Last night, we learned just how close the motel is to the railroad tracks.
Don’t get me wrong—I love the sound of trains. Just not about once an hour, at close quarters through the entire night.
It breaks my heart to realize that these little homes I admire so much are on a major traffic route. I commented to my sister that this condition always ruins the idyll.
Then it hit me: I live on a major traffic route! Lynn Canal may not see the volume of traffic a highway or railroad carries, but we have plenty, sometimes almost too much (see Northern Exposure).
The saving grace of living on a waterway lies in the beauty of that highway. The water, be it ocean, lake, or river more than compensates for the traffic, which adds much to the scenery as it passes.
So, anyone traveling Lynn Canal who sees our property and admires it, perhaps wondering what it might be like to live there, can rest assured that it’s everything one could hope for.
We’re pretty lucky. I didn’t need to take this trip south to remind myself of this, but it sure doesn’t hurt.
My sister and I are on the road till Monday, then gone the next morning on another trip, so posts will continue to come sporadically for a while.