New Home, New Start

We finally sold our home in Silver Spring, Maryland at the end of August.  It was not without hiccups but we prevailed in the end.  The next biggest challenge turned out to be buying a new home in the Skagit Valley, near my sister in Washington state.   Houses in Mt. Vernon, our intended destination, proved elusive.  If I expressed an interest in one, it sold that day.  If we attempted to put a contract on one, someone else had a more attractive offer.  Many sellers did not want to bother with a contingency offer (which, considering our experience, was wise).  In the end, my nephew Brian found online a house in LaConner, a small, historic town on a saltwater channel.  Generally, houses in La Conner would be too expensive but this one was the right size and the right price, tucked away on a side street without a majestic view but definitely more scenic than our previous residence.  So here we are

If there is a downside to living in La Conner, it's that it is a tiny town in the middle of large fields devoted to agriculture of one sort or another:  crops, livestock, dairy cattle.  The town itself is  laid out along the channel and over a rocky hill that is essentially across the street from the water.  We are behind the hill.  It makes being a runner difficult because it is all pretty small or too well-traveled by logging trucks.  I've been driving to the southern end of the trail along Padilla Bay, the other end being near my sister's home in Bayview, and running along this stretch.  It's safer to be off the road and the ground is level.  And, Thomas walked there with us twelve years ago, just before he left for Iraq.  In fact, he ate lunch with the family, including cousins, in downtown La Conner on that weekend, in the La Conner tavern, a place we pass nearly every day while walking Kolbe.  I nod to the memories and go on.  It was a good time. 

This is a picture of the Padilla Bay trail this past Monday.  I was surrounded by birds, herons that led me along the trail in both directions, and an eagle that swooped by, maybe twenty feet away.  Memories kept me company.  Though this looks lonely, I was not alone by any means.