This is the first question everyone asks me when I tell them I’m moving here. Today I heard another: “Did anyone tell you about spring mud in Vermont?” That was new to me.
These considerations affect every aspect of my house-hunting while I’m here: How far away is the place from the school, are the roads plowed, how steep are the driveway and roads nearby, are heating costs included in the rental fee, is there an off-street place to park (otherwise you car gets plowed away): all of which are incongruent questions in sunny Cal.
Initially I thought I should live on campus because of these weather problems, but I didn’t like the dorm I saw. Walking through this alien land of youth-draped sofas I felt like as conspicuous as if I were wearing giant nappies and sucking on a pacifier.
So far I haven’t found a place that didn’t make me depressed. Actually, there was a pretty spot in the country in New Hampshire but it seems a little far to me. It’s a minuscule efficiency apartment that comprises the top of a two-story house. Here are two pix. The first is the house, and the second the view I ‘d see from my deck.
Tomorrow I have several more showings scheduled: two house-shares, a converted barn on a 2-mile dirt road, and two small places in town, one right next to the river. Wish me luck.
What? No trapeze/circus lessons for you? The picture looks gorgeous; post a picture of the town and campus, if you can. Happy home-hunting. And remember: it doesn’t need to be THE place, but A (suitable) temporary abode. You’re not really going to be spending all THAT much time there, after all. I’m excited for you–keep up the spirits, ‘K?
Hey, the mud is a bitch, but you need a pair of SKIS! Cross country skis. Thats what you do when it snows up there, you ski everywhere. Find a place to buy some second hand cheap skis that you can strap onto some cheap boots that are slightly too large so you can wear them with three pairs of socks. Then, when it snows, you go out in it at night and ski down the roads. Get cheap poles too. Thats what you do there. Buy the skis in the summer, because in the winter there will not be any left because all the tourists from NYC and Boston will have bought them and you will be pissed to have to buy new ones. When I was a kid I used to have lots of skis that I found at the town dump. That is the best way… Huh?? Also a good flash light that fits on your hat! You will be a pig in pork heaven, you’ll see.