Life in the Slow Lane

As I wind down my life in the Big Apple…

I’m looking to set my default speed at Cruise. I don’t plan to ever retire, and Sandy still has years to go before he’s ready to retire from his TV job, but we have an eye toward eventually moving out west. Back to my roots.

I grew up in Northern California. While I have lived in New York City for the past 30 plus years home for me will always be the Golden State. I’m like a plant that thrives best in its native soil. I perk up when I’m there. I love the weather, the availability of fresh produce straight from the farms. The California cuisine. I love being driving distance from the Pacific Ocean where I can watch the sunset over the water.

Lately I’ve become addicted to Zillow. Whenever I have time to kill I can usually be found scrolling through my home searches on Zillow. Sandy and I have concentrated our search on Ojai and Sacramento. As I write this we’re in Sacramento, where we’ve toured a number of homes for sale. The cool thing about Sacramento (besides the magnificent state capital building downtown) is the number of older, storybook homes that line its leafy residential streets. Walking those streets is a trip back in time. From the house with the old car parked in front depicted in the above photo you might think I was actually transported to the 1940s. Sure seemed that way when I was taking the picture. I half expected to see someone dressed in clothes from that era step out the door. (See how a writer’s mind can spin).

Househunting for real is even better. We toured homes that are currently for sale and saw several we might have considered if the timing had been right. With each one I walked through, I thought, “Is this, or could it be, my dream kitchen?” Because you know I ain’t buying if the answer is no!

As the time approaches for us to get serious about buying a home out West I’ll blog more about it. Right now I have another house to look at. Stay tuned…