Deus ex machina
Sometimes, friends, you are in the right place at the right time. And when that happens, you gotta savor it. Because it doesn’t come along all that often.
The weekend kicked off on Friday afternoon when we learned that Alex had received a very tasty fellowship for the next academic year from the Department of Energy. Very tasty. In fact, with the combination of his DOE fellowship and my fellowship from Berkeley, we may soon be able to enter the ranks of the lower middle class.
From have-nots to premium have-nots!
You can imagine our excitement.
Upwardly mobile and it feels so good.
Already in a celebratory mood, we wended our way homeward to find a letter from one of our next-door neighbors in our mailbox. This neighbor is, in fact, the one who lives in the most desirable house on our street, the house that I have beheld often, I will admit it, with envy in my heart.
The house about which I have often remarked to Alex, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a house like that someday?” and “J. and P.’s house is my dream house,” and “They must be deliriously happy every day, living in a house like that and not having a lying, cheating, craphound landlord to poison their very existence,” and so on and so forth.
A house like this is one of the world’s sweet things.
Yes, a letter from J. and P., the owners of the blessed little house.
The letter said this (I am paraphrasing and editing for brevity. I am also embellishing, but that’s no more than you have come to expect from me, I’d wager.):
Dear Ellen and Alex,
We are moving to a new house in a nearby town, but we don’t really want to sell our current house right now.
Would you like to live in it? We think you are just the kind of mighty swell, mature tenants that we would like to have.
We’ll leave you everything: the air conditioners, the washer and dryer, the dishwasher, the refrigerator, the window treatments, the garbage disposal, and the heated, finished outbuilding in the back where P. does his woodworking.
(Editorial aside: Said outbuilding. One could, if one wished, knit out here. Or one could take up quilting if one was of a mind.)
We would also like to paint a couple of the rooms for you in colors of your choosing and install a dog door for Shelley.
And in fact, we like you so much that we would like to offer you the entire house with weekly gardening service for the same amount you are currently paying in rent to your lying, cheating, craphound landlord.
Please call if you are interested.
Warmly,
J. and P.
Side entrance of little dream house.
I read this letter, my hand trembling with amazement and disbelief. Interested? Try, say, “possessed by the deepest sort of soulful longing.” Try “my heart’s desire.” Try “nothing could make me happier.”
So I appeared in the doorway of Alex’s office, waving the letter in my left hand. “Is there any reason, aside from being incredibly stupid or certifiably insane, that we wouldn’t take them up on this offer? Any reason you can think of?”
“No,” he said. “I can’t think of any.”
And so, since we are only moderately crazy and really not at all stupid, we called them and we will be moving next door to my dream house in mid-June.
I CANNOT BELIEVE OUR LUCK!
One more thing. You know how we are having our East Coast wedding reception at our home in July. Yeah? Well, this is our new backyard:
The gardeners, I hasten to remind you, will be coming every week.
Lest you had forgotten, this is how our current backyard looks, pursuant to the removal of the Lost Patio of Atlantis:
Hallelujah, I’ve been saved!
Oh, about that knitting. I’ve been making some socks for Nasser to thank him for driving me to the Bridal Barn for my gown fitting. He richly deserves these socks.
Close-up:
I’m going blind working with navy blue, but it’s worth it for such a good friend.
And now, let me leave you with one last shot of the house:
People, it just doesn’t get any better than this.
May 8th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Well, I hope you haven’t sold your maidenhood to the men at the garden center. What a wonderful surprise!
May 8th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Ok, catching up here again. So I’m going to do this comment in bullet-point form. Because I used to work for a congressman, and bullet points therefore come naturally to me.
1. SO EXCITED FOR YOU and the Dream House. Seriously, it could not have happened to a nicer person! Yay!
2. You’re welcome for introducing you to the Decemberists. I am so glad you are enjoying them. Colin Meloy, his voice is like a soothing balm to my soul … ok, I’ve clearly had too much Sauvignon Blanc tonight.
3. Tell your young person that the 80s were NOT crap!! Not at all!! I shall offer examples!!
a) Siouxsie and the Banshees!
b) Echo and the Bunnymen!
c) R.E.M.!
d) The Psychedelic Furs, on a good day!
e) New F*&#ing Order, I tell you!
So there! 🙂
May 8th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Sometimes, although not always, good things do happen to good people. This new abode is just that.
Please let us know what a decent house-warming gift might be….perhaps a nice nick or a suitable nack or knick knack…
Happy times to all… “Now this calls for a celebration”
Love,
Sherlock’s DaD
P.S. Sherlock says woooooooof!
May 8th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
::coughing fit:: Sorry, another cold. [g] But it was worth the fit, I’m so *happy* for you guys! Income! New house! Decent landlords! Backyard! Gardener! HEAT!!! (Presumably you’ll be able to afford it now, esp. in a place that has insulation. [g]) Wunderbar, hurray, eureka! You so totally deserve it. Like Nasser deserves the socks, which are looking mighty nice, although even squinting I can’t make out what kind of pattern stitch you’re using past the ribbing… but it looks good.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I feel like *I* got a huge present. [bg] Hugs to you all, and bless J&P. So yeah – when’s the house-warming? 😉
May 8th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Well, good things DO come to those who wait! Sounds like you two must be watched over by an angle lately. Maybe Zeno? Nah, probably not! 🙂 Congrats on the fellowships, the house, the wedding, the gardners, et al.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Happy dance!!!!!
May 8th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Now *that* is totally cool! Congratulations all around! 🙂
May 9th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Great photos! So much good news in one week… amazing!
May 9th, 2007 at 1:14 am
A-mazing. All-around. That’s great guys.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:04 am
It is because of the pink socks. They are so freaking fabulous that the gods were pleased and granted you this.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:07 am
And I am impressed with the clever solution to the garden party problem. Move to a better garden. Genius.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:12 am
This is pretty darn swell news! What fun to read about it. I guess the lost patio of Atlantis will just have to stay lost.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Woo and hoo! And the living is easy (and the living is right). That is wonderful that you were offered the chance to live in your dream house. How thrilling for you both.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Congratulations! Sometimes the planets DO align correctly, after all!
May 9th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Oh how fab. There should be a word for taking pleasure in other people’s pleasures, the opposite of Schadenfreude, cos I’m so pleased for you. Freudefreude, maybe?
May 9th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Hooray! So many problems, solved all at once! And, is it true they want to paint AND install a dog door? Even better! What lovely people they must be.
Helen gets the star prize for coming up with Freudefreude. We need more of that and less of the schaden variety 🙂
Yay!
May 9th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
What fantastic news! I’m so happy for you! No more paver excavations! Yay 🙂
May 11th, 2007 at 7:46 am
As Mr. Rogers would say, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood!”
And in this case – it’s not ONLY a beautiful day – but a beautiful couple in a beautiful house in a beautiful backyard in a most beautiful wedding! woo hoo!
Congratulations!
May 14th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Thanks everyone!
May 15th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Awesome! You deserve your great luck! I love that house too, just from your photos, and I’ve never even seen it.
September 23rd, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Love your blog! Love your style! And love the comfort zone when reading and looking at all the goodies. Would love to purchase the patterns for ALL your socks, especially the ones with the following copy: My Cherry Tree Hill Gems Merino sock with a nascent eye-of-newt heel. Here’s a close-up of the stitch pattern, which I kind of made up on the fly.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for your help, Barbara