How and where we live

From the general to the more specific: On the left, the state of California, with the Bay Area highlighted. It lies at around 38° north latitude, for you cartography fans. The next map is the Bay Area itself. We're in the East Bay area. The next frame is the very specific, our house.

Our first rented home in California

We rented a house when we first moved out here. It was easier to rent than try to find and buy a house from the opposite coast. We knew buying one would be expensive, anyway, and wanted to have time to learn where to look. That is, we needed to know where we could afford one. That's a big factor, here where the San Francisco Chronicle has a column entitled "Surreal Estate," partly covering the outrageous prices of housing out here. So we took up residence in a duplex near where Donna works, just us and three rather disoriented cats, who had just been driven across the entire United States. We were pretty disoriented, too, actually.

We got to the house barely ahead of the movers, which surprised us. Had we known, we might not have packed quite so much into the car we drove over. But our "stuff" showed up, and we got down to the business of setting up in a new home for the first time in many, many years. Click on the "Rented House" link below to see some photos of the first stop on the Great Western Adventure.

Our first owned home in California

When the owner decided to sell the rented space, we asked what the price was. It was ridiculous, and that was after they took $35,000 off the asking price because it needed so much work. That got us a quick lesson in how expensive Bay Area real estate was. The house went on sale for nearly twice what we got for our house in Connecticut, and it sold in four days. The realtors never even put up a "for sale" sign, it went so fast.

The timing of the sale was unexpected, although it was at the end of the lease period. We would have been content to look a little more slowly by renewing for another year. We lucked out, however, in quickly finding a house we really liked. It was empty, it was expensive but (mostly) affordable, and we liked the layout and the property. Below is a link to a section of photographs showing what the house looked like when we first saw it, empty and waiting for new owners.

We went through some creative financing, thanks to a very helpful loan officer, and bought the house. Now we not only lived in California, we owned property. The only down side was the main highway. It drops down to two lanes partway to our town, and it isn't unusual to drive 90 minutes, one way, to get to work. Hey, we knew that California was heavily populated and famous for congested highways. Now we get to listen to National Public Radio news and keep informed. If it has a liberal bias, well, we're in California. So what?

So here we are, in our own home, with a bunch of cats, entirely too much "stuff," some of it still in boxes, and living in the Golden State. We love it here, have been to a lot of the rest of the state, and will be staying. Part of it is a desire to not move again, at least for some time. Mostly, though, it's that we're happy here, keeping busy, and not shoveling snow. Ever.

Below is a link to some photos of what the house looks like now with furniture. The one problem with most large pieces, couches, etc., is that they only fit in the place where you originally bought them to fit. You've got to get creative to fit pieces into a new space. We apparently have not been quite creative enough, at least not yet. As a consequence, we've gotten rid of some of the original pieces and bought new ones. That in no way prevents us from experimenting with new arrangements for the furniture.