This is us, a little over a week ago, living in a sea of boxes in our sweet little home on Rogers Street in Madison, WI. We literally went through EVERY SINGLE THING we owned and sorted it for storage, St. Vinny's, the curb (Madison's curb culture never ceases to amaze me), some things for Bayfield where we'll be spending a few months with Andy's parent's this winter on the property where he grew up, and lastly the trash. I'm happy to say of all the things that passed across eyes and through fingers, a small portion made its way to the landfill. Holy Wa, all the things! But seriously, we packed a lot of home into the 960 square feet that was our spot. As you scroll, you'll see it stripped of the character and the clutter. The photo adjacent to Esme cleaning the fridge was where the tea platform once stood. And yes, we saved it and it's in storage for our next home, wherever that may be. For those of you who spent time at our home, we finally, after about 20 days, got it cleared and ready for the next lucky residents. They will have great neighbors. A big shout out and many thousand thanks to my mother, Carol (aka Maki), who took our girls for about a week, then delivered them and helped us with her meticulous cleaning and organizing skills for the next week. Everyone deserves a Maki when they move.
We got to leave the sky house and the outdoor pizza oven. It was hard to leave the mural of sky painted by my good friend Paul Anderson, but to take it from the spot felt wrong. A dishonor to the beauty it brought to our humble yard. I hope Paul comes to paint something again when the time is right. He is a master with clouds...
We really meant to have a last big pizza party with our neighborhood people, but wow, all the stuff and dealing with it took over.
Here's a picture of my mom, we thought at the end she might just jump in with us. The camper life is pretty good we hear. We will let you and her know.
And here's the last shot of us on the porch. We are grateful to have called this place home for the last 10 years. We truly lived the village life here- Gemma went to school down the block, Andy landed a job next door (literally) five years ago and had a nine second commute, the main studio I taught at was a 7 minute walk, Esme's school was a whopping mile away. Lake Monona was three blocks away, the Yahara River two blocks. It's been sweet, Madison is a place we may return to, but further from Willy street if we do. I will not miss the constant sound of cars. I will also say we are ready to take pause, have this adventure, and land into the next place we'll call home.
We will soon be posting about the parks on our route, such as Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, Glacier National Park in MT, and Yellowstone. And we'll get better at this blog thing too...maybe talk a little more about why we're doing this.