Mobile apartments and other tales of domestic life
We arrived here in Ann Arbor to find an absolutely beautiful apartment in quite a nice section of town. You can actually look at it, if you want. FYI, though: that’s not our stuff in the picture.
We live on the third floor of a house built back in the 1920s, I believe. As it so happens, the house is actually mobile - well, somewhat anyway. Apparently, it used to be downtown (about a mile and a half from where it is now). The landlord’s grandfather bought it back in the 50s, but he decided he didn’t like its location. So what did he do? He moved it. If that’s not down-home American ingenuity, I don’t know what is? Don’t like your house’s location? Then pick the whole thing up and move it wherever you like. Steve (our landlord) tells us that they had to take down power lines to make it fit through some of the roads. Go figure. Apparently our apartment was added on back in the 50s after The Great Move.
Anyway, our apartment is quite lovely. It’s on the third floor, so we get plenty of exercise. The hardwood floors are a nice touch because our dear sweet Miep cat can’t tear them up bit by bit. She has, however, adopted the desk chair as her very own. What once was grey now is coated in a rather thick layer of white cat fur. I keep telling Miep that one of these days, I’m going to knit a new cat out of all that hair. I don’t think she believes me, though.
We have the perfect amount of space for the two of us. With this perfect amount of space, however, came copious amounts of closet space. In fact, we have so much closet space that we converted one of them into a pantry and another into a garbage area. If we lived here for 50 years, I sincerely doubt we could ever use up all of our closets. It would probably be a great place to play hide-and-seek, though . . .
Jamie and I are actually vaguely considering buying a house in the area, preferably a duplex where we could have a renter to help us pay the mortgage. Ann Arbor property prices are ridiculous, but the areas just outside of town are pretty reasonable.
I’ve noticed something rather interesting about living in Michigan, though: household pests. Whereas in Oregon one had problems with spiders and ants, here we have problems with ladybugs. Well, I shouldn’t really say “problem,” as it’s not really that bad, but nonetheless . . . We have ladybugs all over our house. I never really considered them to be an insect one had to worry about getting into your house. Your garden, perhaps, but not your house. The ladybugs currently coexist peacefully with the squatters (i.e., us), but I’m just waiting for an uprising.
As long as I’m speaking of being domestic, Jamie and I are actually becoming bonafide cooks, preparing actual meals. We’ve acquired a veritable arsenal of kitchen gadgets, appliances, and spices. Thus, it’s only a matter of time before you see a Nielsens cooking show . . . OK, maybe not, but we’re having fun nonetheless. Cooking and eating in general is an absolute joy here because we are less than a mile away from a Trader Joe’s. Oh joy! Oh rapture! There’s nothing quite as exciting as going to buy trail mix and granola and having whole shelving units from which to choose. The hippy in me rejoices. Plus, I can buy lots of macadamia nuts to make white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Life is good.
I have also come to an astounding realization: having sharp knives is wonderful. Thanks to Erin and Raj, we have a shiny new set of knives, and it is oh-so-marvelous. For instance, we can actually slice tomatoes without smashing them. We can cut onions without sawing through them. We don’t have to use a butter knife to cut broccoli. Yes, life is fabulous in kitchen-land. And the new crock pot? Well, that’s just icing on the cake.
In addition to being kitchen mavens, Jamie and I are also NPR junkies. This fact undoubtedly puts us in the category of crazy pinko commies and bleeding-heart liberals. Nonetheless, Michigan Radio has something for both the conservative and liberal listener to love, what with Michigan being politically nerurotic. More on that in a later post.
If any of you folks care to visit these crazy pinko bleeding-heart Ann Arbor commies, we have a lovely apartment with a lovely futon in which you can crash.
P.S. Happy holidays! (which, in this age of the "War on Christmas" is not just a greeting but also a political statement!)
Current Book: The Time Traveler's Wife by by Audrey Niffenegger, an absolutely fascinating book about just what it says: a woman married to a man who travels through time. It's really a beautiful love story told through the lens of a science fiction story.
We live on the third floor of a house built back in the 1920s, I believe. As it so happens, the house is actually mobile - well, somewhat anyway. Apparently, it used to be downtown (about a mile and a half from where it is now). The landlord’s grandfather bought it back in the 50s, but he decided he didn’t like its location. So what did he do? He moved it. If that’s not down-home American ingenuity, I don’t know what is? Don’t like your house’s location? Then pick the whole thing up and move it wherever you like. Steve (our landlord) tells us that they had to take down power lines to make it fit through some of the roads. Go figure. Apparently our apartment was added on back in the 50s after The Great Move.
Anyway, our apartment is quite lovely. It’s on the third floor, so we get plenty of exercise. The hardwood floors are a nice touch because our dear sweet Miep cat can’t tear them up bit by bit. She has, however, adopted the desk chair as her very own. What once was grey now is coated in a rather thick layer of white cat fur. I keep telling Miep that one of these days, I’m going to knit a new cat out of all that hair. I don’t think she believes me, though.
We have the perfect amount of space for the two of us. With this perfect amount of space, however, came copious amounts of closet space. In fact, we have so much closet space that we converted one of them into a pantry and another into a garbage area. If we lived here for 50 years, I sincerely doubt we could ever use up all of our closets. It would probably be a great place to play hide-and-seek, though . . .
Jamie and I are actually vaguely considering buying a house in the area, preferably a duplex where we could have a renter to help us pay the mortgage. Ann Arbor property prices are ridiculous, but the areas just outside of town are pretty reasonable.
I’ve noticed something rather interesting about living in Michigan, though: household pests. Whereas in Oregon one had problems with spiders and ants, here we have problems with ladybugs. Well, I shouldn’t really say “problem,” as it’s not really that bad, but nonetheless . . . We have ladybugs all over our house. I never really considered them to be an insect one had to worry about getting into your house. Your garden, perhaps, but not your house. The ladybugs currently coexist peacefully with the squatters (i.e., us), but I’m just waiting for an uprising.
As long as I’m speaking of being domestic, Jamie and I are actually becoming bonafide cooks, preparing actual meals. We’ve acquired a veritable arsenal of kitchen gadgets, appliances, and spices. Thus, it’s only a matter of time before you see a Nielsens cooking show . . . OK, maybe not, but we’re having fun nonetheless. Cooking and eating in general is an absolute joy here because we are less than a mile away from a Trader Joe’s. Oh joy! Oh rapture! There’s nothing quite as exciting as going to buy trail mix and granola and having whole shelving units from which to choose. The hippy in me rejoices. Plus, I can buy lots of macadamia nuts to make white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Life is good.
I have also come to an astounding realization: having sharp knives is wonderful. Thanks to Erin and Raj, we have a shiny new set of knives, and it is oh-so-marvelous. For instance, we can actually slice tomatoes without smashing them. We can cut onions without sawing through them. We don’t have to use a butter knife to cut broccoli. Yes, life is fabulous in kitchen-land. And the new crock pot? Well, that’s just icing on the cake.
In addition to being kitchen mavens, Jamie and I are also NPR junkies. This fact undoubtedly puts us in the category of crazy pinko commies and bleeding-heart liberals. Nonetheless, Michigan Radio has something for both the conservative and liberal listener to love, what with Michigan being politically nerurotic. More on that in a later post.
If any of you folks care to visit these crazy pinko bleeding-heart Ann Arbor commies, we have a lovely apartment with a lovely futon in which you can crash.
P.S. Happy holidays! (which, in this age of the "War on Christmas" is not just a greeting but also a political statement!)
Current Book: The Time Traveler's Wife by by Audrey Niffenegger, an absolutely fascinating book about just what it says: a woman married to a man who travels through time. It's really a beautiful love story told through the lens of a science fiction story.