Let the magic begin.

We have keys to our house, to our magic kingdom, to our honeymoon cottage, to one of the most spectacular places on earth, to a place whose minutiae might be special to only us.  We went out to the house with cleaning supplies, the dog...

The dog in her new digs.

... and, importantly, our hammock...  for which placement is key.

If ya squint, you'll see the river in the middle right.

We are psyched, overwhelmed, and mostly exhausted after the uphill battle of the last 6 months and 10 days, but two little occurrences today make us confident we're in the right place...

As we carried the hammock about, searching for the perfect distance between two of our (!) many (!) juniper, a huge owl swooped out of a tree and over our heads.  Later, Jim found a pair of small turtle earrings strewn across the carpet in the master bedroom.  Sea turtles have made themselves my totem animal for 12 years or so.  Perhaps our good omens came to wish us well?

Holy cow, we're homeowners!  Let the magic begin.

Gorgeous, peaceful, symphonic

We went out to almost-our-house, just-about-our-house, our-house-within-the-week, and wandered, looking at it more like owners than too-curious visitors.  There's a lot to do - trees to try to save, lots of lawn to water, repairs to be done to the outside of the house, much planning to do, and the writing studio already exists as a spectre, awaiting life.  But I sat at the back of the property, under a juniper, and watched and listened to the river - yup, that's just-about-ours, too - gorgeous, peaceful, symphonic.  I can't wait.  I wonder if today's calm is in part due to having lived out there, for just a little while.