moving to ohio

day one.
when you are allergic to everything, mold and cats and all animals and everything else, it makes it hard to stay places that aren't home. We got to Ohio. Stayed two nights at my friend Talcon's beautiful house that is part of a commune, but not communey the way it probably was in the 60's when the people all lived in one house together to start out with, and the goal was to raise kids collectively. Now it is lots of houses, and once a week pot-lucks, and certain decisions made together. Mostly older people.
I had in my mind a stereotypical idea of what a house in a commune would be like, scrubby, put together with scraps and whatever, but it is a beautiful lightfilled house, built by a woodworker, with windows everywhere, a whole side atrium with plants going up and hanging down, two stories. and a sauna. After two nights with my sister and her cat in the basement room, and my lungs closing down, I decided to sleep in the sauna.

what I'm reading: Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel.

day two
Sometimes a place just feels right and there's no explaining it. That's how I felt about Ohio. But then when we got here this time, it wasn't the same. Athens County. Maybe it was just that the leaves were gone from the trees. May be it was just that we needed home so badly and so right away. It felt ok, just not right. Then we drove down to the county we stayed in last year, and it felt like I could breathe again. It felt like this is where we belong. It felt so different and I can't say why. The land is similar, some woods, some fields, rolling hills, some falling apart houses, some trailers, some new houses. horses. goats. But it felt entirely different.

We went and looked at a yurt for rent, for temporary, while we look for something more permanent. It is on United Plant Savers land, which is a group for the preservation of endangered medicinal plants. And we stopped my the house of Joe and Wendy, who I had just talked to on the phone, and woke them up from naps, but they were so nice. They invited us to a New Years party, "it's a boring party - starts at 6:00, ends at 9." Perfect. And they invited us to come cook in their kitchen before hand. The longer we sat there the more they brainstormed up ideas of places we could live, until the brainstormed up the most beautiful country house with a garden and woods and a pond. we just have to try and get ahold of the owners before they leave Alaska and head to the Arctic Circle.