a fond farewell (goodbye boat house)

at the beginning of this month i left behind the most eccentric, endearing house i will probably ever live in. when heather began taking the stuff off the shelves in our room, the reality of our departure made my stomach sink (no boat house pun intended). that ramshackle old thing probably will capsize one day and take with it a lot of charm i didn't know a small farming town had in it.

in the last few weeks before we left, i tried to commit each detail to memory--see the house with new eyes. i honestly saw something i hadn't noticed each day i lived in this house. intricate woodwork and tile made an appearance in every room. it truly was a sensory overload in the best way.

i won't forget all the late nights spent doing nothing and everything, watching alexa dive onto the bed and hurt her back on a piece of wood, skateboarding down the ramp in the living room, sitting on the couch on the roof, singing "hey jude" on the roof and hiding from the cops, ashley ruth's perfectly decorated room, hiding in alexa's room in the basement with fake blood running down our lips, variety show when ranger jumped off the big screen television in fury, pigskin and rocky & bullwinks ALL summer, adrienne's room in the living room, never knowing who was going to be sleeping in our house, the church door, nekku's birthday celebration when she didn't look up from her computer, shrinky-dinks in all denim and that blessed clementine, carnival backwards birthday, accusations of being witches (among other things) eating breakfast on the deck, heather and i waking up every day and deciding we have the best room in all of town. as much as it was a boat house, it was a black hole. i both loved and hated it for that.

here are a few of my favorite details. turns out it's hard to photograph a house:


heather/my room. no one better than karl malone to keep a watchful eye while we sleep.


heather/my room view 2


tapestry/metalwork in our room


living room ramp/"fireplace" (watch the video tour to see it in action)


living room ceiling etc.


"guest bedroom" ceiling


where the living room ceiling/guest bedroom ceiling meet= "lovebirds" in wood


kitchen


kitchen cupboards


tile work in main floor bathroom


entry hall. welcome aboard.


tile in entry hall


there are two windows that open in the entire house. instead of windows, we have these little vents that have years of dirt caked on the screen. works great.

if you're intrigued and have a spare 15 minutes, watch the video tour. unfortunately, it's 15 minutes of exaggerated phrases like "not a straight line in this house" and "there are a million decks" and a few roommates in sweatpants...so watch at your own risk. it's mostly for posterity, but those with twenty twenty vision and the ability to lift 65 or more pounds are welcome to watch.


tour 1 (main floor and upstairs)


tour 2 (basement)