July 9th, 2024 is when I took possession of my new home. It's been quite a year since. There are pros and cons with living out in the desert, away from town.
Con 1: Lack of privacy. My 4.4-acre lot sits on the corner of two streets. The pavement to my street ends there. What I don't like is how open my lot is; passers-by can easily see my property and watch me garden. I hate that lack of privacy, so I planted oleanders and pines along the front in March. In a few years they will be tall enough to block out some of the view. I will continue to plant more trees to add variety to the otherwise mundane mesquite and catclaw acacia (which I really don't like!)
Con 2: Lack of camaraderie. Neighbors here want to be left alone. They live out here to grow food, raise livestock, tinker in workshops. I wave at other dog walkers in the morning, but I haven't had a real conversation with any of them. The only neighbors I know are Kim and Ken across from me, and people living on the short road behind me since we share the well.
Con3: I suspect my street is a known dumping ground for unwanted animals. It's also a busy area for coyotes and javelina and rattlesnakes. I wanted to grow a cactus garden in my front yard, but the javelinas destroyed the various prickly pear there in March. I want to replant that garden but need a 4-foot fence first around the area to keep the javelina out. They like to uproot cacti and leave a mess.
Con4: Home deficiencies. All homeowners have to maintain their property and it can get expensive. The front door seal came undone shortly after I moved in. Within a few months I discovered that the electrical outlet underneath the sink, to which the dishwasher is attached, does not work. The laundry room's light switch is at the exit door to the backyard and not the entrance door. I have to turn on the hallway light to use the washer. The white trim facing the west side of the home is peeling. One of the wooden trims is also warped. That one is going to be hard to replace because it's right along the front porch. And, most concerning, the LVP by the back patio is already warped in three planks!
Con5: Missing Willie. There is no way I could take Willie from the home he's known all his life and move him to my new place. He would fall prey to coyotes. I do miss his mew. I try to leave food for him whenever I stop by the old place. I hadn't seen him since the house got demolished.
But the good outweighs the bad. Pro 1: Beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I see the sun rise from my kitchen and patio, and the sun set from my living room. It's quiet here at night. I hear distant dogs bark, and when it rains, the croaks of frogs nearby in the puddles. I'm a mile away from a busy road but don't hear any traffic. I love the solitude.
Pro2: It's a shorter drive into town by two miles, with fewer traffic lights to stop me. The only time the drive is an issue is when the main road into town floods after heavy rain and the road is closed for the duration. It's a two-mile detour south and then west to get to town this way.
Pro3: The extra acreage. I want to grow some fruit trees on the southern section of the lot. Plums and apricots grow well here. I also want to experiment with more gardening. I want to plant some palo verde from seeds taken from the trees I planted in my old lot. Palo verde bloom dramatically with their yellow flowers in the spring and the blooms last a few months. Right now I have three different varieties in seed propagating as I write this, along with some mimosa. Yes, they are messy with their dropped pods, but it's food for the animals here. At night during my walks I see kangaroo rats and mice flit across the roads.
I went to my old lot to pick up some more stuff, mostly focusing on palo verde seeds and cacti I might as well as take cacti from my own lot than buy them. I still have a lot of other work to do on this lot to declare it completely cleaned up of my presence.
I was thinking about Willie as I was collecting seeds, missing his soft mew whenever I called him. I called out his name a few times but didn't hear anything. But then he showed up underneath the big palo verde tree! He is alive! He's gotta be going on 14 years old now.
Willie stood still. He didn't mew back when I called him, but he stayed still long enough for me to photograph him. He's starting to look his age, with some grey in his snout. His right eye seems to be partially blind now. It's not as round as the left eye. I'm now going to have to keep some food for him at the old place. I hadn't left any out for him on my last few visits because I didn't know if he was still around.
Seeing Willie cheered me up for the day.
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