Sold and Closed!

Dog houses are IN!

Well, we made it through the month of May, closed on the Watertown sale yesterday and have officially become residents of Hovland, Minnesota. We now live on our Irish Creek Homestead which is our little slice of Minnesota's Arrowhead region.

We are somewhat settled in to our cozy shell of a house, but more importantly, the dogs finally have their own houses instead of the temporary travel crates. You wouldn't believe the joy in the kennel to be able to jump up on a dog house today! I have to say, I was just as happy. The travel crates served their purpose for a few days while Neil went down for the dog houses. Next on the list is a temporary play area so they can get out and stretch their legs. It's been too warm to run them in harness.

So, I no longer look out the window at the vastness of Oake Lake with all of the entertainment created by the passing water fowl. I can say, however, that I am no longer in mourning over this loss. Living on Oake Lake was a cherished chapter in our lives that has now passed. Our new chapter comes with the thick and magical forests of the north woods, the heavenly aroma of balsam fir trees and the mighty presence of Lake Superior, just down the road and right alongside us on our 19 mile "commute" to Grand Marais down Highway 61. Out my window I do not see the vastness of a lake but I see the living forest and the ever-changing sky above our clearing. I watch the dogs rest and play right outside my office picture window. Very different scenery and just as good for the soul.

In the early 90s I dreamed a dream similar to this one I am now living. I'm here, on a journey that doesn't end with the realization of a dream but is just the beginning of one new wild-ride chapter in my life.

What's your dream? Life is just too short not to live it.