On my way to meet a walking buddy this morning I noticed an unexpected hitchhiker on my car hood. A good sized snail was stuck mid-slime trail on the other side of the windshield. I’d missed it in the early morning fog, otherwise I would have flicked it to safety before I took off.
As I barreled down the hill the snail stretched out from underneath its shell to hang on for dear life. Though we both made it to my friend’s house safely, it was a distressing ride for both passenger and driver. Truthfully, the tentacle-popping snail stressed me out because I’m a self-confessed slug. I make steady progress all day long, but I rarely sprint to the finish line. To use another animal kingdom analogy, I’m definitely more tortoise than hare. But sometimes, even us slugs are forced to move faster than we’d like.
The next six weeks will be like that for me. Our house search was surprisingly speedy. We’ve purchased a terrific new home from a buyer who wants an exceptionally quick close and between now and our move date in late May I’ll be refurbishing on the fly. There are immediate decisions to be made on paint and carpet and new appliances—can’t do without a refrigerator now can we? And professionals to be enlisted to make it all happen.
So hang on while I shift out of my comfortable slow and steady pace and kick it into high-gear. I’ll try to keep you updated at checkpoints along the way.
When I wasn’t hyperventilating over how quickly we found our new home, here are some things that caught my eye:
Even if you (mostly) love your home, are there friends’ homes you wish you could own as well? Check out this Bay Area installment of the Envy Chain.
Not that I’m friends with Bay Area writers Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman but I do envy all those bookshelves in their recently remodeled Berkeley brown shingle.
One way to overcome envy is to slow down and meditate. The new (free) Oprah & Deepok Choprah Meditation series starts up on Monday, 4/14.
Easter is two weeks away—just enough time to meditatively knit up these sweet little chicks.
Us plodders can appreciate accomplished people who developed patience while playing The Long Game.
The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter from Delve on Vimeo.
Happy Weekend!
