My Forever Home in Wakanda Land
As a follow-up to my very long blog post back in May about my move from NY, I am happy to say, I finally found my forever home! Doing so wasn’t quite as grueling as leaving New York, but it also wasn’t the walk in the park that I had imagined. When I moved in with a friend in Arlington, VA last spring while looking for a house in nearby Maryland, the housing market was still quite volatile. In the process, I lost a few bids, and in turn, I also rescinded a few offers. It was intense, and the home I eventually purchased wasn’t the house I had long been fantasizing about (a well-preserved, century-old home with amazing details). But my new home is mine, and in the end, it is the perfect fit.
I am located in Waldorf, MD, jokingly called Wakanda because folks living in or near DC, say it’s so far away. Traveling in the DMV (i.e., Washington, DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia) is all about timing. If you can avoid traveling during rush hour, you can shave off two-thirds of your travel time, and that’s no exaggeration. All that to say, it’s not really that far.
Here’s the kicker though: my new home is a townhouse with no land on which I am allowed to plant. I constantly ask myself, how can it be that I had more personal land in Brooklyn, than I have in Maryland? However, I am surrounded by nature here in Waldorf and I do have a deck on which I plan to have a potted garden. The real plus is that I’m surrounded by friendly neighbors with whom I have a shared heritage, and I am comforted by that. I also have no land that requires shoveling snow, or that I have to keep manicured, and at this age, shhhh, I am secretly happy about that. Out here in Wakanda land, on clear nights, I can see the stars including the Big Dipper. What a treat! Oh, and there’s a MOM’s Organic Market only a mile away.
The Big Dipper, visible from my new home, always fascinates!
They say, “wo(man) has a plan and God has a plan.” Before leaving NY, I was counseled to suspend any set ideas about my plans, but I resisted that thought, which made looking for a house take that much longer. Life was not going at my desired pace, but sometimes, we learn the hard way, to go with the new flow. What I can say now after living with a friend for six months, is that I am grateful to have such a friend, and equally grateful to finally have my forever home. The time that all this took has made for a humbling experience, and true to form, good things come to those who wait. I very much appreciate friends and family who supported me along the way. It’s a blessed way to begin the New Year, and I am so thankful to finally be home.