I have lived in a few places in my life — in my life so far that is… but I haven’t moved as much as the average American. According to the statistical geeks behind the FiveThirtyEight Blog the average is 11.5 times in a lifetime. OK, I haven’t lived my entire lifetime yet either, but I have lived enough to wonder how does someone move one half a time? Is that counting moving to the grave?
- I grew up in Cincinnati
- I went to college in Schenectady
- I moved to Aspen
- I moved to New York City
- I moved to New Jersey
Since I am probably way past halfway through my lifetime I am running behind average, and according to FiveThirtyEight as we age we move less and less, so it is unlikely I will end up hitting the average.
But I would like to leave New Jersey where I have lived the past 15 years and move back to Colorado – but not Aspen. However, I don’t always get to do what I want. It turns out that my wife of 25 years is a born and bred Jersey Girl and she will not be easily dislodged. She has a pretty good thing going here in NJ, two of her dreams fulfilled: a pottery studio and a horse in the backyard. I keep telling her she can have that in CO, too. But she is not convinced.
So the (temporary) compromise is a vacation cabin in Colorado. When I mention this to the Jersey Girl, she rolls her eyes and she imagines a “Unabomber Shack.” But I am not interested in a shack, I want hot and cold running water, indoor plumbing, a nice comfy bed, central heat, a nice view, friendly neighbors who aren’t too close…
In a weak moment Jersey Girl reminded me that when we first met in NYC I was actively combing the classifieds and real estate ads of the Aspen Times newspaper looking for a cabin. So this cabin madness isn’t something new, just much more refined. Back in 1991 I probably did want an unheated shack in the woods. Consider this progress.
(Full disclosure: the shack pictured above IS on the property I am buying, but not habitable, even though it does include the luxury of an attached outhouse.)
twestheimer
Is this the equivalent of your fathers’ sailboat
enjoy!