Here in the southwest Colorado mountains we are in the throes of a major two-day (so far) snowstorm that keeps everyone inside until it stops. I was watching it snow and noticing how the snowflakes are sticking to the outside of the front windows of the house.. It took me back to many years ago when we were building this house and particularly these windows.
We lived in our rental until this house was legally habitable and then moved in, though the house was not finished. We were still in the early years together, which in my opinion allows you to accept things that would normally drive you nuts. We both were working twelve hour shifts, me in my bookstore and him as chief of police.
But back to the windows. Of all the things that came to my mind, it was the fact that we were able to live with so many things that were extremely inconvenient. For example, we had no window glass and no completed bathrooms or kitchen, though we had running water. I happily washed dishes in a bathtub and cooked meals on a gas camp stove in what is now the guest room or outside on a grill. Our only functioning toilet was in the basement bathroom with only a white sheet for a door. We actually entertained out-of-town guests for a dinner one night under these awkward and primitive conditions. I’m sure they wondered what was wrong with us. They never visited again.
We had to drive forty miles each way to pick up items to install. It was on one of those adventures that as we were coming home and got to the spot on the highway where we could see our house, we both were delighted to see that we actually had glass in our windows! We could hardly wait to get here to enjoy it. This meant we could have heat from the woodstove and stop wearing our snow suits inside. And we could permanently move in.
When we were putting up the fence on our dog pen my husband would have me hold the metal fence posts while he pounded them into the hard, rocky ground. Let me tell you that hurt. When silent tears began to roll down my face, he stopped and said, “Get in the truck!” Without a word, he drove up into the mountains to a shady spot beside a stream where both he and the dog jumped into the cold water. We drank Cokes in the cool high country shade then came back home to start again.
It’s funny how remembering what seemed to be exhausting times so long ago have now become happy memories. But for the record, I never want to build another house again.