I have only recently realized that building a house (i.e. having a house built) takes patience and a sort of fortitude. Most people seem to realize this instinctively. They say things like, “Wow! You’re building a HOUSE?!” or “Isn’t it nerve-wracking?!!” or “I could never handle all of the decisions!” Instead, I don’t want to brag, but I walked into this as naturally as opening the front door and stepping out. Obviously, you must go down the walkway and head for the open road. No...

Daffodils greeted me next to my parking spot when I arrived at the Ridge Road house. They had sprouted up in the bank alongside the driveway. Every time I go across the border into Vermont, I feel good. The house is a product of a lot of work by the builder’s team. Every time I go up to Vermont, there is progress. Sometimes less, sometimes more. So nice today that the sawing was happening outside. The upstairs is prime-painted so is starting to look like real rooms. The downstairs is a...

An important visit to the new house happened over April school vacation. To introduce the future house to two of my most important family members…would they like it? Would they be excited? Would they be able to visualize the finished product? Success! Yes, they liked it. No, it wasn’t what they imagined but they could no longer remember what they had imagined. They scampered through the house, met the builder (Charlotte said, “I like Joe), he has many daughters himself so he talked with...