Anchored There To It

We have finally done it.

After five years of looking for property to purchase in Rutherford County, North Carolina, we've actually signed a contract to purchase two acres somewhere between Bostic and Ellenboro.

It's a two acre lot in a decent neighborhood, nothing ostentatious but neat and pleasant.

It is zoned as rural residential, however, for a rural neighborhood, there are a fair amount of homes around it.

The property wasn't my first choice, but it was financially the best choice, in my opinion.

We started looking in 2006, the year after my dad-in-law had a stroke that left him wheelchair-bound for the remaining two-and-a-half years of his life. I'm not sure why we started looking at that time. I suppose there were thoughts in the back of our heads that we might move there to help take care of my wife's parents.

That never happened.

My dad-in-law died in 2008 and my mom-in-law in 2009.

But still I looked. And my wife gamely went along with my search.

I suspect that part of the reason I kept looking was as a way to try and grab a part of the area for ourselves, maybe as a sort of token for the time we spent from traveling there annually. It may very well be my attempt to tangibly hold onto something familial beyond photographs and video.

I have a dream of retiring in the south. I'd like to get away from the harsh winters and short summers of Maine. I am absolutely ready not to have to shovel two feet of snow ever again.

When my sister-in-law's husband asked me why were looking for property there, I told him it was because we like the area. We know it quite well, so a move there would not require much acclimation.

Of course, now with most of my wife's family gone from the area (there's still an elderly aunt and uncle), the motivations are a bit more vague.

But, if nothing else, the seller agreed to sell it to us for an incredible price.

Maybe that's all that matters.