We know it won't come as a surprise to those of you who have been reading this blog for years that we are restless again and have started thinking about selling the house and moving. I know what you're thinking: We're absolutely out of our minds. Roger is going to be 71 in early August, and we have moved five times in the past ten years. We sold our house in Santa Cruz in 2003 and spent a year in a rental while we plotted our move to Port Townsend in 2004. We spent four years in Port Townsend, but had grown weary of the dreary weather by the second year. We sold our PT house in 2008 and headed back to northern California, where we spent the summer in Arcata, in Humboldt County. We liked it up there. It was a bit foggier and grayer than we wanted, but what sent us back to Santa Cruz was our aging mothers who needed us to be a bit closer, and the land and housing stock for sale at the time was absolutely dismal. It's been great re-reading our blog posts from the summer of 2008. It helps to remember reality as we recounted it then, rather than rely on our rather faltering memories.
So here we are, three plus years in this house on these five acres in Grass Valley. Why are we contemplating such a crazy move again? CABIN FEVER. Seriously. We have spent almost the entire summer in the house with the shades drawn, the air conditioner on, and the ceiling fans whirling. If a bobcat or coyote has wandered by, we would not know. The world goes on outside our windows, and we sit in a cool dark room. Roger goes out in the early morning and gets the outside work done. He has been splitting the cord of oak we had delivered two weeks ago. He inspects the watering system. He mows the little grassy part of the yard. That's it. We haven't even gone out for a hike. IT'S TOO HOT. And this is a regular summer in Grass Valley. It's not unusual or record-breaking hot; it's actually maintaining its July averages. We did have a monstrous heatwave, but that passed. We're just left with 90+ temperatures everyday. It's not fun. We're spoiled; we want fun. We want to go out and romp around in a river. We want to hike in the redwoods. We want to bike ride into town. We want to have the windows open and the air circulating by its very own nature.
So, we started thinking about Arcata. Should we try it again? Are we just trading too much heat for too much fog? We're not sure. We checked the Sunset Magazine growing zones for California and found that it is the same as Santa Cruz. We could grow lots of fruit and veggies. We could grow greens and flowers all year long. We looked at our old photos of that summer. We could walk the beaches at the mouth of the Mad River. We could play in the redwoods. We could plan to buy something within biking distance of town. 
We could venture outdoors everyday. Every day. Would you change your life for all of this? (All photos taken during our three months in Arcata)roger update: and there are hippies too. we like that. check it out. .
wow. you guys ARE crazy--but that's one reason we love you so! I for one live vicariously through you, and so I say: follow your bliss! I'll be watching with envy and affection and awe.
ReplyDeleteJust crazy enough I would say. I"ve always liked Arcata. Ocean beaches, Redwoods trees, mountains, rivers, croissants, espresso, no mosquitos, HSU. What's not to like. The fog clears by noon mostly as I recall. And I think we're all expecting it to get hotter as years go by. Zonks Roger is 71?? Better hurry. :--)
ReplyDeleteYou guys are the best! Always interesting. Always entertaining.
ReplyDeleteAs to your craziness...of course! But it's good crazy. I am SO attuned to what you're saying about the heat of summer. I loathe it with a passion, which is the biggest reason we're looking to uproot ourselves and move to Oregon (probably). I love to watch you two move about...and I may just start following you more closely, in every sense of the term!
ReplyDeleteNot crazy at all. It's important to listen to your inner thoughts and not just keep doing something or staying somewhere because you're there, or it seems weird to leave, change, or whatever. As far as we know, we just have one kick at the can. If you'd rather be somewhere else, then I'd be out there looking around. Northern California is terrific. I like it from about... oh... RIchardson Grove on north right into southern Oregon around Gold Beach. Anyhwhere in there would be pretty darned nice. It would be good to be close to a town that you like - that has what you want - a library, good food market, coffee shops, or whatever it is that seems important. I agree about the heat where you are. That would suck. Just keep in mind that this is...well, probably... your last move, so try to find the place that is right for you.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about CABIN FEVER. I feel trapped inside by this summer heat. When in Santa Cruz for two days I was thrilled at the morning fog and the 70 degree weather. What a difference it makes!
ReplyDeleteboy, do i get it! i continue to choose these gloomy winter skies any day over the heat and humidity that kept me living like a recluse inside because the heat was so oppressive. in summer i didn't even venture out to grocery shop until midnight or later. i hated living like that. we love northern california. in fact, the coast from santa barbara north to the oregon beaches is all pretty amazing to us. keep us posted! i am excited for you guys and hope you will turn in some of the hard work and sweltering heat for play time and fun! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you have the money and resources to move, then it's only your business where and or how often. The only questions that come to my mind are do you know people who live there to have an idea if it is your kind of community? Years back my grandmother and grandfather moved to the Oregon Coast to retire. When he died, the community became a big issue to her. I know it's costly in Arcata from what someone else told me awhile back but you have the money for it; so that shouldn't be an issue. Another question is that since it's not near a freeway will getting back to see your mother be an issue? Driving curvy mountain roads can be no fun.
ReplyDeleteI liked that area up there my few times of driving through but that's all I know about it-- driving through.
Finding a place with 'everything' ain't ever gonna happen. It's figuring out what matters the most and then understanding you won't get it all. As for your age to move, you won't be happier in five years where you are; so if you want to change places, now is a good time when you are in good health.
Oh and (global climate change thought) don't live down right near the ocean ;) as it does seem we will be getting some rises in the ocean as well as the potential for more storms of greater ferocity.
Thank you for all the comments and ideas. We appreciate it so much.
ReplyDeleteI should have mentioned that global climate change is one of the other factors that we consider when moving. If it gets any hotter here, which it could, we would be that much unhappier. I think we'll be looking for something not quite so close to the water for it to be a problem.
We do have to sell this place before we can move on. This is a fairly right-wingy-tea-party part of the foothills. We're hoping someone is just wild abut living among their own kind here!
The National Association of Realtors thanks you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you're casually soliciting advice or not, but my thought is that you should GO FOR IT! Stay active. Stay striving. Do something new and challenging. Stay young and vigorous. (Plus, it's great blog fodder!)
ReplyDeleteSounds like Arcata is much more your style. Plus, my youngest lives there!!
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I can relate to the right wing foothills thing, from our years in the Sonora area...
ReplyDeleteI envy you your ability to pick up and move when you want to. My aunt and late uncle moved every few years all their lives.
ReplyDeleteLeah and I are considering moving away from our home town, now that all the parents are gone. I would like to move away from the oppressive humidity. We can move anywhere we want to, but in realistic terms I doubt we'll move west of the Mississippi.
I find nothing crazy about wanting to move. Life is too short to be unhappy. The " right-wingy-tea-party" aspect would have me packing. I'd just check out the new place really carefully. If the abnormal heat is hitting you where you are, has it affected the former place of interest?
ReplyDeleteMy computer swore that this area had an average summer temp of 86 degrees. Until this year, 100 plus was normal. This year has been as previously advertised--marvelous. Pretty sure this delightful stuff is temporary.
If it weren't for the gardening need, RVing might be fun.
Hey, it's hot as hell here in Southern New England -- maybe it's time to move to Yellowknife.
ReplyDeleteI had one further thought for the time before you can move, when I have been in Tucson in June what I learned to do is go out right at first light. That's when the animals are there anyway. It might require rethinking your schedule but it's the time you can hike and enjoy that early morning before the oppressive heat hits. Sometimes it's only an hour or two but anything helps. Night is also precious in that kind of heat where you can lie on the patio and watch the stars-- until the clouds come in with the monsoons. Change what you think of as daily routine. Also I would never keep the blinds all closed-- just the ones on the side of the house where the sun hits. I don't like closed blinds and the routine of changing which ones are closed throughout the day can be rewarding. You might sell fast but in case you don't, make the most of what you do have which might mean more frequent trips to the Coast or higher into the mountains.
ReplyDeleteIn Oregon when the valley is hot, the coast is socked in with cold fogs which can be a relief but not sure how it'd be if one was living there year round and looked forward to summer only to miss it. Maybe your solution is two homes :) A lot of people do that where neither home is that big but it allows a shift with the seasons. It might seem the 'second' home would never feel like home but from my experience, it does.
Ah, Robin. You asked the wrong question. Doesn't matter a hoot whether I would change. It's all about you and Roger. I'm confident you will know what to do and dig in and do it whether it's staying put or moving.
ReplyDeleteOh please consider Sebastopol.....lots of sun, great growing, temperate, nearby Russian River, Summer fog in the morning then gone, near to Bodega Bay. You would love here. Plus, it is such a progressive atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteI keep telling them this, guys, I really do! Expensive to buy a house, though.
DeleteLots of short sales though. Try to convince them. What wonderful assets to the area they would be!
DeleteKali and I have purchased a house in the Rockies foothills outside Fort Collins, CO for when we retire. Fort Collins itself is hot (on the plains just at the foot of the mountains), but our house is 2,000 feet higher, with fabulous mountain views and cool breezes--no one in the neighborhood has an air conditioner. However, (1) we're 33 miles outside town, (2) it's steep, and (3) there are water restrictions. As a result of the foregoing, (1) we won't be going into town each day (but so what; we'll be retired), (2) bicycling is going to be difficult, if feasible at all, and (3) I can't have a garden (and I was really looking forward to growing vegetables when I retire).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we just got back from visiting the house and ran into a neighbor while we were there. He said there are a lot of "4 year and out" residents in the neighborhood--people who stay 4 years and then move on. So, maybe, Robin Andrea and Roger, you're like our neighbors-to-be and will move on. Maybe Kali and I will be like that, too, though we'll be 70 if we stay 4 years in the foothills.
Totally off topic, but I know how much you like cloud pictures. Just in case you don't read the grist.org size, I saw this there:
ReplyDeletehttp://grist.org/list/gorgeous-super-rare-cloud-looks-like-a-rainbow-portal/
I was in Fairbanks this past weekend and it was 89° on Sunday. Way too hot! Think Anchorage. Outdoor activities all year, you can grow monstrous veggies during our darkless summer, all the wildlife you could stand to photograph and plenty of crazy politics. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm late late late! I think of you as people who like being near water, probably because of Santa Cruz and your place in WA. Arcata looks like such an interesting town! The only reservation might be that it is so off the beaten track that it might be hard to get other places, or for other people to get to you. (That might be a plus in your book, though!)
ReplyDeleteWell, I've heard from people who grew up near Arcata that it can rain a lot there, too, but maybe it's a warmer rain than you experienced up in the Pacific Northwest. If you have the energy for another move, go for it.
ReplyDeleteI've been savoring the cooling "marine pushes" we experience after a string of hot sunny days. Feels like some kind of paradise...
I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep and so here is a belated meditation on your second question:
ReplyDeleteYears ago I had a vivid dream that my Richard and I were an old man and an old woman who lived and walked together by the ocean in Humboldt County. As long as Richard was alive, that dream stayed with me. It was strongest during the very few days of the year when the weather in Bellingham was miserably hot or miserably cold and icy. I would feel terribly lonesome for the coast redwood trees and the open ocean.
In 1999, when I was 50 years old, I spent late September, all of October and early November in Humboldt County with the thought that it was a trial run for finally returning to live in California after having left the San Francisco peninsula when I was 24 years old. Although I thrive in the frequent overcast days in Bellingham, I didn't do well with the fall fog and overcast in Humboldt County. There was also the factor of the depressed economy there and the fact that I realized that, even so, I couldn't afford to buy a home in Humboldt County.
What weighed on me as well was that I would be moving there alone and living there alone. At that time, it didn't feel like a place where I would be comfortable living alone.
In spring of 2014, I will have been living in Bellingham (Whatcom County) for 40 years. I like the sense of community here, the many artists and musicians, the wooded parks, the network of walking trails throughout the city, the proximity to mountain trails and trails along the salt water, the lakes, the islands, the abundance of local farms and organic food, and the fact that there is a small airport. We do have the possibility of an increased number of coal trains running through here. It's not perfect, but it's a good place nevertheless.
I know that the short hours of sunlight in the winter this far north aren't good for you, but otherwise I think you two would feel at home in a place like Whatcom County.
The climate around Eugene in Oregon is more moderate than Grass Valley. Eugene seems to me to be much like Bellingham. Maybe somewhere near Eugene would be a good compromise. It's much closer to the open ocean than Bellingham is, and it's not far from the mountains either.
Difficult to find an environment where there is the balance where you feel you can really thrive, but if your hearts are set on finding that place, I believe you will.
I know I would choose the fog of Humboldt County over snowy winters or oppressively hot weather. Being able to walk outside throughout the year is vital to my sanity.
I believe you can trust the language of your hearts.
Good for you guys! I'm thinking to move as well. N Kaliforniastan is just too hot these days, and I need to be outside near big trees, green meadows, and water.
ReplyDeleteHave lived all over the west. I seem happiest when visiting near Vancouver WA. There is family close, great mtns, rivers, trees, green and the flowers are actually the color they were meant to be. Lots to do, or not as one chooses. And I can carry without all the liberal crap that goes on here in Cali!!
Arcata sounds like fun and the right sort of place for you and Roger to live out your days, sunshine, hippies and a nice long growing season.... Go for it.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand! My wife and I get cabin fever in about two weeks and have to hit the road. We haven't moved in a while though.
ReplyDeleteHumboldt county used to be my home away from home. It seems like I've always had friends living up there. In my younger days, I even hitchhiked up there several times. My brother used to live in Los Gatos and my son attended UC Santa Cruz, so I've also spent a lot of time there. You can easily tell who the city fathers and community leaders are in Santa Cruz. They are the guys with the gray ponytails. To me, Humboldt County is closer to the real deal and reminds me of how things used to be.