tapestry

Years ago, when Blair and I were househunting, we almost bought a different house than the one we ended up in. It's on the same street, but two blocks away. It's a very picturesque house and we probably would have been happy in it. We agreed on a price, but after that we found that there weree other specifics we couldn't agree on. Chief among them was the question of an old oil tank that had been buried in the front yard. There were other things, but my point here isn't to relive a real estet purchase that wasn't. That said, I think we ended up doing better. The house we ended up buying doesn't have the same immediate charm, but in many ways is more liveable.

The house we almost bought

I was thinking about that because Blair and I walked by that old house a week or so ago. It's easy to think that my life would be largely the same if that deal hadn't fallen though. But some very big parts of my life are a direct result of living where we do.

For several years now, Blair and I have been increasingly active in the Long Island Daylily Society (LIDS). And that came about because of neighbors across the street who are LIDS members. If we had lived two blocks away we would never have been talking gardening with them. And if I hadn't gotten involved with LIDS, I wouldn;t have gotten involved in the Jamaica Estates Association (JEA) Gardening Club. And if I hadn;t gotten involved with that, I wouldn't have been invited to join the JEA Board. Which may not seem like a big deal, except that it has also become an increasing component of who I am.

Now, it's easy to know about what wouldn't have happened if I had taken that other path. What's harder (read: impossible) is to know what would have happened instead. And I have no doubt that there would have been other things in my life instead.

Still, I find it interesting to think about.