moving

This summer I rearranged my family room. The couches have always been centered around the fireplace. That was great when all the kids were living at home and their friends came over. But they've all flown the nest and don't often have a chance to come home to roost. The family room had begun to sometimes felt like a cavern, ready to swallow me up while silence bounced off the walls, sometimes deafeningly. I was ready for a change. Switching things up was easier and a whole lot cheaper than everything that goes along with moving.

What I didn't realize when I planned the new configuration was how much change there would be in the way the room feels. I knew it would look different but I did not anticipate the freedom and joy this new perspective has given me. I have a "bonus" room now. I get to enjoy my backyard from the comfort of being inside where the temperature is under my control, there are no mosquitos or other pests, no dogs nosing or licking me and the rain never blows in to send me running. 

The other night I got to see the result of the sun beginning to set and hurried outside to snap a picture. It was just the beginning of sights that took my breath away.

I watched the moon rise over the carwash. At one point it was beautifully framed in the left, side window. A bough of the pine tree seemed to be cradling it.

While I was admiring that view I noticed I also had the benefit of enjoying my Christmas tree even though it sits in a corner behind where I was sitting.

Today the weather was beautiful for November. I took advantage of the opportunity and cleaned the windows. God willing, there are many more days and evenings to enjoy and I want to see as clearly as is possible. Can't do that through a dirty window.

Sometimes the benefits of a change go far beyond what we think they will be. 

I was looking for cozy. 

I got that, but I also received a bigger lens to see part of my world through.