why Florence...
As Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, alias Lenin, postulated 'Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.' We grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so it was probably inevitable that we would return one day. After 3½ decades in Los Angeles, the congestion, drought and nanny state interference had worn very thin. Time to move on...
the Decision
In the summer of 2015 we took a motor trip to Canada to visit Marylou's sister Ruth and husband Frank in an idyllic hamlet with the unlikely name of Bowser nestled on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island BC. Being an 'awaken with the birds' type in midsummer dictates 0445 for up and at 'em. We wandered evergreen lined roads, watched the deer watch us and inhaled lungfuls of pristine air all the while thinking 'We could live here.' We enjoyed a leisurely trip south along the Best coast.
the Move
We viewed 100's of houses online and engaged a broker for our home on 9/11*. Six weeks later the house went on the market... Brokers' open house on 10/23* drew more than 25 brokers. Buyers' open house on 10/25* drew more than 100 viewers. We were enjoying a coffee when the broker called at 5:30 and said 'I have 3 signed offers, 2 for more than you are asking.' We accepted on 10/27* for 12/7* close of escrow. November 1* we headed back to Oregon to find our new home. A week and a dozen homes later, we'd winnowed to 3. 11/9* Marylou chose Florence. We would be homeless in less than a month...
“...you're gonna LOVE it here...”
- * - portentous dates
- 9/11 - World Trade Center
- 10/23 - 10/27 - Cuban missile crisis
- 11/1 - All Saints
- 11/9 - Family de' Medici became rulers of Florence in 1494
- 12/7 - Pearl Harbor
