The City Woodhaven

Well, I’ve landed, and landed well.

I dropped into mature pines, beautiful gardens, a quarter acre of land and right in the city. Who would have thought? Yep, I can hear sirens and a little traffic, mostly on nights there’s events in the big arena downtown but for the most part it’s really peaceful. There’s all sorts of neighbours: deer, squirrels, quail, red tailed hawk, magpies, dragonflies, bats, haven’t seen a bear (yet) and not convinced there’s cougars around but there might be. The human neighbours to the left are a lovely young couple and they have a pitbull-type dog I get to see when he’s in the yard – sweet as a mush. The other neighbours have two small dogs that ferociously bark when they’re protecting their territory but for the most part their squeaky toys make up the dog-soundscape. Pretty harmless. I can see three houses from my outdoor vantage point but they’re a good distance away and everyone is really friendly. The homeowners are fabulous! I’m not going to refer to them as landlords, it seems a little unbecoming of their generosity. They are simply lovely humans; family oriented and love the critters so much that when they thought about taking out trees they stopped because they realized that if they removed the pines the squirrels would lose their fly-highway. Seriously, go figure- what good people to care that much about the critters. They are good and kind and seem to be okay with me moving in at my own pace.

It was a lot of work finding a new home. I was up to my armpits in hunting down possibilities, seeing places, testing the waters, waiting, waiting, waiting. A little (or maybe a lot) of patience and a bushel of certainty that the right place would present itself and it did. Finally, on the 14th of August I went to see a place and the place was perfect, is perfect.

Honestly, there were many sleepless nights. I saw some fabulous suites and some derelict dumps that need to be reported to someone but I’m not sure who. In a climate of .06% vacancy people lowered the rent in my presence just to make sure they had a tenant for the first or the fifteenth of the month. Those were the people who knew they were renting an average or below average suite for the price of luxury (shameful really). I keep thinking I should write a ‘How To Find the Perfect Rental in a Zero Vacancy Market” type book. Why? Because it’s not about desperately seeking anywhere at a reasonable price, it’s about staying true to who you are and knowing there is somewhere that is also equally as true waiting for you. It calls for flexibility, patience, willingness to change your mind and the certainty that you will have to drag yourself through rat infested dumps to get there and those dumps (that need to be reported to someone but I’m not sure who) are vital to the process. You also need to make sure you’re willing to give as much as you get. Be a good tenant and you will find a good home owner. It helps to have brilliant references, a sense of humour and an understanding that people are trusting you with their investment. I know it’s not as simple as that but at least it’s a start in the right direction.