over hill and dale in a little glen, the house of blue

on thursday dan and i loaded our two vehicles then slept.

on friday we convoyed through ohio into west virginia where i thought i might crash into a diesel truck because i was so dazed from the heat. it started to cool down on the mountain pass as night set in. we reached charlottesville thirteen hours after we departed that morning.

we reached sang's and thought we were locked out. but dan's instincts led him to look under the doormat for the keys, which were there. if you ever want to rob sang's house, look under the doormat.

we burst into the kind, air conditioned home, showered, and slept.

saturday morning we looked at a house that smelled like stale cigarettes and had sloping floor boards. it bordered the land surrounding monticello, the house thomas jefferson designed and lived in. he's dead now.

we also met tashi's teacher. she's terrific.

after lunch at the super cool hippy tea room we looked at another house, a "historic cottage" that was once a boarding place for uva students. it had four rooms that were exactly the same. each room had a working fireplace, a fold out desk, and a window seat. each room stank of mold and dust, despite the beauty of the dark hard-wood.

we were sweating so hard after that visit. so we collapsed in a heap back at sang's. i made lots of circles on housing classified ads, and then made lots of phone calls on our dying cell phone. two appointments were arranged.

one of the houses was an amazing work of architecture in the blue ridge mountains. it looked like a hobbit house or the home a medieval alchemist. it had spires with windows. but it only had one bedroom and the stove only had two burners. so we didn't take the house. But the owner, a sweet, down-to-earth potter, offered me a job at her gallery which is in a beautiful barn surrounded by tall flowers!

the other house, which is a surprising blue, is the house we will call home for at least a year. dan and i will each have an office! there is a huge yard full of trees. there is even a fire ring and a picnic table and a deck and a swing. some of the rooms in the house are yellow and the hard wood floors are shiny and new. there is a fireplace and a gas stove. it is obvious a lot of love has been put into fixing the house up. and the landlord has good sensibilities. for instance, he trusted us immediately. no credit check or application. we just handed him a check and suddenly we live in charlottesville. we hope you'll visit sometime.

dan and i celebrated by having blackened catfish and jambalaya at a tasty restaurant called "southern culture." afterwards we walked around the downtown pedestrian mall and then had some delicious beers at the microbrew called starr hill. we giggled the whole night and thanked the divas and deities.