Sunday Sunday
I drove to Tarpon Springs on Sunday afternoon to see my friend Laura. She and her husband had moved into their house a little over a year ago and Laura and I kept saying we have to get together and it just never happened until yesterday.
Now, I live in a crooked little house that used to be a bungalow but through the years people robbed it of its original beauty and now it's just a long box without a whole lot going for it. Laura's house, on the other hand, is magnificent. More along the lines of a Frank Lloyd Wright design, it has many tall, tall windows and skylights and an open floor plan with a winding staircase to the second floor loft area with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and an open area filled with light. The main floor has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an office, plus kitchen and breakfast nook and living/dining area with a floor-to-ceiling fireplace, wood floors, and tall windows that look out onto a covered pool, and beyond that, to a nature preserve. How many square feet I don't know but it's spacious and airy and it's the kind of house you'd see in the Pacific Northwest, not in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Yeah, I'm a little bit envious. There's no booming rap music, no garbage or used condoms on the streets, no loose dogs, no one yelling, no one working on/revving up old cars, no prostitutes, no drug dealers standing on the corner, no teen boys circling the neighborhood on bicycles looking for an opportunity to steal. So, yeah, I'm a tad envious. It was hard to come home. I'd like to live a richer life in a more civilized and genteel environment but that takes money, and that's the one thing that has eluded me in this life. Don't know why. I'm an educated, intelligent person but money rarely comes my way and if it happens to stop awhile in my hands, it quickly disappears on necessities and emergencies. The why of it is probably something for a psychiatrist but going to a psychiatrist takes money and, guess what, I don't have the money.
I read an article on DailyOm that says we shouldn't compare ourselves to others because we all are one-of-a-kind individuals with unique talents, experiences, personalities, etc. I buy that but it takes a lot for me not to hold my life up against Laura's higher status life, Laura, who doesn't have to work, who lives in this stunning house in a peaceful neighborhood full of multimillion-dollar homes. I know this is superficial stuff - just because someone lives in a beautiful home doesn't mean that her life is any happier or more fufilling than mine. But it sure would be nice to live my life in a beautiful home in a peaceful and serene neighbhorhood. I had that when I was a child but those days are long gone and it's really true that you never know what you had until it's gone....
Now, I live in a crooked little house that used to be a bungalow but through the years people robbed it of its original beauty and now it's just a long box without a whole lot going for it. Laura's house, on the other hand, is magnificent. More along the lines of a Frank Lloyd Wright design, it has many tall, tall windows and skylights and an open floor plan with a winding staircase to the second floor loft area with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and an open area filled with light. The main floor has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an office, plus kitchen and breakfast nook and living/dining area with a floor-to-ceiling fireplace, wood floors, and tall windows that look out onto a covered pool, and beyond that, to a nature preserve. How many square feet I don't know but it's spacious and airy and it's the kind of house you'd see in the Pacific Northwest, not in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Yeah, I'm a little bit envious. There's no booming rap music, no garbage or used condoms on the streets, no loose dogs, no one yelling, no one working on/revving up old cars, no prostitutes, no drug dealers standing on the corner, no teen boys circling the neighborhood on bicycles looking for an opportunity to steal. So, yeah, I'm a tad envious. It was hard to come home. I'd like to live a richer life in a more civilized and genteel environment but that takes money, and that's the one thing that has eluded me in this life. Don't know why. I'm an educated, intelligent person but money rarely comes my way and if it happens to stop awhile in my hands, it quickly disappears on necessities and emergencies. The why of it is probably something for a psychiatrist but going to a psychiatrist takes money and, guess what, I don't have the money.
I read an article on DailyOm that says we shouldn't compare ourselves to others because we all are one-of-a-kind individuals with unique talents, experiences, personalities, etc. I buy that but it takes a lot for me not to hold my life up against Laura's higher status life, Laura, who doesn't have to work, who lives in this stunning house in a peaceful neighborhood full of multimillion-dollar homes. I know this is superficial stuff - just because someone lives in a beautiful home doesn't mean that her life is any happier or more fufilling than mine. But it sure would be nice to live my life in a beautiful home in a peaceful and serene neighbhorhood. I had that when I was a child but those days are long gone and it's really true that you never know what you had until it's gone....
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