Lady of the Townhouse

Even when traveling the wilds of the
Northwest, I enjoy baking and cleaning.

Keeping a blog has been nearly impossible the past few days, mostly because my new home doesn’t have wifi. Still, I sit at my new townhouse and type these words on my computer, planning to find my way to an Internet connection soon, so I can once again connect with the anonymous outside world.

My last name is different, and my life along with it. Abruptly I find myself to be the lady of the house, and if the fridge is a wreck and the dishes don’t get done, it’s my responsibility. I kiss my husband goodbye when he leaves for work, and go errand-running with him on the days he’s off. It’s been hard to focus on my writing and editing, because I find it difficult to switch gears from Fifties Housewife to Focused Teacher— cooking and sweeping are sweet meditative pastimes, whereas editing often leaves me staring into space thinking of what kitchen supplies we still need to buy. 

The best part about our townhouse, aside from the laughably-70s avocado-colored fridge and stove, is the neighborhood. The townhouses are sandwiched together in groups of six neat little domiciles built in the 40s for the families of munitions factory workers. It’s still a neighborhood of low-income families, with gaggles of small children running around. On weekdays the kids huddle at the bus stop across the street, and the neighborhood is silent until they all return and start shrieking-loud games of tag or war or hide-and-seek that last well after dark. I welcome the outside noise; it makes me feel like part of the neighborhood, and I find it refreshing to see children frolic in the fresh air without paranoid adults hovering over them.

The house is still mostly empty, so this week we’re going to start moving the rest of my stuff. In the meantime, I live out of a suitcase, cook meals, plan room layouts, and try to shake myself out of a dish-washing trance long enough to get my editing work done. My new life awaits. For many years I have been a taker; now it’s time to start being a giver.

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