How I Bought Patience

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I got a big dose of patience this year in the form of four walls and a home loan. Ok, so you can’t “buy” patience, but when my husband and I bought a house a whole host of trials came in an unwritten postscript beneath the many dotted lines we signed. Between rules and requirements of loan companies, zoning regulations, and all the unexpected expenses and complications that came with the house, I learned about patience. From October of last year until May of this year I learned about waiting to move into a house that you had already committed to. You know those big yellow books about the Dummies’ Guide to such and so forth? I have some recommendations for one about buying a house.

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Rejoice in Rainy Days

 

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I’ve never really minded rain. Even when I was in college, walking between classes with my umbrella that kept my hair dry but still let my jeans get soaked up to my knees, it usually didn’t bother me. Of course, I didn’t particularly enjoy sitting in wet socks and tennis shoes trying to focus on a lecture while the air conditioning educated my toes about the meaning of wind chill. But I noticed something; I tend to notice odd things. Rain somehow made everyone take themselves less seriously. Some people would be grumpy. But many people would be quicker to offer a stray greeting or casual remark as we shook rain off umbrellas outside front doors of the large brick buildings. With brightly colored circles dancing across campus, it looked and felt like a different place. All in all, not a bad trade off.

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Use Those Senses

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Right now there is cracker crumb crusted chicken with tomatoes and red, orange, and yellow peppers baking in the oven. One of my favorite smells is baking vegetables. Roasted tomatoes are different than fresh, which are different than tomatoes in ketchup. One of the brightest greens in nature are green beans when they are just beginning to cook. They turn nearly fluorescent. Honeysuckle vines on mountain trees in mid June are a delicate golden and cream with a scent so sweet you want to close your eyes and not think about anything else for just a minute. Every cat’s purr and meow is a little different. Some sound like they are a squeaky toy that is well used. Some purr in their meows as though they are asking a question. There’s nothing quite like the sound of water to create a feeling of relaxation. A gentle stream softly clapping pebbles or the sound of all the water in the sea rushing onto a beach.
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