I started this thread a little over a year ago as Lynda and I began serious work and planning for our next adventure as we continue to get more senior.
Having been here for a long time, I believe a number of others will face such "moving on". Some of our wonderful Pond Boss friends didn't get to plan what would happen to the dreams they built. Others, like
George Glazener kept us learning about ponds, fish, fishing and living life to the fullest through through end-of-life challenges as he approached his next journey.
This is a little more about our next step of slowly moving on.
We recently bought a home in the city of Winchester, VA. It is less than 15 miles from our WV home/ponds -- what I jokingly refer to as Catmandoo Estates and Ponds. I'll miss it tremendously, but ...
Although the new home in VA is close by, it is about 500 feet lower in elevation than our WV home. Thus, it doesn't get anywhere near as much snow, and is usually about 10 degrees warmer in the winter. The home is on just 0.2 acres, so there will be minimal yard work. It adjoins several acres of conservation "out lot" and a state-owned right-of-way. So, I can feel like I'm still in the country, and I'll still be able to pee in the back yard. We'll still be close to long-time friends and family.
With this home, we can now determine what we need to keep, and what more we can get rid of. The new city home is making planning a lot easier.
A few years ago as part of this journey, we bought the home I'm at tonight. It is on Oak Island, in very south eastern NC. where we've vacationed and owned homes since about 1980. I arrived here just before high tide yesterday afternoon. I quickly loaded my fishing cart onto our golf cart, and headed to the ocean surf. Fishing was crazy good. I just finished a meal of some of fish I caught in the front yard yesterday evening. I've got enough fillets for two or three more meals.
Although our beach home is a single family house with a garage, it is designated as a condominium. We have about a 1/4 acre yard. We've even got a nice 1/8 acre alligator pond outside the back sunroom and deck on common property. But, being listed as a condominium, an association is responsible for everything external to the interior of the house and garage. So, no mowing, roof maintenance, outdoor painting, landscape maintenance, etc., yet I can have a garden and do my own landscaping if I so desire.
So, our next goal is to finish getting our WV home ready for sale, and to get it sold.
I got a very happy surprise when I checked-in a deer early last week. I mentioned to the DNR people that it was probably the last WV deer I would harvest. I was concerned that my WV "lifetime resident" hunting/fishing was not going to be valid when I moved back across the border into VA. They said it was truly a lifetime license -- no matter where I lived. I called the head DNR office where they verified that I will be able to continue to hunt and fish with this license until I die.
I figure we are well into the next phase of out life journey.
Life is good.
