We're in! We squeezed our 2300 sq ft home's worth of possessions into Casa Del Sol's cockroach infested* 1500 sq ft. The former owner left us the clogs and the Casa Del Sol sign, you will be pleased to hear. He also bequeathed several electrical outlets that don't work, a side yard full of broken plant pots and random street furniture, and the ugliest blinds I've ever seen. It feels a bit makeshift - the old IKEA Expedit and some plastic drawers have been pressed back into service and half our possessions are in boxes in the garage - but it works.
And life on Loma is good! Here's why.
Being 1/4 mile closer to the beach makes a dramatic difference to how beachy life feels. Moving to a quieter street helps too. I love seeing all the beach-goers walking by our house: the Junior Guards walking by in their swimsuits and hoodies, barefoot surfers, kids in red wagons. It's friendlier here too. All the dog walkers pass by on their way to Clark Field and naturally they wave to the people who live in the house they walk by every day. More neighbours have introduced themselves to us in the past two weeks than in four years at the old place. Most of them knew the former owner, most of them have lived here for years. Loma Drive looks like an alleyway - not much sidewalk, not many front yards, lots of scruffy old beach rentals. It's not like one of those charming family streets in the Tree Section with the Cape Cod houses, green front lawns, 'kids playing here' signs and basketball hoops on the drive. But the community vibe is, or so it appears, just as strong. All we need is to recruit a first grader for P to play with, and a teenage babysitter, and we will be fully embedded.
So the street is great. And we love the property itself more than I expected. Not the actual house, as above. But the lot is basically perfect. Having that path down to Clark Field on the southern side gives us a whole borrowed landscape of trees and sky, and a sense of space which is rare in the Sand Section where everyone builds as close to their fence line as code allows. I can't wait to be in my sleek modern courtyard enjoying it.
Only a couple of years to wait. More on that next time. For now I'm going to make a cup of tea and sit in my front yard saying hi to the dog walkers and beach goers.
*Oops, did I just say that out loud? Any warm feelings I have towards the charm of an old beach cottage evaporated when I saw that little bastard lying on its back in the garage. The Orkin guys said it wasn't a bad infestation. And I gave him full permission to spray the living daylights out of the place (before we moved in). Then I discovered the massive colony living on the hot dog stand in Clark Field. Fortunately the City took care of that within hours of my panic stricken phone call. So we are bug free - for now. Not counting termites. And the wasp nest the owner refused to remove because we'd accepted the free golf cart. This is a porous house. If a bug wants in, it can come in.
And life on Loma is good! Here's why.
Being 1/4 mile closer to the beach makes a dramatic difference to how beachy life feels. Moving to a quieter street helps too. I love seeing all the beach-goers walking by our house: the Junior Guards walking by in their swimsuits and hoodies, barefoot surfers, kids in red wagons. It's friendlier here too. All the dog walkers pass by on their way to Clark Field and naturally they wave to the people who live in the house they walk by every day. More neighbours have introduced themselves to us in the past two weeks than in four years at the old place. Most of them knew the former owner, most of them have lived here for years. Loma Drive looks like an alleyway - not much sidewalk, not many front yards, lots of scruffy old beach rentals. It's not like one of those charming family streets in the Tree Section with the Cape Cod houses, green front lawns, 'kids playing here' signs and basketball hoops on the drive. But the community vibe is, or so it appears, just as strong. All we need is to recruit a first grader for P to play with, and a teenage babysitter, and we will be fully embedded.
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| The view from the beach swings: the little white houses at the top of that short hill are on Loma. |
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| Picture this only without the cockamamie yard in the foreground. |
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