Isn't it amazing how our cities and towns have changed over the years? We think back when we were children and remember where a store used to be, or a park we used to go to often. Now we look at it and it may be a Shopping Mall, or a new Community. We just sit there and think what good times we had and maybe even miss them a little bit, or a lot.
I read a post earlier today by JudyAnn Lorenz titled Guns, Germs & Steel --- It still happens and it really made me think. What it made me think about was pretty much off topic but it brought back some great memories. The more I thought about it, the deeper I thought about when I was a child. I thought about Dreams and Aspirations and about how it's amazing how we change-along with our towns. We change to stay up with the times.
As a child I loved Animals and Wildlife. We used to have some woods at the end of our street and I loved going in the woods to see what I could find, getting lost and finding my way out. When I was in High School I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. I thought about how amazing it would be to study the Oceans. Not necessarily because of the Marine Life, but because the Oceans are virtually the only thing on the Planet that has not been completely overrun by Humans. We can't build houses down there. We do not have any Shopping Malls under water. The Marine Life in the Oceans have the place to themselves. How Amazing would that be?
Before I get too off topic here, the post also reminded me of Family Vacations. Much of my Extended Family lives in Oklahoma and Kansas. When we went to visit family I would get to spend weeks on Farm Property. Acres upon Acres of Ranches. I absolutely LOVED it. I could ride Horses from Dawn 'til Dusk. There were no houses as far as you could see! Just Land!
But the one thing that JudyAnn's post reminded me of the most was a Road Trip through the Ozark Mountains that my family took as a child.
I remember the Roads being Long and Winding. It felt like it took forever to get anywhere but that was OK with me. It was Gorgeous! Just GREEN Mountains and Hilltops as FAR as you could see. Nothing but trees, grass, flowers-occasionally a house.
One house in particular caught my eye. It was one Lonely house on top of a Huge Hilltop. I remember telling my Dad "I want THAT house one day!" It was not a Big house. That is not why I wanted it. It was the fact that it was the ONLY one you could see for miles. It was so secluded that I can't even imagine what it would take to drive to it.
I remember thinking what it would be like to live in that house. You could see for miles from your front porch. You would be surrounded by Wild Life. Real Wild Life. Not Wild Life that has had to adapt to the Ever Changing Topography of the City and its Suburbs. Imagine what that would be like! You would be a guest on the Mountain.
I think I was about 11 when we took that trip. As you grow up you sometimes forget about those small Dreams. Look around us now. Everything has changed in the past 20-30 years. Some towns are unrecognizable they have grown so much. What happened to preserving some of our nations beauty? Something tells me that if I drove down that road now, I would not be able to find that house I wanted so much.
Imagine what it would be like if Large Towns would Redevelop Older or Abandoned areas instead of growing wider and larger. Do you think that would ever work? Will all of these New Construction Homes be needed 30 years from now? Will the homes built in 1960 still be needed 30-40 years from now? JudyAnn's post really got me thinking tonight.
This photo I borrowed from janeAnne Narrin. How gorgeous is that! Not a home to be seen. The kid in me would still love to have a home on top of that big Mountain WAY in the back of the photo. Thank you janeAnne for letting me use this!
Steph,
Another great analogy. It brings back memories of my childhood also. Thanks for sharing. Take car.
I know of where you speak. My wife is from down in the Ozark Mountains. Of course, she is one of the few that didn't marry a cousin. :)
Hi Paula, I love Victorians!! I am so jealous! What an amazing memory. 360 acres. Wow. When you get that Victorian please share photos!! :)
Hi Chris, Do you have any photos to share? :)
Stephanie - I am glad JudyAnn inspired you to write this post. Excellent, as always. You say...
Imagine what it would be like if Large Towns would Redevelop Older or Abandoned areas instead of growing wider and larger.
How about this for an idea - What if those older, inefficient homes were disassembled. What if the materials that could be saved were recycled to a place like Odom's, and a new, energy efficient HI Performance Home built on those sites to revitalize the worn down parts of the city?
It would be a huge project and undertaking but I think it would work and it would have a life cycle payback of a few short years.
Hi Steph -
My favorite childhood memory was my parent's cottage on the lake. Getting away every weekend in the summer months and just having fun. Learning to swim in a lake was something I remembered with my Dad.
Like you, we too had road trips. Picture in the 70's, six children and a buick station wagon on a road trip that needs shock absorbers...LOL
And me and my sister getting the third seat in the back, which sat backwards, and us goofing off and giving those honk your horn hand signs to the truckers.
I miss the town I grew up in so much, I want to move back. My Mom still lives in that big house, now with one of my sisters and her older kids because it is 6 bdrms and Mom won't sell. But since my Dad passed, my sister, who is divorced, step up to the plate and moved in the house.
I have a laundry list of child hood memories, when I think of them, many make me teary eyed because I miss my Dad so much.
It only goes to show we are only here for a short time, but when we lose our love ones, the memories still fill our hearts.
Hi Mary, I was thinking the same thing and you saw where I was headed with that one. :) I don't think it would be as huge of a project and ripping down forests of trees, mapping electrical, gas, phone and water lines...Making infrastructure, putting in street lights, having to worry about drainage and putting together massive Engineering to prevent flooding....
Ok, we get the point. Sounds easier now, huh?
Hi Maggie, That sounds like great times! I'm sorry to hear about your father. I think you should write about it.
Actually, all in favor of Childhood Memories as they pertain to Real Estate say AYE.
Childhood? Okay, let me dig back quite a few years...remember ...your 20 to 30 is more like 40 for me. haha! (50 is coming very soon) Anyway, childhood memories for me is here....and there were not but one freeway and it only went so far...there wasn't traffic....there were high rises in town...not out this way.
Life was simple. My life in real estate is still....simple. I still think about a bunch of land with all sorts of animals....and then I think....too much work...for real.
Stephanie! Yes Yes! You get where I am going also! I was talking with Adam the other day. There are a couple of Doctors on the lakeshore who are so disappointed with their recently built (less than 10 yr old) home they have decided to disassemble it and build an ICF house on the property they love. They do not personally want to reuse any of the materials because they abhor the place -- the materials will be recycled. Research has been done as to payback and it is a short period of time.
I see this as a viable alternative -- we are the "proud" owners of two monstronsities build in the 1920's that we rent out. I would love to be able to do away with them and start over!
When I visit home, it is a step back in time. Some of the area's that were separate communities back then, are now stores, restaurants that lead from one to another. Long country roads are filled with sub's. It is sad from my perspective to see it.
Yes, gorgeous picture.
I see I'm not the only person who's been going down memory lane lately! Must be something in the Rain!
Curiously, I love wide open spaces too, without a house to be seen...I say curiously, because most agents would probably look at the same scene and wonder what they could sell it to a developer for...lol
Stephanie...this is so familiar!! I was in VA a couple weeks ago and I had spent many summers "there" as a child. It still looks the same...the church I went to then is still there-and even some of the same people! (I ran into a lady who went to elementary school with my Dad) Anyhow, the towns there are still small, 25-35 mph on the roads and very much unincorporated! Just outside the town(s) were the interstates that lead us to the BIG CITIES. Amazingly this town is about 45 minutes from Washington, DC! Amazing!!
AND THEN...I came home to a town I've watched grooooowww over the years! I've been here 30 years and watched the growth. I actually enjoy sharing the stories with my clients who have chosen to move here of HOW IT USED TO BE!!
THANK YOU for the walk down memory lane!! I am truly inspired!
Hi Thesa, That's amazing. My Graduating class was over 500 and they are even bigger today! Sunriver strikes me as the type of town that would be affected by this. It seems like such a small town feel...but getting bigger everyday.
Mary, I think it is time that we started thinking about more innovative ways to grow. Here in Houston we have so many bayous, creeks, streams and some protected Wetlands that designing a new neighborhood takes a lot of planning to take them OUT of the flood zone. I personally don't think that this is really the answer.
Seems to me that putting 5 homes per acre will sigificantly affect drainage. I don't know about all of this, but common sense tells me that this is hurting more than we realize.
That is very interesting about the Doctors...Sounds like good Blogging Material...Hint...Hint... :)
Thanks Jack, I would love to hear more about your home in Kentucky.
Hi Missy, Isn't that amazing? This type of stuff affects society in so many ways-if you really sit and think about it. It's a Domino Effect.
Hi Karen, It's memory lane time. :) I love open spaces...it's not just open spaces though. It's Nature in general. Hummm...
Hi Susie, Isn't that fun! I enjoy telling relo clients how the Grocery Stores here had dirt floors and the FM roads were truly Farm to Market. Now it's Skyscraper to Mall. :) I would love to hear more about your town!
Hi Matt, Thanks for stopping by! I agree with that!!
Stephanie, I moved 19 time before I graduated from high school....and to think back over those communities and the redevelopment that has taken place is amazing. I grew up in cities so I was over forty years old before I ever lived in a home without a sidewalk.
Of course it was in the burbs.....with the city knocking at the door to incorporate. The changes have been many but luckily we still have some very beautiful places that have vistas like your photos. Nice post. Thanks for making me remember.
Hi Stephanie - I really enjoyed this post, and loved how you took us back to your childhood place.
As I was growing up, all I ever wanted to do was live in one place and go to the same school that everyone else did. I grew up in the Air Force, and we moved, on average, every 3 years or so. New friends, new bases, new schools. I always envied those kids who knew each other all their lives. But now, and for many years now, I wouldn't trade the way my sisters and I grew up for anything in the world...... but that's what I wanted as I was living it and growing up. Not now though. I see how lucky we really were - to have traveled to different places around the country, experience all kinds of different things that prepared us for all kinds of things in life, especially learning how to adapt quickly, and knowing that no matter what, we had each other to depend on no matter where we lived.
For us, that old saying 'Home is where the heart is" had a different meaning than for those who always lived in the same place. It meant wherever we were living at the time, my mom and dad made wonderful homes for us, no matter the kind of house no matter where in the country it was.
Glad you post got a gold star!
Ann
Stephanie~
I sure loved reading this thoughtful post...Thanks 10,000 times for your continued work to give us great reading. Like many others who commented here, I would not recognize my old neighborhood...disease got the old Elms on the once tree-lined streets ......but new trees have been planted and the 100+ year old homes are now in the process of restoration...
Thanks Susie!!
Hi Dan, Wal Mart is taking over huh? :) I am seeing the same thing with the large parcels here. What used to be Family farm land is being sold and developed. Where I used to be able to go watch cows, I can see homes now. Kinda sad when you think about it.
Thanks Pamela, I saw you got one the other day! Are you going to host the Meet and Greet this week?
Hi Rosario, It is really something how different areas see development in different areas. The closest thing we have to a Mountain here is the ant bed in our front yard. It is pastures being developed here. BUT, I bet..like I said, if I took a trip back to the Ozarks it would look quite different. What are you seeing in your area?
Hi Gary, Thanks for taking a walk down memory lane with us. :) I'm glad to hear that there are still some undeveloped areas. The cities want all of the burbs don't they? Seeing that here too.
Hi Jonathan, Why not? I agree.
Hi Ann, Wow. I think you were lucky too. Have you ever gone back to visit some of those places? 'Home is where the heart is' ... Sounds like you and your sister understand the true meaning. It is really about family. Atleast to me. ;) Why don't you write a post about this? That would be interesting.
Hi Mana, A tour guide? Really? Your esxperience sounds like it would make a good post too!
Hi janeAnne, Thank you for the great compliment! The homes are being restored? That would be something to see.
Your comment about the Tree lined streets..sounds gorgeous! I'm glad that they replanted some more. AND it gave me a good idea for a post. :) I think I will head out with my camera tomorrow.
Stephanie,
Your blog reminded me of the family trip we took on the Blue Ridge Parkway a few years ago. We drove the entire parkway and parts of it have views with no homes in sight. There are some parts, especially near Roanoke, VA where development is backing up to this scenic road. There were a few overlooks where pine trees have been planted to block the view of what used to be scenic hills but are now housing developments.
Stephanie.........Great thoughts...............But life is for living now......in the present.........enjoy.
Congrats on your feature blog...........Duane Hosek in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Hi Stephanie - I just might, thanks for suggesting that. I never would have thought to even consider, but I just may now.
I still am enjoying this post!!
Ann
Hi Lane, I think I will visit your blog! :) Sounds very interesting.
Hi Rita, Do you have any pictures from the Blue Ridge Mountains? I would love to see them. I can only picture what it would have been like to travel for miles with no homes. Aaahh. Nature.
Hi Katerina, Thanks!! Happy B-day to your son and I can't wait to read that post!
Hi Duane, Thanks! I try to live for the day...but to live it for the future. :) Hope that made sense.
Thanks Bob and Carolin!
Hi Marchel, what part of Kansas? That all sounds interesting. I love horses, they are gorgeous animals!
Hi Ann, Glad you are still enjoying it! I hope to see that post!
Stephanie, I have relatives all over Kansas. I am originally from Wichita. My parents were from Kinsley, close to Dodge City, my cousins farm was in Waverly over by Burlington and my husbands grandpa's farm was in Alton up close to Osbourne. His parents still own land up there, it has been in their family for over 100 years; that's a long time in the west.
My parent always lived in big ramblers (one story Homes). I always wanted to live in a house with 2 stories (a colonial or a cape cod) with a staircase. I had visions of being a bride and coming down a staircase or throwing my bridal bouguet down some stairs, or having Rhett Butler carry me up some beautiful staircase! Well I walked down the aisle in a church and threw my bouguet into a crowd on the dance floor at the reception - there were no staircases. But - every house I have bought has had a staircase or steps and 2 stories. LOL
Hi Marchel, my parents are from the Southern part of Kansas. My Uncle that passed away years ago lived in Garden City...that was the last time I was up that far. Everyone else lives in Oklahoma. My Aunt lives in Medford (way Northern part). Sounds like interesting land that your husband's family has!
Hi Debbie, That's funny. Maybe you can renew your vows and have your staircase. :)