We Bought A Cabin

I was folding underwear in our bedroom, watching NFL football and enjoying the one place in our house where you can’t hear Elijah and Luca screaming over Fortnite. It was, dare I say, peaceful?

I was suddenly called from my underwear peace to our office, where Diana showed me the cabin she wanted to buy. Diana then explained her reasons as I curled up in a ball on our hardwood floor.

We had a little money in the bank for a down payment. Plus, the wine store was doing well enough to cover mortgage payments, etc. We only have a few more years with the boys before they turn into teenager jerks and don’t want to hang out with us anymore. It would be great to build some memories and traditions. I wasn’t able to get away this summer due to my insane work schedule, so a weekend place would be practical. And most importantly, it would be a place where the boys would actually see nature instead of play Fornite every minute of every day.

“Guh,” I said. Followed by, “Guh.”

Over the next few days, our family split into two distinct groups: Eli was all for it. He loves buying things. Luca, on the other hand, felt it was too much money and recommended several annuities and IRAs, or investing our money in Fortnite.

In the end, Luca and I acquiesced because taking away a blind lady’s cabin was a real jerk move.

We spent a few days in our new cabin putting together new furniture and speaking with the resident handyman. His answer to every one of our questions was, “This is a cabin in the middle of a forest. What do you expect?” I forced the boys to go outside several times and allowed them to carry a football as a tether to the civilized world. We visited the local Italian restaurant and immediately fell in love with its amazingly dated décor and menu. Luca and I went hunting for the rumored hunting stand on our property and worried about becoming the hunted. We even installed a wonderfully spotty Wifi connection.

The morning we left for Evanston, I paused on the little bridge overlooking our creek while taking the trash to the street. Rain ratatataded the leaves. The air was just cool enough for a jacket. I couldn’t see our neighbors through the trees.

Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation. My blood pressure was no longer in the “Immediate Heat Attack” range. Was I actually…relaxed?

We all piled in the car and hit the post Thanksgiving traffic on the way home and my blood pressure went right back where it belonged.