Did you know that Baba Yaga, the witch from Slavic folklore, lived in a house that stands on chicken legs? How cool is that? Irritated with your surroundings? Want a change of scenery? Stretch out those chicken legs and move on down the road.
I haven’t moved enough to consider myself a real nomad, but I grew up on the east coast and have moved all around the west coast and I’ve never really felt like any geographic region is my home.
In 2021 I traded a lovely house in Portland, OR for a tiny freestanding rental in sunny California. I miss the sense of pride in ownership, but I don’t miss having my stuff own me, or feeling stuck in one place.
I now live in a dilapidated middle house on a lot with three houses down the driveway. All three are dilapidated, but the one facing the street is bigger and the one in back is smaller. Mine is in the middle. It’s probably grand total of 650 sq. feet plus a tiny backyard/patio area.
The house is almost 100 years old and is in rough shape. That’s how we can afford a place 4 miles from the beach! The floor is about to give in in the kitchen and bathroom and overall it’s a patchwork of 90+ years of poorly done repairs. But I love it and I could tell from the beginning it was magical. (I’ll tell you another time about the polar vortex and the various plant life that is slowly eating the house.)
Keep your peepers popped for soon to be released posts on finding the magic in ordinary spaces, and adding to it to create a cozy safe hermitage where good energy stays in and bad energy stays out.