Whenever I sit down to write, and I’m staring at that daunting, impenetrable Blank Page, I make a promise first to myself and then to readers that I will get to the point as quickly, as effectively, and as efficiently as possible. That’s called good writing. That’s called active voice. How many times have you read something that rambles on and asked yourself, Is there a point to this?
Just that I wrote the above paragraph might give you the impression this week’s Happy Trails is walking dangerously close to not having any point, as it might take me a minute (or a few hundred words, but who’s counting) for the real point to develop. That said, bear with me because this week I’m writing about confusion.
All my life, I had a different view of what was considered old than most of my peers. I grew up surrounded by an older crowd, which makes me perfect for feeling natural in Sun City.
To me, a man walking the tightrope of his thirties, trying to balance my career and marriage while lining myself up to finally start a family, buy a home to put that family in, I’m often envious of so many Sun City residents I see. More than not, what I see in Sun City is contentment, and that is a beautiful thing.
What I do not see a lot of in Sun City is confusion (let’s put aside 2011’s Sun City politics here). There have been numerous studies on the correlation of aging and memory loss. I’ve said before that for the most part, I think this is hogwash. Fine, your body gets older, it degenerates, perhaps your mind isn’t the Quad Core Pentium Processor it once was, but it’s still there processing more information than what a computer will ever achieve.
Confusion. Now here’s the culprit to true memory loss and disorientation at any age. You’re never too young for confusion. Frankly, in my opinion, the older you get, the less confused you might be. Perhaps that’s wishful expectations on the adage “with age comes wisdom.” But I hope not.
Do you want to know why I work in newspapers? Because they don’t confuse me. I can always see the line, so to speak. No matter how tough it gets, no matter how much information comes my way, I don’t waiver, I don’t derail, I stay on course. I stay organized. And I have fun. Yes, sometimes it’s a balancing act, but if I can’t manage it all, I can usually see how to level the playing field, whereas, when I worked in other professions, balancing was beyond me. I was simply confused.
Recently, though, I got knocked off my rocker briefly. By briefly, I mean a few weeks.
My wife Erika and I are in the process of buying a home. Well, trying to buy one. But it seems everyone we try to buy a home from really doesn’t want to sell it. And I don’t blame sellers for that, because every home we looked at was either in short sale or close to it.
Home #1: The sellers were unwilling to negotiate, countering our offer with a $2,000 price reduction to their list price.
Home #2: We negotiated a real deal, but despite the contract’s inclusions, when the sellers moved out, we found the house empty of most everything (this included items like the water heater and water softener and lighting fixtures and trivialities like outlet and vent covers) and at an interior temperature of 34 degrees. Ice was forming in the toilet bowls. We shuddered at what was happening to the plumbing.
Home #3: This has been the champion of confusing and frustrating situations. I’ll skip the details, as we’re still in the midst of this one and don’t yet know if we’re going to be “selected” (yes, this is the correct word) by the seller’s side as the “appropriate” or more accurately “most capable” buyer.
In short, the entire process has been like the Big Bad Wolf trying to huff and puff and blow our house down, leaving us not knowing if we’re coming or going or, worse, staying.
But, hey, if you can’t go around the forest, I guess you have to go through it.
Boy, whoever knew finding a place to settle down in could be so unsettling! After this, I’ll be surprised if I even remember where I put the keys to my own house!
On a personal note, Erika and I would like to thank Melanie Winberg, Tom Hall, and the entire staff of Huntley Realty for keeping our confusion in check and always bringing fun to the roller coaster ride of today’s real estate market!
