"Fortunately, Unfortunately" Or, Year 2, the Year of the House and the Dog

So we made it through our first year in Athens, enjoying the beautiful snow and the cold weather. After the Alabama heat, it was refreshing. However, we were in a rental house and really wanted a place of our own. The owners were OU faculty on sabbatical and we knew we couldn't stay there forever. So we set out to find a home of our own. I loved the fresh air and being so near the mountains brought peace and contentment, and thanksgiving to my Father for all of His creation for us to enjoy.

Fortunately we searched and did find a “little house in the big woods,” an old farm house that happened to be about 125 years old: 7901 North Coolville Ridge Road. It's a pretty cool name for a street, don't you think? An extra bonus was it was next door, right down the road from our friends Steve and Joan Safran. Plus it was also only five to ten minutes from McCracken Hall, down a beautiful windy roady, to my campus office.

Unfortunately it was only 800 square feet and had only one bedroom, one bath and one very small kitchen. Fortunately.....wait.....Pretty soon you'll surmise through this posting that I love Remy Charlip’s children's story, Fortunately, Unfortunately. I've shared this story with many, many children over the years. Why? It's perspective—the best is yet to come!

Fortunately the house came on an acre of our own land (with lots of grass to mow). And it was perfect—with lovely views from the windows, and green apples for Jenny to pick. It also had a downstairs that was not finished. Another challenge for later.

Unfortunately we wanted to have it ready by August. This would mean we would have to hustle to add a bedroom, bath, garage, back deck, front porch, and utility room, just the first orders of priority.

Fortunately we found a solid, reliable Appalachian carpenter named Ernie Weese who agreed to be our construction site manager and help Bill with the construction process. Bill was his go-fer a lot of the time and we couldn't have done it without Ernie. He's in the middle in the red shirt below.

Unfortunately we didn’t know what we were getting into—reconstruction like this is very different than the new construction we did in Oklahoma. We had to first tear this house down—to its mahogany(!) wall studs—to build it back into a good living situation that would meet our needs. We even found old newspapers in the walls dating back to the 1860’s. 

Fortunately there were breath-taking views. I did mention the views didn't I? The deer thought so too and they roamed our back yard freely. We were on the ridge of the mountains. We could see for miles across acres of forest and green trees. The seasons were spectacular.

Fortunately, to help with this little project we had two special blessings. Jenny had moved home for the summer before traveling on to make Brussels her next home. And Jonathan, after having won three state-wide AP press awards, decided to move back in with us and return to school to finish his degree. We put them both to work, Jonathan with the plumbing while Jenny hauled out tons of dry wall down from the attic! Take a look at the view below at what was going to become our bedroom window wall.

Fortunately, during this time, Steve and Joan happened to have an "extra dog" looking for a new home, a 9 month old Malamute, Husky, and Golden Retriever mix—50% each, Bill would like to say! He was a dog-and-a-half and was full of personality from the start. He had already been named Bear by Steve and Joan's daughter Elisa, and Bear and Jonathan became good friends—except when Bear pushed him out of his bed at night. However, he was the most human dog we ever had. 

Bear soon took ownership of the property and our hearts. He roamed freely and everyone who lived on “the ridge” knew and respected Bear. He lived there with us for 12 years. He loved the snow and built himself houses out of the powdery stuff. The top photo is our backyard in winter. And the bottom one is the great lover of snow, cold and ice.

Fortunately, Southeast Ohio is also full of beautiful lakes and streams, so one day we took off from work to get away from the "the house." We rented a pontoon boat and spent the day enjoying the water, scenery, and each other. We were relaxed and glad to be away from construction for a day.

Fortunately, as it turned out, we did get the renovation complete enough to move in, though the interior still needed work and Ernie would sometimes be inside the house working before we woke up. It reminded me of living in the village again when our landlady walked into our bedroom gazing benevolently on us and remarking on how that we were still sleeping at 7 a.m.

The completion of this house took many, many more months, but more on that next time, with pictures. As we began construction, Bill also began his PhD program in Computer Science at OSU, driving a four hour round trip between Athens and Columbus three times a week (there were no bypasses in those days for the cities of Lancaster and Nelsonville), and I began teaching my second year at OU. You can see below the joy we had with Bear, a very affectionate dog. You can also see the strength the project drained from us, especially Bill. We loved this home that we stayed in as a gift from our heavenly Father!

Romans 8:26-28: "In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will. We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose."