We cleaned the old apt. on Saturday and handed over the keys on Sunday. I felt less nostalgia than I thought I would for a place that I had lived in for longer than any other actual address. I remember being quite devastated to leave, as a child, the house where I had lived perhaps six years, from VietNam to about third or fourth grade, but then years are so much longer when you are a child and the nature of our going more traumatic. For all my being moved, I have actually had to pack up a house only twice--same as my husband who lived in his childhood home until 10 years ago. I would do it differently next time--in some ways the fact we had a week after the moving vans came sabotaged us (my husband more than me). But all in all as (mentally) painless as could be hoped. Physically is another matter. Walking down the stairs in the morning is a bit of a shock to the knees. A new place, a bigger place, and a two story place has led to a Zen like deliberateness in every day actions
nov·el /ˈnɒvəl/ –adjective/ of a new kind; different from anything seen or known before: a novel idea. *** eye -noun/ 6. the power of seeing; appreciative or discriminating visual perception: the eye of an artist. 8. an attentive look, close observation, or watch 9. regard, view, aim, or intention 10. a manner or way of looking at a thing