I realized after I posted last Saturday that it was the 2nd anniversary of when I met my log home for the first time. I do have to thank Facebook Memories for the reminder that on that very day, August 2nd, I embarked on a two hour drive with only my blind dog, Quint, by my side, to see a log home that I’d become obsessed with located in a town that I’d never even been to. 

Much like the premise for the British series, Escape to the Country, I’d chosen three very different homes within a few miles of each other and toured all three in one day. The third, the long cabin, was a long-shot and as It was late in the day when my realtor, Vicki, told me we had a 3:00pm appointment to see it. I almost blew it off. 

It was so hot.

The property was out of my league and price range.

“It’s too remote,” I declared to Quint as I followed Vicki down a long dirt road.

But, I also understood that I didn’t want to like it too much, only to be disappointed that it couldn’t be mine and that maybe it was just a pleasant diversion.

I’d come all that way, however, so really what harm would come of just taking a look?

Needless to say, things worked out and by the first of September that home was officially mine. It was an impulsive decision, I know, but I felt compelled to “find” it – nearly two years after the life as I knew it ended with the passing of Rich. 

It was a very big adjustment, and what started as me just searching for a small get away cabin to escape to within a two-hour radius to my home in Georgia, brought me to a place that I’d eventually come to call home. 

Crescent City, Florida, located between two lakes calls itself the ‘Oasis of Old Florida” and it truly is. This place isn’t your Grand Ma’s Miami or your Uncle Tony’s Tampa. It isn’t for everyone as there isn’t much to do in the way of shopping, or dining, and most still prefer the ocean or bay to the lakes that fill this region.

But I love the lack of distraction and a creative person, I am beginning to return to that version of myself.

There is something about the lush landscape of this region with its curving country roads lined with palmettos, live oaks and banana trees and endless miles of sylvan farmland dotted with bales of hay, herds of cattle and horses. It is in many ways the last bastion of a natural environment untouched by development, although that is encroaching surrounding areas, but more slowly here. 

Everyday I am in awe of the unique beauty of this place. But, it’s never lost on me that I’m here because of great loss. In 2020, when Rich and I closed on our Dream Home in Southeast Georgia, I figured life would carry on as planned. But life had other plans for me.

I’ve adjusted to living here. It’s good to be in the middle of the middle of nowhere, one hour from I-95 going north or south and not a whole lot along the way. I know it isn’t a lifestyle for everyone, but for now at least, it is for me.