I'll miss...

…knowing that it’s really time to get up when Sarah shuts the door downstairs as she leaves for work – shaking the townhouse ever so slightly. I’ll miss debating what should be done with Boris. I’ll miss fireflies lighting up the bushes and the cricket’s song on summer nights. I’ll miss the neighborhood boys playing football and the always delightful smell wafting from the window of a downstairs neighbor. I’ll miss watching thunderstorms through the big downstairs windows, the ensuing power outages, and the late-night candlelit conversations that follow. And rushing to the window on winter mornings to see if the big storm had actually come.

I’ll miss barbeques, Saturday morning coffee, and lingering dinners on the porch. I’ll miss having room to host 40 people, and the way a Christmas tree looks in the living room… even when it’s being held up by a rope tied through the window. I’ll miss the pink and white blooms of the tree in back painting springtime into our living room. I’ll even miss the way the shower can never really hold a consistent temperature for more than three minutes. And the more recently-acquired quirk of the kitchen light not wanting to turn on until about three minutes after you flip the switch.

I’ll miss how the larger bedroom tends to smell overwhelmingly like whatever is cooking downstairs. And the cranberry-stained stairs themselves. I’ll miss waking up to the wafting scent of nearby coffee on Sunday mornings because Sarah has wonderfully made and brought a cup of the good stuff to my bedside. Far more pleasant than an alarm any day.

I’ll miss Allis’ library, Ashley’s highly stealable wardrobe, and, yes, the way Sarah organizes the dishwasher. I’ll miss quick jaunts to Old Town to sit on the waterfront or go to Mai Thai or Union Street. I’ll miss walks through all sorts of weather in the neighborhood behind our complex, our little piece of suburbia, winding to Green Springs Park.

But, there is much to look forward to.

Lots of that to come.