Heart's Home by Mary Jo Oxrieder, Fine Art Print
Heart's Home by Mary Jo Oxrieder
Fine Art Print - Image size is: 10" X 8", backed & sleeved.
Story: It was a day for a country drive, time to get out of our small city condo. More and more the condo and city living felt stifling. It had been such an adventure when we first moved to this wonderfully eclectic city. Art, music, crafty shops, parks. Good coffee, good food. It was all amazing. Our jobs gave us plenty of money but also increasing pressures and little time for fun. Our love of nature called to us but we could rarely respond. Today we had a whole day with no other commitments. We wanted a picnic by a mountain stream and uninterupted time together. We let our inspiration guide us and wandered, windows open, grins on our faces..
And then, the unexpected - a small side road we were compelled to explore and a delightful little house that stopped us in our tracks. Everything about it – from the beautiful views to the big shade tree, the garden spaces and the birds singing – called to our hearts. Oh, yes, a “For Sale By Owner” sign was nailed to the mailbox post, barely visible. The original owners had passed away and their children wanted the sweet house to go to people who appreciated its special peace. We walked the property “just for fun” and fell in love. The quiet, the air, the scents and nature sounds, the sheer beauty everywhere filled our hearts to overflowing. Every room of this house said “home” to us. Every window looked out on beauty.
Afterwards we took the day as a bit of magic to sustain our stress-filled days, the house a flight of delightful fancy. But it called to us. Not just the house but the whole notion of living in the country. We dreamed and plotted. What if? And the house waited for us. You’ve guessed by now - we shifted our life trajectories and divested ourselves of stuff. We did what we needed to do to buy that little house and live there. It wasn’t easy and family and friends thought we were nuts. Still we moved forward until the “For Sale By Owners” sign was pulled off the post by us. Later, sitting on the porch steps, we were reminded of the Robert Frost poem, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and we – we took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
All artwork by Mary Jo Oxrieder is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form with out written permission from the artist.