As part of her Southern Reading Challenge, Maggie is holding a “name your homeplace” contest, with the book Mudbound as the prize. I thought the book sounded really good, and I’ve always loved the idea of naming the place where we live.
B and I live in a very small condominium in a city east of Seattle, Washington. We bought our condo because it is a quiet and green haven in the middle of a city that is quickly growing out of control. We have a greenbelt behind and to the side of our unit, so we are tucked away from the noise of traffic and other irritations of city life, shaded by the trees, with lots of birds and critters as neighbors. We wouldn’t be living in this huge metropolitan area if we didn’t have our Green Haven to help us keep perspective on what’s really important in life.
Greenbelt seasons
A Fondness For Reading 
I love it Robin! Like your very own oasis.
We noticed in our walks around town the pine trees are starting to come down. Most farmers in the area are paid to plant pines for the paper industry. Well, they decided to bring saplings home and plant along fence rows. I count four rows of mature trees down in one neighborhood, and it isn’t as shadey on our walks. 😦
They made, at the most $2,000, but they lost so much.
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That is just gorgeous Robin!! I would love to have a little place like that. And if I did I don’t think I’d ever leave it. Like Maggie said, it’s like a little forest oasis 🙂
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Your home looks and sounds heavenly – its so important to have a retreat “far from the madding crowd” Thanks for sharing your pictures.
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Definitely a fitting name! I’ve always thought your house is in a beautiful location. It even looks pretty in the rain.
We’re losing a lot of our greenery along the main roads, like Maggie, and I think that’s so sad. There are two areas that were plowed completely bare, along one of the roads to my son’s school. They were so pretty before someone sold the old-growth trees and left the land to erode.
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Greenbelts are amazing and how lucky to have them around you! The name is surely perfect.
cjh
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Great homeplace name! I have only visited Seattle once but have watched many home shows, etc. with episodes situated there and I just love the city. Your wooded area, your haven, is very very beautiful and I can see how having a place like that in the city would be like your own little relaxing oasis from the stress of everything.
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Thanks, Maggie. The same thing is happening around here — too much growth and too many trees and wetlands being destroyed. The greenbelts are supposed to stay, but we can’t depend on it anymore, anywhere. It’s always so sad to see the trees come down, especially when they don’t replant any in their places!
Thanks, Chris. I’m a real “homebody,” as my mom would say, and I’d love to stay home and just read and enjoy the quiet and the green. I did that last year when I took my Leave of Absence. It was very hard to get myself back to work, although I’m certainly grateful to have a job! It just gets in the way of my real life!
Thanks, Casa Pearl. That’s a perfect description — “a retreat far from the madding crowd!”
Thanks, Bookfool. It’s almost prettiest in the rain. The rain around here deepens the green, especially in the gray of winter. I hate the losing of so much green around us all. What are we thinking?
CJ, the greenbelts are so important with all the growth going on around us. The only time I don’t love living next to the greenbelt is when we have one of those wicked winter windstorms that hit us here every few years. It’s actually really scary with all the tall trees. Otherwise, I love them.
Thanks, Carl. The Seattle area is a beautiful area, but the tremendous growth here is changing things. I wish developers would do it all more intelligently. Our condo development is an older one, and the greenbelts were a required part of the original design. But those requirements have changed in the last 35 years, so that’s not happening as much anymore. It’s terribly sad to lose so many of the trees and wetlands.
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It’s like living in a forest. It’s a beautiful place. I’ll bet you can’t even hear the traffic from your home. Have a great week.
Judy
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Thanks, Grand Life. Yes, it’s very quiet tucked away here and the traffic sounds are far away. I much prefer listening to the birds.
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Wow I really envy you having luscious green just outside your windows. It’s what I miss the most (that and the ocean) living here, surrounded by concrete.
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I was intrigued by Maggie’s little challenge, too. Green Haven sounds lovely. I’ll have to think on what I should call this place I live in. How many ways can you say “dilapidated”, poetically? I’ll let you know!
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Tanabata, I’ve always needed a little bit of green and quiet around me, even though we’ve always lived in cities and not in the countryside. This place was a lucky find six years ago!
Gentle Reader, your comment made me chuckle. I had other words I could have chosen to describe our place here, too. “Place of Unfinished Projects” comes to mind, as husband and I have numerous projects underway, and you know how long it can take do-it-yourselfers to finish up projects!
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