The listing of my treasures in this blog, which I completed yesterday, reminded me of an exercise I allow myself periodically. I call it surveying my kingdom. I wander from room to room in my house, trying to see my surroundings as a stranger might. I spend more time than usual by the windows studying the pond in back (north) of my house and the forest surrounding it. I gaze at length to the east out the windows overlooking an open field surrounded by the thick foliage of closely growing trees where all manner of wild animals venture.
I bought this house several years ago when I moved to Columbia from Ellicott City, some twelve miles to the north. I was looking for a place where the outside work would be minimal because I’m getting old, and physical labor is no longer my forté. I now live in one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S. next to a pond and surrounded by mature trees heavy in foliage. And the outside work is limited to trimming bushes along the walkway once or twice a year. I have achieved the dream of living in a beautiful place with almost no work to keep it up.
I’ve earned the right to survey.
Tom Glenn, Writer 