The Woods House

 A while back I read a book called The Big House by George Howe Colt. I always wanted to have a place. A place that would have the smell of seasons. A place that would nestle into my children’s memories and be an heirloom for all of us. 

For a brief time my family had a house in Jekyll Island, Georgia. My mama’s brother has a house there, so my mama's whole family spent Thanksgiving, all on the same street, riding bikes and walking on Driftwood Beach. When mom was fading, it was too hard for my Dad to go down to the Jekyll house. Too many memories, he said, so the house was sold. 

Rob and I visited a little mountain town for our honeymoon. The trip was months after our actual wedding so at the time I was newly pregnant and had awful morning sickness. But the town made an impression. So we knew we needed to share it with the kids. Charlie's eleventh birthday is this week, so it seemed the perfect place to celebrate.

I searched online and came across a little cabin. It sits on the river and is nestled in the woods and off the beaten path a bit. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The owner is a mom with young children so over email we commiserated back and forth about what Weldon might need. She reassured me that the house was perfectly stocked for families. 

As soon as Charlie opened the heavy wooden door, she gasped in delight. The old house is heaven. Not fancy or overdone. An old family cabin that has been used for generations. Children’s toys in the sleeping loft. Family photos on the walls and paper chains made by little hands hung over the kitchen window. Fresh picked wildflowers in mason jars by the beds. Creaky well worn wooden floors that little feet pitter patter around on. There is even a little tree house hidden amongst the rhododendrons. Rob and I have been sitting on the porch swing all morning listening to birds and imagining the seasons here. 

So I think we have found it. Our little place. We will share it with all the other families that love it like we do and hopefully when Welles and Charlie and Zig are older, they will bring their own kids here. The scent of hardwood and chimney smoke reminding them of childhood and all its seasons.