I went on a drive to find a house we lived in 18 years ago (view some larger pics). I’d lived in many houses before it (5 I think) and many after it (7 including a couple in Canada) but this was my favourite. My parents built it and were hands on with everything – so much so that we’d spend every spare moment there while it was being built. We’d sit in the freezing cold tin shed, we’d chase rabbits (I caught a baby one once that was covered with fleas), walk around the perimeter of the block, watch the cows that used to moo loudly across the road or find little nooks to hang out in. All this was in winter or a cooler time, from memory. In the summer, the snakes came and you wouldn’t want to come across an angry snake somewhere far away from the house (once a snake chased my Mum and Nanna up the driveway. It sounds funny but they didn’t think it was at the time.)

At the time my parents built this house it was in the middle of nowhere. It took us an hour to get to school on an old Transperth bus and the nearest place to do shopping was Armadale. Fast forward almost two decades and I’m living about 5 minutes drive away in a new housing estate. The area surrounding the old house is pretty much bush land though but I guess it won’t be long til the 3×2 brick and tile brigade move in.

I couldn’t remember exactly how to get to the house but as I was driving I tried thinking back to making the same trip day in and day out in the late 80′s/early 90′s. I tried to remember the area as it was then. Magically the route came back to me. It’s funny how you remember obscure things even when you think there is no way you can.

If I could, I’d live in this house again. It’s looking a lot better than it did in the old days. The trees we planted so long ago are now huge. It looks lived in, established, a lot less sandy and awkward. Or perhaps it was me who was awkward all those years ago?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 5:47 pm and is filed under Everyday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.