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| Moving house, near Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. December 2011. |
Yesterday was the third day over the course of the last two weeks that
I drove up and down the streets of Opelousas looking for a black and red For Rent sign at the moment a property owner stuck it on the post, whereupon I was ready to leap out of my car, bound up to
my future landlady, and make an arrangement on the spot.
Said house would be a charming little cottage or bungalow -
of which there is an abundance in
Opelousa’s city center - shaded by bowed, leafy trees with a painted, plank-board
porch and tall, twin front windows.
Yet again, disappointment.
My head’s been all over the map about my housing situation. Buy (because it may be more cost-effective than renting!). Rent.
Go to a town I’m not all that interested in, solely because of the housing costs. Stay in Lafayette, solely because
of housing availability. Hike my
$500-budget up into the $600-dollar range as my new affordable and know that in
Lafayette, even this gets you not much. Maybe I just need to say yes to 450
square feet and a mini fridge and smile about it.
It’s a very interesting mind-game that desperation plays on you. More on this in another post.
In an internal Come to Jesus meeting, in which the questions about
location versus charm versus price versus buy/rent floated about like words in
that magic 8 ball, the desire for a location in Opelousas came out on top. The
reality was that to get into Opelousas in the near future, I’m going to have to
go for city limits + affordable, and forego ambiance.
There’s an apartment complex in Opelousas that may suit my newer, reality-based expectations, so getting
a look inside will be my next course of action. In my current reality, I’m
looking for function and not style.
1 comment:
What an interesting blog! I am a woman of a certain age who is kind of rootless. I gave away or sold most of my belongings in 2018 when I finished a PhD and I have been teaching and all the things that academics do. But I can't settle down and have felt very rootless. I am not wanting to conform and do the typical things even though I have a tenure track spot and could do so. I have no desire to stay put anywhere. I want to do some research and publishing that is not routine tenure track academia and I am not happy staying put in a job just to do that. I have no savings for retirement. I don't care either. Your blog has been very eye opening because now I can see I am not the only one doing this type of thing.
I am very glad I happened upon your blog.
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