Closing the loop on an earlier post: I’m glad to report that the house hunt I was so apprehensive about has reached a happy conclusion. All it takes, in the end, is one “right” place, and I’m very grateful to have finally found it. My wife and I closed last week on a neat old place (farmhouse colonial, built circa 1887) that has a reportedly excellent elementary school for our soon-to-be-kindergartner less than a mile away.

Like any house that age, it’s going to need some work, despite having been well cared for overall, but I’m enjoying the opportunity to do that work and get to make the creative decisions that go with it. After going back from being a homeowner to a renter three years ago, I’m happy to return to a situation of greater ownership and investment — something we can build on and make truly our own. The place has a tranquil feel to it that puts me at ease. — It’s a welcoming retreat that I’ve yearned for without fully realizing it. I think the experience of it will help me to get where I’m striving to go, and for that I am grateful.

The anticipated school challenges I wrote about still loom, but I think we’ve made a choice that gives us a strong foundation for grappling with them. My sons, 5 and 2, continue to amaze me with their natural curiosity and aptitude for learning, and I have strong hope that I can put all that I’ve learned to work, anticipating challenges and helping them learn how to find their bearings and succeed.

So I guess renovating and home improvement projects will be my new excuse for not writing here more often. I’ll try not to overuse it. There’ll be some inevitable extra demands on my time while we get set up and settled in, but once things have returned to a steady state I look forward to re-engaging on other projects that matter a great deal to me, including writing here and producing more No Fear Pioneer episodes.

My move from Blogger is effectively almost complete, by the way. I’ve ceased posting at fearlessdream.blogspot.com, and will be publishing new material here at fearlessdream.us. I just need to get around to adding a notice at the old site and a redirect to this one. Always something to do!…

Thanks for visiting. I look forward to getting to more of the interesting stuff that’s swimming around in my head in the near future…!