I own a house. Somehow that’s taking a long while to sink in. I’m essentially living the American Dream, owning my own home, being shackled to a ridiculous mortgage. This isn’t somewhere I thought I’d be so many years ago, but things change.

I’m finding a new pride in doing things myself. My dad was very big on doing things yourself, and he was also very big on having the right tool for the right job. I’ve been getting many of those right tools as birthday and Christmas presents for years now. It’s nice to be able to actually use them. There’s a certain satisfaction in doing something yourself, with your own two hands. I hung a railing the other day, a short little section with only two support brackets. After it was up, the first several times I came up the stairs I instinctively grabbed the railing, and then marveled that I was the one who put the railing there. I didn’t realize how much we needed the railing, and I was thankful to finally have it. Even more, I realized it was my work that put it there, and it gave me this fatherly pride. All these odd jobs I keep doing around the house are giving me that feeling, and it’s very strange. It’s something I’m not used to.

I think a few years ago the thought of owning a home was so repulsive to me because there’s so many things that go into owning a home that can make it a sour experience. I think the suburban, cookie-cutter home is what I always feared, and that’s definitely not where I live now. My home is 93 years old, and there’s nothing cookie-cutter about it.

I guess I’m realizing that there’s a lot of choice when it comes to your home, and that’s where you make it your own and express your specific ideals. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a certain hatred for lawn care. But owning a house doesn’t mean I have to do what everyone else does. I don’t have to be a lawn-Nazi. I can mow my lawn with my little push mower and I can let my weeds grow if I want. I don’t have to run the air conditioner all the time. I can install environmentally friendly components if I like. I could put a freakin’ solar panel on the roof if I want to. (At one point I remember really wanting to do that, even if it could only power a single light bulb in my house — it seems so natural, the sun’s beating down on my roof all day anyway, why not harness that energy?)