I feel great about the move to a less cluttered life, focusing on less stuff and more experiences. I love that we’re currently going through our things and getting rid of the duplicates, and so many items that we haven’t seen or used for years. A wonderful side effect of this is that we’ve uncovered useful and comfort-bringing items that we wouldn’t have enjoyed if they’d remained hidden behind the extra stuff, like La-Tee-Da fragrance lamps. They’re pretty, have a nice aroma, and we will give them away when we sell this house. But for now, we can enjoy them.

I’ve always felt that as we accumulate more things, it is much more of a burden, since with more stuff comes the need for more space to store it, and less of an opportunity to be able to access it, or even to remember you have it . It’s a ridiculous result of excess, and I’m so happy to be heading in the right direction.

Not only is my perspective on tangible things different after we started thinking about living on a boat, but my attitude about many other daily activities has changed. We started riding bikes more, partially because it’s almost summer, but also because I know it’s only going to be 1 mile away from where I live for a short while, about 2 years. I may never be back here, and I’m so glad that we’re taking advantage of the beauty in this area.

We had visited Piney Creek in the winter when it was mostly frozen, but this time it was running well, and the ducks didn’t need to stay near the bridge as they had many water options this time of year.

It’s a favorite stopping point for us to view the seasonal differences, and listen to the water, as well as climb on a few rocks. And just around the corner is Cherry Creek Park , where we spend most of our biking time. The dog park is one of the closest areas to our park entrance, but we avoid the area since bicycles often excite dogs a little too much.

Recently we rode to the reservoir and plans for a picnic, sailing, and fishing came to mind while watching others participate in those activities. We even watched the remote control airplanes for a while and James considered dusting off his old creation to share with the newer generation.