By Dave Twombly

 

As my loyal readers (all 3 of you) know and those new to the blog do not, we recently moved to a new unit.  We moved way across town, as we like to call it, to suburban North Cambridge (the trials and tribulations of the move are chronicled in earlier posts). Not only did we move across town but we moved on up, just like the Jeffersons.

For the previous 4 years we lived on the first floor of a 2 family building. I loved the access. Moving in was a dream, we had a back porch and yard. I enjoyed the ability to run out to the car if I left something there, easily take out the garbage and recycling and greet guests, or hang out on the front porch, especially on Halloween. It was with trepidation (yeah, Ol’ Dave “I don’t like change” Twombly reared his ugly head) that we decided on this 3rd floor unit.

Now if you are like me, a newish father, all you thought of was “I gotta carry that kid up and down 3 flights of steps.” The thing about babies is they keep growing. As they grow they get heavier and heavier.  And as you new parents know, babies require lots of stuff.  You don’t just pick up the baby and head out the door. You take the diaper bag, the changing pad, a snack, a stroller. Then you get to the car and “oh crap, I forgot her water” (or in my case, it’s my wife telling me I forgot her water).  Now my quick jaunt into the house for (insert forgotten item here) was going to be huffing and puffing up 3 flights of stairs.  And this doesn’t even consider the normal house things like garbage, groceries etc.

But here’s the thing. It’s been great. We love it. The pros of living in the penthouse far outweigh the cons.  Firstly, you don’t have anybody above you.  There is no chance of a neighbor with a collection of clunky shoes that he/she never takes off.  No kids running around all the time (ironic that I say that eh?) or aerobics after work.  There isn’t much street noise and nobody can see into your place from the street. (Walk around in that towel after your shower, it’s okay!)

Neighbors aside, our unit is bathed in light all the time. There is always a sunny spot to enjoy.  Our back porch is private and very serene and it also has a lovely view over the tops of all the houses behind us. In the warm weather we can leave the windows open and enjoy the breeze when we go to sleep (we do live in a city after all and part of the bedtime routine on the first floor was to close and lock all of the windows at night, especially after the kid showed up). And in the cold weather, our downstairs neighbors will be kind enough to share their heat with us.

You also develop strategies for the new challenge. We have a ‘hands full’ policy.  If you are going out and not carrying a baby or baby related item, take some recycling, a bag of garbage, or something else that is to be jettisoned, with you. This way we don’t wind up at 11 pm on a rainy garbage night with 10 bags that need to go out.

So, when you are searching for that new home don’t rule out the top floor condo because you are weary of hiking up and down the stairs. Don’t let that lazy devil on your shoulder whisper into your ear.  I was a afraid, very afraid, but I’m all turned around on the subject now.  We’ve moved on up, to the North side and we really love our piece of the pie.