If you’ve never stared off in the distance…

I watched my client Bill as he stared off in the distance from the driveway of the home he and his wife would eventually buy.  He wasn’t looking at anything particular through pine trees and into a blue sky with white drifting clouds.  “Now, there’s my view” Bill said taking in a big breath of fresh air.  Whoosh… He looked up.  “Hear that?” he asked no one particular.  Bill’s wife was standing next to me several paces behind him looked at me as if to say, “Hear what”?   “The pines blowing  in the wind” I said.  “I love that sound too”.

I stood there with my clients watching them take in the view I recalled a line from the Counting Crows song Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby.  The line says, “If you’ve never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame”.  That particular moment in time with the view, the clouds, the breeze, and the pines was not lost on Bill.  he stared off in the distance and envisioned life in the mountains.  

Being a resident I feel fortunate to live in the Sierra Nevada Foothills.  I’m fortunate to have relocated from the SF Bay Area to an area Mother Nature shows great favor to.  A place where nature and community come together to create an enriching experience for it’s residents.  Where open space is highly valued.  Somewhere that one doesn’t have to fight traffic for hours to get to recreational areas such as Pinecrest Lake, Dodge Ridge, and Yosemite National Park.    

As a Real Estate Agent one of the things I enjoy most is working with out of town buyers looking to acquire vacation homes or perminent relocation to Tuolumne County.  I have the privilege of helping them realize the same dream I had of living in the mountains.  The privilege of watching them staring off in the distance as the pine trees sway above them creating a calming whooshing sound.  

The privilege of handing them the keys that opens the door to their dreams.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

Therefore, I get to double dip.  I get to be a resident and community member welcoming someone new to the beauty of the foothills.  Plus I get to relive my wonderful experience of  heading for “the hills” each time I work with out of area client clients.  That experience of exploration, of possibilities, and of dreams coming true.   My romantic vision of life at 3100 feet.