After living in a very bucolic setting for 8 and half years, we made a change. Or I should say, I made a change and my sweet husband, kind of disgruntled 10 year old, and up for whatever kindergartner came along for the ride.

I knew all along that I was going to struggle with living in an area where we would have to hop in our car to get pretty much anywhere. When we lived in Mt. Pleasant, I rode my bike to work, the store, the bank and any other place I could get to on two wheels. At the time of our move to Awendaw, we had one youngster, I wasn’t working, and my husband’s commute consisted mostly of a sweet stretch of rural scenery. When the girls were really young, we stayed at home as much as possible. We played, read, created and whiled away the time. I wanted to instill in my youngsters a sense of wonder, a love of books, and an appreciaton of the natural world. We were lucky enough to be in a position to do all those things.

Then school came and so did the realities of a life lived on the road. Spending more time in a car meant fruitless hours stuck in town, taking deep breaths while sitting in traffic, and confronting an issue I abhor - getting everywhere by an automobile!

Now that my kids are getting a little older, I want them to realize that all our actions have consequences. When my 10 year old would complain about the development crawling up highway 17, I would relay one of my grandfather’s expressions, “last one out, shut the door”. Is it right for us to build in the country and not expect others to follow suit? We all need to live someplace, it is how we decide to live that we need to question. Can I be a steward of the environment and continue to rack up mile after mile on my car? Not in good conscience. Do we need 2400sf of house for a family of 4? Not really.

Renting a 1500sf house a few blocks from the ocean is the next stage in our family adventure. Having the beach close-by helps make the transition easier, and renting considerably less space let’s us evaluate the merits of our idea before making a more permanent decision. As we went to sleep on our first night in our new place my husband asked why I was laughing. “I can see Maya’s sleeping little face from my pillow.” Maybe we’ll need 1600sf.