4/19/20 // 8:53 // First Letter at the Tiny House

Today is my first morning in the tiny house. I write this perched on the steps; the songs of frog calls and bluejays are music to my ears. The aroma of the morning's coffee is wafting throughout the downstairs cabin. It feels like heaven, especially for someone who spent a lot of time living in the city.

I set an alarm for 5:30 to catch the sunrise. It turns out that the corner of the pond faces east (even checked with my compass), so seeing the oranges and hazy pinks over the water was glorious. I watched the mist rise from the water's surface, and a couple of the resident stray cats regarded me with interest as I soaked in the day.

I was so eager to camp out here that I decided to forego waiting for my bed to ship and slept in the loft with just a comforter and pillow full camp-style. I didn't sleep much because apparently my body at 24 doesn't appreciate sleeping on floors as much it did at 14. Nevertheless, I feel awake and full of energy just from the experience of being here.

Last night I got to unpack and add my own personal touches to the house. It made me so happy to know I have my very own place in the world. In my exhaustion I messed up the order of my periodic table "Think" decoration and had a good laugh:

Clearly I *wasn't* thinking!!!

The man next door who owns the property came by with a loaf of fresh baked raisin pecan bread, still warm wrapped up in its paper sack. It's delicious. We chit chatted for a few minutes and when he noticed my ukulele, he invited me to play with his wife's group. 

I'm an introverted person and spend the bulk of my time alone. My biggest goal is to get out of my shell a little bit by being friendly with them. I'm going to pick up some potted plants for the patio at some point and think I'll get them one too.

I keep thinking of how this is all such a dream. If I knew as a kid my life would turn out this good, I would have never believed it. I keep a picture of myself as a kid in the window to remind myself that bad times don't last forever. I keep my wooden bird from Jackson in the window because I miss him so much.

Tomorrow I think I will wake up for the sunrise again, make coffee, and sit outside with my Birds of Massachusetts book and see if I can identify anything. I'm enjoying my time alone here and also looking forward to having Jackson, his family, and my family over once social distancing is ended. 

Sending love, 

Dia