We came to Almonte for the first time in our lives on February 26, 2005. We had intended to look for a home in Carleton Place or maybe a condo. But when we saw the beauty of Almonte and the availability of a nice bungalow that the builder would make available at the end of June, we were sold.
This is how the backyard looked back then. As far as the house goes, they had just got the drywall installed and the heat was on. They were willing to move on to another construction site and slowly complete our house for occupancy when we needed it.
Maria retired that weekend but she was going to work until the end of the school year on a temporary contract. We needed to sell our house in Georgetown. But we made the decision in a couple of hours to move to Almonte. Sometimes a hasty decision can be a good one.
Our sixteenth year here was a doozie. It seemed like continuous winter as we couldn’t go anywhere due to COVID 19. We still don’t know when we’ll be able to get a vaccination. But living where we are means we have been able to isolate ourselves from a lot of contagion. Caseloads are low even though we are not all that far from Ottawa. The night sky remains full of stars and the air is clear. I guess we’ll stay here while we can, and as long as we can. 16 years and counting…
