The discovery

After receiving my Atomic Ranch through Amazon I was thrilled! Not a disappointing photo or word to be had. I must have ogled through that book every night for weeks. I even had my oldest daughter and her hubby coveting the book when they came over for visits.

Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that a house, somewhat close to the wonders within this hardcover, would be lurking in the midst of my own suburb. Surprisingly, while driving around with a friend and her Realtor friend (don't ask, that's another story) I told the Realtor of my dream home....post and beam....wall to wall windows. He proceeded to take us through a neighborhood just a few short blocks away from my home. As we turned the corner into the quaint hood, it was as if I was transported back in time. It was a little dark outside but I could see through the windows of the dwellings as we glided by. It was as though the street was in a time warp and never quite caught up to the 21st century. The excitement that exuded from my soul was not held back. I couldn't wait to go back in the light of day to actually see what I was now witnessing. Needless to say, it didn't disappoint. The next day, camera in hand, I headed down the street again. There were actually three homes I absolutely loved but one... a bright blue, flat roofed, post and beam with a huge window in the front sang to me. I snapped pictures of all three homes, went back to my residence and downloaded them into my computer. I made the bright blue one my computer wallpaper. It sat there for months, staring back at me every time I went on my MAC. Quite often I would visit the quaint little neighborhood hoping that one of my visits would find a treasure. A "for sale" sign perched on the lawn of one of those homes I loved so much. I even got out of my car behind the houses (some backed onto a school yard) to see what the back of the homes looked like. In the meantime my obsession for the homes in the pages of Atomic Ranch made me source out more info on the era. I found out there was an Atomic Ranch magazine. I then began ordering back copies of the publication and more mid century books off Amazon. I had a serious disorder of which there was no cure. But I soon learned I was not alone. In the pages of these magazines there were others, like myself, who also had this disorder. It was a quiet relief to know I was not the only freak on this earthly planet. Months passed...the sun went up....the sun went down and then.....it happened.

It was Mother's day, a day which started me down a path with no looking back. It was a quiet morning, just sitting at my kitchen table, sipping coffee and thumbing through my local paper and there it was.... Could it be??? I looked again. No! couldn't be....but it was. I saw it...IT being one of the homes on my street of dreams...it was, yes... it was FOR SALE....gulp...