grid. Maybe hook up some solar panels for power to the roof of the cabin, but beyond that, completely living off the grid. Matt always respected his wife’s wishes though and chose to live in the city so that the commuting to work was easier on her. Granted it was easier on him too, so Matt felt it was a win-win in going with what she wanted in this sense. Although Matt always dreamed of the mountains and the forest and living in the log cabin away from civilization, where he could be his own man.
After finishing with her teeth and hair in the bathroom, Christina Carter came down the stairs. She was a woman in her late twenties but looked like she just turned twenty. She was a bright woman with a degree from the University of Washington in accounting, where she met her husband, Matt, in business accounting class who also majored in business management. They were both graduates of the class of 2011 and both married in the same summer of graduation, on July 27, 2011, in a nice backyard wedding ceremony at Christina’s parents’ cabin home in Packwood, Washington—a nice backyard overlooking the waters of the Cowlitz River and the mountains.
Christina didn’t own the accounting firm that she worked at, but over the past eight years of being out of college and in the workforce, she had proven to her management team that she could handle responsibility and handle it efficiently. Christina smashed through many glass ceilings in the accounting firm and set the tone for women behind her to follow. She was very proud of her work and how far she had come in just eight years’ time, but equally proud of her marriage too. Their marriage to one another has had its ups and downs just like anyone else’s marriage, but more ups than downs. Really their only argument that ever got truly heated was how Matt wanted to move from the apartment they are in now to a home with a two-car garage—something that Christina couldn’t imagine spending the extra money on, simply just to park another car in the garage. Christina grabbed a mug from the pantry and filled up her mug with coffee from the coffee pot. She walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of Irish cream creamer from the refrigerator door. She put some creamer in her coffee, then put the bottle back in the fridge, grabbed a small spoon from the utensil drawer, and then sat down at the table next to her husband who was still occupied with flipping through the pages of the real estate magazine. Christina looked at Matt, then looked at the magazine.
“I see you’re still on the moving to the mountains thing, aren’t you?” asked Christina.
“I sure am. I don’t know why you don’t think the same way about it either. What about maybe looking into getting a vacation home log cabin in the mountains? Ease into the idea of living in the mountains and not make such a big jump all at once in moving there?”
“I suppose we could look into that, or we could look into paying the mortgage on our condo first, along with all our other bills and your student loan.”
“Babe, why do you have to bring that up?” asked Matt.
“I’m just saying, who was the one that got the scholarship at U-Dub?” replied Christina with a smile.
Matt continued to flip through the pages of the magazine.
“Oh come on, honey. This could be something that we can do together in a couple years when we get the two cars paid off, knock your student loan down some, and then we can look into the possibility of getting a vacation cabin up in the woods,” said Christina
“Yes, but at the very least why couldn’t we just look and see what is available? Maybe there is something affordable right now. Like a fixer upper cabin.”
“So that we could pour even more money into fixing it up to use once or twice a year?”
Matt set the real estate magazine down on the table in frustration.
“I’m hungry. You want a bowl of cereal before work?” asked Matt.
Matt stood up from the table and walked into the kitchen. Christina sighed with a deep breath when he stood up and left the table.
“Matt, I’m sorry. I just don’t see how we cannot only afford that right now, but put something like a log cabin in the middle of the forest to good use right now. I think that would require us to live their full time, and what about our careers here? What about our life here in Olympia? Our friends and family that are here? We move up to the Olympics, then we move farther and farther away from friends and family too.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” said Matt, grabbing a bowl from the pantry and a box of cereal from the selection of cereals above the refrigerator. “I just can’t handle life here in the city. Like how damn busy it gets here as soon as we step out that door. Let’s face it, as soon as you and I walk out that door we don’t see one another or communicate with one another until six or even seven o’clock at night again until we get back home. Well, we text during the day, but that’s it.” Matt set the bowl down on the kitchen counter and poured cereal into it.
“Is this a communication thing?” asked Christina. “We could take lunches together more often?”
“No, this isn’t about that, Chris. I feel like our communication is fine. What this is is a life passing us up thing though. Chris, you’re twenty-nine and I’m thirty-one, and outside of our careers what have we really done with our lives up to now? We have no children, and we live in a townhouse two-level condo in Olympia, which is cool, but don’t you think it would be somewhat better if we lived in a log cabin somewhere that we owned outright, living off the grid? Hooked up to some solar generator panels for electricity, maybe come to town once in a while to get groceries or something. I just think that it would be a great way to really rely on one another, ya know? Develop deeper trust in one another and commitment to one another to make it work. And on top of all that, get away from all this damn chaos,” said Matt, opening the kitchen blinds to reveal traffic backed up along I-5.
Matt opened the refrigerator door and grabbed the jug of milk. Pouring milk into his cereal, Matt began to eat.
“Matt, yes, that does sound appealing, but we have responsibilities here. What you’re talking about is something that a couple who are near retirement would do. You and I are both far from retirement by at least thirty…thirty-five years. Look, I’m not saying that your dream is impossible, it’s just…the thing is that the timing isn’t right for us right now. For either one of us.”
Matt finished his cereal and washed the dish out in the sink.
“Yeah, I know you’re right. I guess I can just live a dream for now then.”
After Matt finished washing his bowl out, he looked out the window, watching all the traffic on I-5 coming to a congested standstill, as it does every weekday morning. Christina came up from behind Matt, grabbing him around the waist, and gave him a hug.
“I love you, Matt.”
“I love you too, Chris.”
Both watched the early morning traffic become log jammed on the interstate together from the kitchen window.
“Well, I need to get going to work. Try and fight all that traffic congestion out there. Sometimes I wish I had a plane to just fly over it,” said Matt.
“Yeah, I need to get going too,” said Christina.
“What time is it?” asked Matt.
“It’s almost 7:30 a.m.”
“Shit,” said Matt. “Well, I’m probably gonna be late for work.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Matt
