Plunging into another Bloganuary prompt and once again obliged to qualify my response. This time the question is sufficiently open ended to invoke a great variety of answers. Hurrah! But I’m going to bend the inquiry toward Rosslyn for better relevance. With that prologue, on to great, greater, and greatest gifts.
Here’s the Bloganuary prompt.
What is the greatest gift someone could give you?
Here’s the most compelling response I’ve read so far.
So what about the gifts we forget to be grateful for?
The air we breathe, the water we drink, the diversity of nature on earth. These things we take for granted.
But these are the things I would like to gift to my grandchildren…
(Source: G3A)
Good answer, right? But the author isn’t done.
A safe planet is the gift I would like to leave for my grandchildren.
And so, the greatest gift, appears to be after all, one we already have. A green earth in which to walk and reflect.
(Source: G3A)
Time, I’m tempted to write, would be the greatest gift of all. A stash of extra time to rub like analgesic ointment onto days like today, when a carefully choreographed schedule gets jettisoned from the outset, and we careen from crisis to crisis from sunup to sundown.
But pipe dreaming of extra time is only a way to squander more of this luxurious resource.
And so instead, inspired by G3A’s insightful response, I’d like to consider great, greater, and greatest gifts that we’ve already received from Rosslyn.
Adventure
Separating one great gift from all the others that Rosslyn has bestowed upon us is no easy task. But this property, heritage, architecture, perennial rehabilitation, fertile ground, and historic lakeside village have guaranteed us 17-1/2 years of adventure.
While some might underestimate the value of an adventurous life, for me it’s long been, and forever will be, my avocation. Perhaps even my North Star. An unadventurous life is not worth living, except in brief doses to revitalize and prepare for the next escapade. Rosslyn’s history and whimsical charms have ensured countless adventures (and misadventures) from carefree capers to exacting crusades. These, so often, are the subjects chronicled in Rosslyn Redux.
Community
An even greater gift that Rosslyn conferred upon Susan and me has been a warm, welcoming community.
More than a village of handsome historic buildings, more than a thriving collection of organizations and businesses, and more than a residential oasis and context, Rosslyn introduced us to people and their passions who are creating a thriving community of caring, creative, industrious neighbors. So many fascinating lives collaborating on civic husbandry.
Together we dream; together we create. What we share and celebrate by far exceeds our differences and disagreements. In fact, it may be these very differences and disagreements that draw us together, that inspire our sharing, and that nourish are celebration.
Home
And, of course, the greatest gift of all that Rosslyn has proffered upon us since the summer of 2006 is home. Yes, she has housed us, but there’s so much more to her sanctuary than protection and comfort. If my Rosslyn Redux chronicles narrate our adventures and misadventures over the years that we’ve owned this benevolent property, then the balance of this sometimes inward, sometimes wayward quest has been a meandering meditation on homeness and notions of home that continues to intrigue me.
Rosslyn’s greatest gift and, I expect, her enduring legacy long after she passes into the stewardship of future homeowners, is her mysterious but nurturing energy. An enduring oasis. Nourishing. Provident. And generous. It’s been a privilege to call Rosslyn our home, the greatest of gifts!
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