It’s almost Spring. For many people this means being able to garden again, or begin spring cleaning, or go on a spring break vacation. Not so for me. Instead, like the cicadas who appear every 17 years, every 5 years or so I get the irresistible urge to look at house plans. This generally precedes looking at actual houses. Which comes before buying a new house, selling the old one, and moving the household.

In the past eighteen years I have lived in four different houses, all within 15 miles of each other. All because I get the itch to move every so often. This is probably some late-blooming, deep-rooted rebellion based on having lived in the same place from the time I was born until I went away to college.

My family gets all twitchy when this starts to happen and they watch me very closely in case I sneak away to look at new construction or attend a Sunday afternoon open house. I have been able to resist that pull. So far. Although the For Sale signs are starting to sprout like lawsuits against the manufacturers of prescription pain medications. And I will not be able to hold out much longer.