After a few days of agonizing—changing our minds from hour to hour, and not always in synch—we opted to cancel escrow on the house. The brokers gave us the "dream house" talk—that it might not exist, and we might have to take the closest we can find and make it as perfect as we can—but I don't think we're unrealistic. We just weren't excited about the property. It's one thing to feel anxiety about a big purchase, but shouldn't there also be enthusiasm? Particularly when you have to endure a year of construction and the associated costs?
So we're back where we started, but the clock might be ticking: Our rental will hit the market in a month, and if someone buys it, we get 90 days' notice. Let's hope something catches our fancy soon.
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I had never heard a dry-farmed melon, so I asked the farmer about it. "They're amazing!" said a guy who butted in to buy one. "I agree!" chimed in a woman holding two right in front of her breasts. (I managed to only laugh internally.)
The farmer explained that they plant the seeds in soil that's been worked to hold a lot of water, and then they don't water the plants. Consequently, the melons are sweeter. We thought they might also be less juicy, but that was far from the case.
Another highlight from the farmers' market: yuzus! Despite having had the fruit in many Japanese dishes and cocktails—the flavor is like a less cloying Meyer lemon—I had never seen one. I asked the farmer if these "yuzu limes" were a cross between yuzu and limes, but he said that they're pure yuzu: The sign was just to help folks understand that yuzus are part of the lime family. My enthusiasm confused him, but also tickled him, and he pulled out a reference book to show me something about the fruit. (That was his goal, anyway; he didn't have the right book.) Now Adam and I just have to figure out what to do with them.
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I do love a good warning sign.