Northampton in Massachusetts, population 28,000, quickly gained our attention. Founded in 1654, it's one of the oldest cities in America. Northampton has a highly educated population and is home to Smith College. The region has a long literary tradition, most famously in the person of Emily Dickinson. Northampton has also become noted for its acceptance of gay families. This broad-minded atmosphere appealed to us, plus the city has the best restaurants for 50 miles in any direction.

After a stay in an apartment complex, we were blessed to find our present home in late 2004 after a short search. It's a two-family Victorian house (1888) on three-quarters of an acre of land. Our back yard borders on a little stream, Mill Yard Brook.

We are less than a mile from the middle of town, so we walk downtown nearly every day. A public elementary school is less than half a mile away, and a Montessori school is even closer. A carriage house in back gave us the opportunity to have home offices at just the right distance from the bustle of the main house. There was space for Jendi to start a vegetable garden and a variety of flowerbeds. The last touch that charmed us was a treehouse painted in the colors of the main house, awaiting its next small tenant. As a whole, the property embodied the balance of work-life and home-life that we sought.