"Why?" they asked.
At first, I pinned it on my husband:
"Bob retired last summer. He always wanted to remodel a big old house. He has been flipping houses since Flip referred to Wilson, not sell-a-house-for-a-profit. Think of it as a five-year flip."Soon, I included myself in the rationalizing, which made the story longer:
"I want more land for a garden. When I retire, my next big move will be into organic gardening. Design, really. Ummm...I'm really interested in vertical gardening. Rooftop gardening. For urban spaces. Even though I'll live in the suburbs. I'll surely need a garage for my workshop. And of course I'll need land to test...things...in large spaces first. If vertical design doesn't work out, then I want to get into permaculture. What's permaculture, you say?"I am tired of explaining why we're doing the opposite of downsizing. The core truth is that we're doing something that we have dreamed about since we were in our twenties. We have no plans other than to enjoy ourselves. We're upsizing and not apologizing about it.
We thought we were trailblazers, but I find we're not alone. From baby boomers upgrading the homes we raised our children in, to finding encore careers in our sixties, my husband and I reflect our generation as much now as when we collected Barbie dolls and GI Joes in our youth.
Our generation has been pinned with a "never grow old" mentality, but that's too simple to describe us. We have cared for elderly parents - while we raised our children and lived through our own bouts of cancer. We have buried family members and friends who were our age or younger. We have learned that there is no time like the present. Or, rather, there is no other time except the present.
So now, when people ask why we're doing this, I just say, "Why not?"
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