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by G. Sax

I was a renter until the age of 37. According to the National Association of REALTORS® and other surveys, that's fairly old to become a homeowner. Most new owners come in below 30. Power to 'em. At 29, I was flopping around in one of the most expensive cities in the nation at the most expensive time in our nation's residential real estate history. A 2-bedroom, 2-bath (2 BR, 2 ba) house at $625,000 wasn't a good option.

So I held my wallet and waited it out and eventually moved back to the country's middlemarch and bought a decent 5 BR, 2 ba for well under $200,000. Life is good for me as a homeowner. Fixed rate. Solid neighbors. Comfortable mortgage payments.

You can have this, too, if you consider the great city of St. Paul. There are good people who can help you attain this dream. Maybe you can find them if you click somewhere near these words.

But this is not an ad for REALTORS® or for St. Paul or even for homeownership, although all of these things are worthwhile and worth promotion.

No, this post is for the concept of "home." Even when I was renting, I often felt at home in the place where I slept each night. But I'm more settled now, and I intend to bask in the glow of homeownership for a good many years.

I feel particularly reflective on where I've been and how I got here this week because we have a Big American Holiday coming up: Independence Day. The only summer holiday draws people out of their homes and into yon neighborhoods and townships afar. Minnesotans notoriously travel north, but even in other parts of the country the kids are packed up and the minivans are driven here and there to experience something other than…home.

My wife is in California and I miss her. I thought of making an airplane dash to her this week. I have great friends in Milwaukee, and I thought of making an automobile dash to them this week. And then I took a deep breath and I looked around my house and yard and decided to do something I can't say that I've ever done. I'm going to stay put this year. I'm going to stay home.

Last year at this time, I had six guests in the heat of July. This year, it's just me and my dogs. I've said all of a dozen words in the past couple of days while hanging around my home. It's new and different and borderline un-American. I pay no mind to that line of thinking. Because I'm home. And, damn, home feels better than it ever has before.

Find yours. Live it. Live in it. Love it. Take the time to not take home for granted.

Happy 4th.