The Housesitter Comic, Part 4, Page 14

PANEL 1

A twilight scene showing Rachel's home with a glowing window and a heart speech bubble rising from it. Trees silhouette the scene against a starry sky.

Caption: And thus ended my adventures in house sitting.

Rachel the Great returns to gURL.com on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007. See you then!

Copyright © 2007 Rachel Nabors For more comics, visit SubcultureofOne.com

That’s a fairly accurate representation of the little ranch house my mom and I lived in for a decade. It had two big cedars in front and two in back, and a covered front porch which wasn’t good for much since it was walled in only on one side. This picture makes it look like it was at the bottom of a gently sloping hill. It was actually at the nexus of several not so gently sloping hills! I lived in what is called “a hollow,” a miniature valley on a mountain where the creeks converge. It was always very wet and very green but didn’t get as much sun as the other hill sides because of its location.

When I read about moors, heaths, cliffs, etc. in English literature, I imagine places a lot like this one, only flatter, and with fewer trees. Isolated and dank and close to the earth.