~ Back in Jackson County ~ 310 Fillmore Black River Falls ~

~ 310 Fillmore ~ Black River Falls

That’s where we lived back in Jackson County.

Sometime before…
The company Dad was working for was branching out and one of the places they chose for a store was Black River Falls. A small town of around 3,000 people. I don’t remember much about the discussions we had as a family but I do know we talked about it a lot. We were living in Richland Center in Richland County, Wisconsin. We had a nice big house with many rooms and, for us children, many hiding places for Hide-and-Seek. But though the house may have been large, it had a few issues. It didn’t seem like long before we had decided we would move to Black River Falls and a new life - and was it ever a good choice.

We traveled to Black River Falls to go house shopping and met 310 Fillmore, a cozy square house that always reminded me of a cottage. From the outside it looked to be half the size of our house in Richland Center, but once inside it was spacious; with good-sized rooms and knotty pine walls in some of them. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and what seemed like a huge kitchen compared to our last. It didn’t take many discussions before we decided - 310 Fillmore would be our new home.

I guess I always took that house for granted. After a while it seemed too small, with not enough cupboard space and I couldn‘t have my own room - I had to share with 2 siblings. But now I look back and I wish I could somehow pick that house up and set it down where we live now. When I think about it now it seems huge, with that big white kitchen that had 7 windows… and now I share a small room with all of my sisters and have only my bunk to call my very own. There are good things and not so good things about this home. But that is what it is; our home. Here we live right next to our grandparents, have plenty of room for numerous gardens and we can have animals. We don’t constantly have neighbors screaming that they are going to commit suicide like we did in Black River Falls, though there *is* a crazy lady that lives across the road and she gets visits from the Sheriff. We can go outside and not worry that someone will walk down the sidewalk and carry us off. We can yell at the top of our lungs if we want to and nobody can tell us to be quiet. And best of all… we don’t just do our homeschooling in our pajamas - we do our chores in our pajamas! Shocking, isn’t it? ;)

So… to wrap up my reminiscing post… I am content here with our 8.5 acres, dog, cats, ducks, rabbits, and chickens. Perhaps some dairy goats, maybe even a mule someday. And I know that when I get married and move away I’ll be reminiscing about this home.

~ Mara