New Hampshire, Conway Part III

( a continuation from Part II )

It was during their first vacation visit to Conway, New Hampshire that Eddie and his wife first came to appreciate how it represented a style of life they had never known in Dix Hill, Long Island. That plus the prospect of buying a home in their retirement with all the features they had dreamed about but never before had been in a position to bring to fruition, made them particularly receptive to the notice of a LAND AUCTION.   

They did their homework thoroughly after receiving copies of the description of every parcel that would be offered. There was one, and one only that offered exactly what they were looking for. Unlike their modest home in NY this property had three acres of privacy, looked out onto an expansive vista of mountains, trees and that white water stream down below. They would build a house right on the crest of the hill. It was perfect.

Then Eddie, who by the way, was originally a public school math teacher and subsequently taught math as an adjunct at a community college, sat down at his computer and started calculating the numbers. Late that evening he came down for dinner and informed Betty that after figuring all the costs of construction and making the big move all they could afford to pay for the land was $20,000.

The day of the auction arrived and Betty had to work. Eddie, who had never attended one of these kinds of thing, was there alone. His desire for this to work out was literally bubbling inside him. He had no idea who among the other participants would be bidding. He didn't have a clue as to how anyone else would value what he felt already was his piece of property and that others might try to pry it away from him.

The auction began, and as luck would have it his piece of property was the first one on the block. The auctioneer named it and identified the location precisely. By now Eddie was sweating profusely, his blood pressure heightened he could feel his chest pounding.

"Who wants to bid on this parcel?", called out the auctioneer to the audience of about fifty. There was a long pause and Eddie. who, it should be mentioned was a terrible poker player back in the Bronx, could contain himself no longer and blurted out, $20,000. Everyone looked shocked as they turned to see whose bid it was. There wasn't a single other bid made. The property was his. He subsequently realized, after his emotions had been brought back in check, that he probably could have gotten it for considerably less. But so what? Dream fulfillment always has a cost.