I’m convinced houses take on the energy of those living in it. Or not living in it, as the case may be.

Every fall when we return to Arizona to open up the house following the long summer, we walk into a house that has absolutely no energy. It isn’t just that it’s quiet because the air conditioner isn’t running or dark because all of the blinds are closed. It has no energy because it has had no life in it for almost five months.

I mentioned my observation to my sister this weekend, and she agreed, pointing out that human beings consist of energy. The absence of human life equals the absence of energy, she opined. Not surprising that a house felt dead when there has been no life in it for months.

But here’s what else I have noted. For the entire time that we have been in Arizona, our son Allen has been living in our Denver house. When I walked into the house this weekend for my visit, the house felt different, foreign, unfamiliar. Oh, our furniture was still there. Allen hadn’t painted the walls a different color. The same old carpeting was on the floor. But the house felt different. It smelled different. The energy felt different. I was a visitor in my own house.

It felt and looked like Allen’s house.

Of course, Allen has done a few things to personalize it a bit while he lives here for four-and-a-half months. I wouldn’t expect anything else. He has, for example, removed nearly everything from my kitchen counters – my cookie jar, my garlic holder, my various and sundry tchotchkes.

I had to hunt down my garlic. The grandkids came by and looked for the cookie jar and it was missing in action. The whole house feels like a single man lives there instead of a nana and a papa.

Experience tells me one’s energy returns in about two to three days. I would say when we return to Arizona – even if it’s for a visit – it takes a couple of days for the house to feel like it is alive. Cooking a meal helps. The same will be true for us when we return to Denver. I will put things back as I had them, and in a couple of days it will feel like our home again.

In the meantime, I am glad that Allen is taking care of our house, and I have tried very hard not to disturb his energy very much. I did have various grandchildren visiting on and off, but for the most part, I tried to leave it as I found it.

Until May. Then it will be ours once again.