When we were house-hunting, the one we liked was positioned to sell quickly. A bidding war with another buyer ensued, something remarkable in the early 2012 market. Rationally, I knew a bidding war was a great way to careen outside of the budget we spent so much energy discussing. But I didn’t care; I had fallen for the house. It backed up to a golf course, which transforms into a cross country skiing course in the winter.

“That’s easily worth an extra $10,000 to me,” I remember saying to my husband, so sure of myself. “Think of the gas I’ll save in the winter, not having to drive anywhere to ski.”

We won the bidding war and now I can open my back gate and walk onto the golf course — an enormous green space in the middle of a city — something I am always thanking fate for.

Especially tonight, on a late autumn walk, with my son bundled up and in the baby carrier on my front. Golf season is over, so the course is open for exploration. Once we passed the tree line and came into the wide expanse of fairway, the sky was waiting for us in all of its pink autumnal glory. I stopped in appreciation and wonderment. $10,000? How greatly I underpriced the priceless.