If
only. If only there was a way
to get from here to there… the dream becomes a mission and the mission
becomes an obsession and the obsession becomes (poof) a place in the
country with your name on the mortgage. Inhale. Exhale.
Hyperventilate.
Suddenly all the
above becomes reality. But what you didn’t think about is that most
likely ALL the above becomes reality. The good, the bad, the urban,
the rural, the paper clips and the tomatoes. A big ol’ simultaneous
mess of clashing lifestyles that it becomes horrifyingly clear is YOUR new
lifestyle, because you need that hated job to pay for that loved
homestead. Inhale. Turn blue. Pass out.
Some folks have the
sense to save up for a country place during their working years, retire
with a nice party and a gold watch, pack up the U-haul and move into a
paid for dwelling nestled on acreage. Once a month, their retirement check
is deposited in their account and they pay their bills. Easy.
Some folks have the
good fortune to be born on a large family farm where it’s assumed that
home is already here, and you are already home.
Some folks have a
pre-learned trade, skill, knowledge or some such that allows them to
actually make a living without ever leaving the property.
Then there are the
rest of us.
Oh, I know the
bookshelves at Amazon are chock full of tomes preaching that if a soul is
serious about being a True Homesteader, everything that’s needed will be
produced by the sweat of your brow and spring from the loins of your
property, but I’m here to witness honestly that I’ve been at this Small
Homesteader Thing for well nigh a quarter of a century and I’ve yet to be
able to pay all my farm bills from something I do that’s actually
farm-related.
I do have a
Homestead. And I’m right proud and serious about it. But while
I’ve always managed to raise up, sell, plant, harvest and otherwise
oversee creation of things that bring in some cash to defray the cost of
the farm proper, I’ve always had to have employment off the farm to pay
for those little luxuries like clothing for the children, upkeep on
vehicles, health/auto/property insurance, taxes, and stuff we can’t grow,
like toilet paper and ink pens.
