Mom is here. A few folks that I've known for years recently wondered aloud (in writing, after I began to question it myself), how I magically transitioned from a city girl to a homesteader-wanna-be-girl. Where the sudden urge to "homestead" came from. I can explain the chain of events that led me to here, but can't explain why I threw out everything that I loved before to live by myself so far out here in the country; leading directly to me missing city things that I loved before, and partly ... my angst.
You see - I'm an engineer. My entire career (all 25 years of it) has been about me successfully making things happen that didn't exist before. I don't really pay attention when people say things are impossible or hard to do, because that's stuff we engineers get done regularly. I've done the same thing in my personal life (make big, hard changes), and then ended up changing back when I've realized that things aren't working. Still thinking about that, and mom is here to help provide perspective.
As I've read your blog over the long-term, I've appreciated how you bring your expertise and perspective as an engineer to the tasks of homesteading. Maybe you need a smaller laboratory? I like this book: http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Homestead-Produce-food-quarter/dp/1603421386 for its "do what you can" approach.
ReplyDeleteLife. It's an evolving process, isn't it? Sometimes hard, sometimes easy . . . but always changing.
ReplyDeleteI bet lower corn projections will, indeed, mean hardship for someone - farmers, consumers...
ReplyDeleteAgree that this change in projections will probably rattle many folks. Some in a good way, some in a bad way. I thought "shocker" was a little melodramatic though. In a funny aside, I initially forgot that this stuff is where the stock exchange first CAME FROM. Farmers wanting a way to get consistent prices. From the CBOT, pork bellies - that's real pork & real bellies. From farmers. I think that's really cool.
ReplyDeleterut row...sounds like someone is moving back to the city.... :-(
ReplyDeleteEither move closer to the city, or give up trying to meet city people and do city things more than occasionally...or find a roommate so I'm not so freakin' *alone* out here!
ReplyDeleteJordan, is there any way you can do both, such as spend an evening in the city after work, then head home? There is a great independent movie theater at the end of 787 for example, and a civic playhouse, and loads of other things in the cities. I know with dogs, there is flexibility, and there probably is with chickens too, re tending to them. You are far out in terms of the landscape, but not far out in terms of getting into the city when you choose to.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought. Also, learn to use that shotgun, if you haven't yet. You might try having a roommate as an experiment, to see how it goes for you. Your place surely is big enough.
Good luck!
Yes, about 2x a week I stay in town to do something or other. About 1x a week or so, I come home, feed everybody and head back out. Sometimes more and sometimes less, when I get tired of the 45-minute drive just to socialize.
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