Dreaming

Spending time with friends who have been traveling the world is motivating in more ways than one, the less obvious being blogging. Nevertheless, that's what's happening. One of those inspiring comrades reminded me to write throughout the process of my next big adventure: getting back.

My garden is the Flinthills of Kansas, where my mothers' family has for seven generations called home. I am one of but a few in my generation with a need to nest among these deepest of roots. Fortunately, I found a partner who, despite his relative newness to the area, feels the same.

We came to town almost three years ago to save time and money previously spent on highway 50 in an effort to birth a new and much needed business in the perfect community for us. The transition to town was easy and fun for while. The grocery store and the school where I teach are five minutes away instead of twenty and thirty-five. The heat in our home comes from a box on the wall and a mysterious machine in the basement which require no participation, thought or effort. Quickly running home is possible. But I'm done. I'm over it. I've had enough. Living in town has been convenient, but both of us are ready to get back to the county where we can begin building our off-grid straw-bale uber-hyphenated dream-home.

A big turning point occurred this fall when I told the husband I don't want to move to a comfortable, livable, regular, existing house in the county. If we did that, it would be too easy to take too long making design and construction decisions. We have agreed to place ourselves in a temporarily uncomfortable living situation in order to drive our process. Currently, we don't know the details. We're not even sure which county this will lead us to with a few options within our proposed radius. Maybe we'll find a run-down farm house we can patch up and stay in while we build, or perhaps well buy land with no existing structures and live the RV life. Maybe we'll practice green building techniques on a smaller dwelling that will become guest quarters and someday house an angsty teen or two.

Knocking on the door of 2015, I am reminded of my 2006 goal to be off the grid by 2010. But better late then never. And what does a twenty year-old college student know about her future, anyway?!

Woodstock

by Joni Mitchell  

I came upon a child of God

He was walking along the road

And I asked him where are you going

And this he told me

I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm *

I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band

I'm going to camp out on the land

I'm going to try an' get my soul free

We are stardust

We are golden

And we've got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you

I have come here to lose the smog

And I feel to be a cog in something turning

Well maybe it is just the time of year

Or maybe it's the time of man

I don't know who I am

But you know life is for learning

We are stardust

We are golden

And we've got to get ourselves

Back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock

We were half a million strong

And everywhere there was song and celebration

And I dreamed I saw the bombers

Riding shotgun in the sky

And they were turning into butterflies

Above our nation

We are stardust

Billion year old carbon

We are golden

Caught in the devil's bargain

And we've got to get ourselves

back to the garden

http://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=75