HOMESTEADING
Dreams and their fulfillment make the whole of life worth the living.
— Jim Sutton
I don't know about you, but I need a house outside of town, out among fields and wild meadows, rolling hills, maybe even some mountains. I want lakes and ponds nearby, and a stream that I can fish in — but not one that'll overflow and flood me out. I like ranches & farms with their fields of grain or corn, but I also like the raw, wild land, where deer and other wildlife can wander about. I want lots of trees, but I also want to see the land itself. I don't mind building my own house, but I also like remodeling an old farm house, or maybe even an old barn.
Sound familiar? Millions of Americans want very similar things. We want a place where we can live like real human beings again. Some of us want to try our hand at working the land, raising a few animals, making a living from the land itself. It's not such an unreasonable desire or dream. We are willing to work hard, to make things from scratch, and to learn from our mistakes.
And the fact is, we really need more people to grab hold of land that's in danger of being converted to cheap housing and shopping malls. We need more Americans to find a way to make the land sustain whole families. It won't be easy. Prices are going up all the time. And taxes must be paid. And costs of making roads, maintaining houses, fueling vehicles and keeping the lights on are going up every day, it seems.
But you know what? It wasn't so easy for the original farmers, ranchers and pioneers, either. They had to contend with harsh weather, cold winters, wild animals, wandering trouble-makers and the people who already occupied the land before Europeans came along. Not everyone made it. Families packed up and went back east. And other died in lonely, unknown places. But others did make it work. They found a way to stay alive from year to year. They found a way to make the soil produce income. Some of them even managed to build a nice place.
Real success in America (or any place else) is not about making billions of dollars off of other people's ideas and hard work. It isn't about getting filthy rich from playing politics and marketing games. It's about finding a way to survive and succeed. It's about sharing whatever you have and whatever you know with your neighbors. It's about helping to create a way of life that makes things better for the next generation. That's the American story.
This website is about that kind of hard work. It is about finding a way to carve out a place for ourselves in the land we love — and on the land we love. For some of us that means living in the mountains. For others, it means a place by the sea. Still others want to make it work in the Midwest or southern states. The exact location doesn't really matter, so long as it is the place you want to be.
This is a continually developing site. You'll find information here about construction, houses, furniture and design. And info about land use and animal care. If there's something especially important to you, but you can't find it, let us know and we'll do our best to dig up the goods on it.
Always be willing to work hard to make your dreams come true.
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Wed May 26, 2010 3:42 pm