Take me back to the place where I first saw the light
To the sweet sunny south take me home
Where the mockingbirds sing me to rest every night
Oh, why was I tempted to roam?
Take me back to the place where the orange trees grow
To my plot in the evergreen shade
Where the flowers from the river's green margins did grow
And spread their sweet scent through the glade. *
I have so much to share after my absence last week. So many stories, and details, and oh, so much excitement. First, I want to say thank you. Thank you for being supportive and sending out so many good vibes while we manifested, and worked to realize our dream. I'm not usually so coy, revealing only whispers of a plan at a time, and I appreciate your willingness to keep us lifted in your thoughts these last few weeks.
Steve and I have been planning and dreaming for a long, long time about where we wanted to raise our family. We have always known that we wanted land, and space to grow, and a place to let our kids run free. Our obstacle over the last several years of dreaming has been the recurring question of where? Where did we see ourselves raising our kids? Where did we see ourselves living out the next chapter of our lives? We've always known that we wanted to be close to family but moving to either of our home states wasn't the answer. Again, and again the question cocooned around our life, often muddling our focus: Where did we want to live?
We love Colorado. Love. But for a variety of reasons we struggled with the idea of raising our children here: We know it would be impossible to have weekend grandparents here. We know that the cost of land is astronomical. We know that the west is rapidly heating up and the already scarce resource of water is becoming harder to secure. And we also know that this place holds so much of who we are, and leaving will be extremely difficult.
But.
After finding clarity in the last few months, we made the decision. And, with excitement and faith in the unknown, we leapt.
We've just returned from seven days in Asheville, NC. Seven inspiring and exhausting days of driving around in search of our future home. After an all-out-exhaustive house search, I'm thrilled to say that we've found our spot. Our place to call home. Our place to have space, and family (almost next door) while still within reach of mountains, trails, and a thriving artisan community.
We're still laughing and shaking our heads at how it all played out. Seemingly random events occurred in a mysteriously guided sequence, all leading us to the home and property where we hope to raise our children. Call it fate, or magic or the law of attraction, or simply good luck, but we were pulled to this property in the same way that the current owner was pulled to our family. A long and somewhat baffling storyline unfolded, and we learned that the owner saw us as the next stewards of this amazing home and land. And she generously, graciously invited us to be its caretakers.
We're still in awe. Maybe a little bit of shock. And we know that we are moving in the right direction, and into the right home. We still have a few hoops to jump through, but contracts have been signed and all of the work is lining up to be checked off the list.
For now, we take each day as it comes. In our thoughts we plan a larger garden. We envision the bee yard. We dream up chicken coop designs. We imagine kids splashing in the backyard stream. We see ourselves lovingly tending all those many, many acres. We visualize us there, realizing our dream.
Let it be so.
*Lyrics by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
