WINTER REST: The Other Season of Thanksgiving–guest blog by Nancy Webster

When we sang “Come Ye Thankful People Come” last Thanksgiving, it was hard for me to sing the second line of the first verse: “All is safely gathered in, Ere [before] the winter storms begin,” because our family was still busy butchering and preserving venison.

Now in mid-January, however, deer season is past, the busy-ness of the holidays is over, and, except for a few vegetables growing in a cold frame, the garden is resting along with the grass.

There are still chores: eggs to gather, chickens to feed and water, a cow to milk, hay to supply, firewood to bring in. But those are quick unless someone leaves a gate unlocked and a round-up of escaped animals is necessary.

In some ways, January is my favorite month on our farm.  The wood stove keeps us dry and cozy inside. The children and I get some of our best homeschooling of the year accomplished without gardening, canning, assorted outdoor projects, and animals nagging for attention.

I finally feel like I can indulge in the pile of books I’ve considered myself too busy to read. Board games (especially our favorites, Dutch Blitz and Bananagrams) are regular entertainment. A mug of homemade hot chocolate or mocha coffee completes the luxury.

Meals are quick and easy. Thanks to our hard work earlier in the year, in twenty minutes we can have sumptuous soups from our canned bone broths, venison, and vegetables (dehydrated or canned) with a slice of buttered, sourdough bread and a dab of lacto-fermented sauerkraut on the side.

In Middle Tennessee, January also holds our best chance for snow.  With hopeful anticipation, we’ve cut a wide swath down the steep slope of the hillside pasture to help our sleds go faster when snow drops in for a visit—however brief it may be. And if the pond freezes over, there’s skating and the thrill of “walking on water.”

The crocus will be poking up in a few weeks. Seed packets will soon tempt us at the stores. And seed time and harvest will start again. For now though, the earth rests, and we rest—I can easily sing thanks to God for that.

Check out Dutch Blitz (Fast and Fun!) and Bananagrams (Very Appealing!) for yourself:

        

 

If you happen to have come to Creative Country Views from somewhere other than the Creative Country Living website, please check out our FREE online magazine about rural and agrarian life at: http://creativecountryliving.com/

 Creative Country Views ©2014 Greg Webster. All rights reserved.

South by Northeast—Greg Webster

“Teaching by example” not only instructs but usually offers tremendous encouragement. Most people who’ve made the transition from urban (or suburban) to country living have fascinating stories of how they made it happen for themselves. This is the first of a series of examples I’ll be sharing about folks who did it.

Before Doug and Jenny could re-paint their house, the city zoning board had to approve the choice of colors. Although they had grown accustomed to—and to some extent even appreciated—the enforced charm of their Sandwich, Massachusetts neighborhood, a long-dormant dream awakened in both of them on a visit to Southern Middle Tennessee.

A hundred acres of land was for sale directly across a secluded country road from some of their best friends of the previous 20 years. Doug envisioned establishing a retreat center to share his love of peace and beauty with others who, like himself at the time, had experienced mainly the trappings of urban America. Jenny loved the quiet beauty and closeness to God that seemed so much more accessible away from town. They knew before heading back to Cape Cod what they wanted to do, but when “point A” lies at a settled life in the Northeast and “point B” is an unknown world in the Mid-South, getting from one to the other seemed insurmountable.

Yet there are ways.

It started with “creative financing.” The problem is typical: Equity tied up in one property that has to be sold before another can be purchased. Through a fairly involved study of real estate investment, I’ve learned a number of potential solutions, but for Doug and Jenny it came in the form of another set of close friends who caught a vision for the Massachusetts-to-Tennessee plan, had available funds, and were willing to buy the land and hold it for Doug and Jenny until they could unwind their life on the East Coast.

Over the several months following their Tennessee vacation, friends bought the land and committed to re-sell it to Doug and Jenny, Doug wrapped up his successful private practice as a clinical psychologist, they marketed their house (which quickly sold!), and found a home to rent in Tennessee just five miles from where they would eventually build a house on their own land. The “step of faith” required to give up a fine life in a fine place to “move to the country” was rewarded as Doug plowed (so to speak) through the arduous process of getting re-licensed in a new state to practice his trade and ended up in a prosperous combination of new work opportunities.

Ten years later, the trials they’ve faced still threaten to unravel the life they’ve built in rural America, and it remains to be seen whether or not any sort of retreat center will ever exist on their 100 acres. But Doug, Jenny, and their four children (three now adults and out of the house), have all grown in precious ways that likely wouldn’t have happened anywhere else. Their attitude toward the struggles of making life in the country work for them is the same as most everyone I know who has tried: “It’s been worth it.”

(Last week, I ran across another blog with some solid thoughts about the commitment and endurance needed to accomplish anything that’s really worth doing. Check out Chris Guillebeau’s post “Worth It All”: http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/worth-it-all/)

If you happen to have come to Creative Country Views from somewhere other than the Creative Country Living website, please be sure to check out our FREE online magazine about rural and agrarian life at: http://creativecountryliving.com/