Sacrificing the Scarecrow

I have received so many wonderful emails and comments about this move. One email in particular brought tears to my eyes.

She is where I was only a few weeks ago. I watched Husband stumble through the house in the mornings because of his lingering injuries, coupled with the grinding down of his knee as he spent 40 plus minutes a days pushing motorcycle in and out just so he could Do his job. He rarely complains, but I have known him long enough to see when he hurts.

The email had her asking herself if this was all they had in life. It made me sad to read those words. We get sucked into the world of responsible adults, and even if we yearn for something different, society makes sure we aren't allowed to do it.

It is difficult to pull from it. I firmly believe that our parents told us to follow our dreams so that maybe we could escape the doldrum and be happy. I wish I would have listened.

I digress, I thought it be best to talk about what we are dealing with. I express my enthusiasm, but neglecting the other things. If you are contemplating dropping everything and taking off, huzzah! But remember it really isn't that easy.

Our funds have been exhausted due to the wreck. Husband received one days worth of pay. We are working with no money. I don't suggest doing that, but this is what life has handed us.

Two weeks ago, we were looking at properties close to the Neophyte Homestead, and some further away, yet still in Kansas. Two properties were gorgeous, but with the beginning farmer program not being what it sounds like it is, we decided to stay in the area. Husband's boss had no reason to be concerned about us moving, but people hear what they want. Shrug.

I jokingly said to Husband, you want to move to Kentucky? I have family there.

I do have family there, right along the Green River where my mother was born. I also have family across the river in Indiana.

Not five minutes later I get a message from Small Farm Girl. "You want to move to Kentucky? Lol" All I could do for a few moments was stare at the message. This was weird. I told SFG that I might be interested, and asked why. And then it happened, owner carry financing, a creek and cave and more trees than in all of the State of Kansas. Husband and I got excited. If nothing else, we could retire there. But the plan was to take our time to build a homestead there. Instead, two days after we started talking about Kentucky, Husband was out of work. Plans changed quickly.

We did try to come up with reasons to stay. We love our family. But my dad came from Panama, and my mother started her journey in Kentucky. My two younger brothers live hours away. My family made individual journeys, they would understand. Husband's family came from Denver, they too would understand. Friends. . . I adore the few friends I have here, and if they were making this decision, I would be sad, but would support them. Besides, there is Skype and emails.

Work. Well I can work from anywhere in the world. Husband has connections, and many job offers in other States, some are long standing offers. Husband is also a jack of all trades. He has never shied away from hard work. However he has made some recent choices to not work for anyone else, at least full time.

In a way it is hard to leave the Neophyte Homestead. It is all that Medium and Small have ever known. But these last two years, I have not felt like the uber-homesteader that Catherine recently called me. The drought has sucked the life out of us. Covered wagons did, sometimes, head back east. A recent trip to a salvage yard drove the horror home. Large combines, rows and rows of relatively new farm implements lined the yard. Our farmers are losing everything.

And as I said in a previous post, we have to spread our arms and just fall. Or we have a very good chance of crashing and burning here. Husband and I ran into someone we knew, he too was out of work. It looks like all the talented and high priced techs in the area have lost their jobs. So many kids, willing to work for less are flooding the area. Unfortunately the school only teaches newer model repairs. The guys that know what a carburetor is are being pushed aside by those that have only seen them in glancing. Luckily there are shops in other parts of the world that want the old school techs. It might seem like I am going off topic, but this is all part of our decision.

We got lucky, or maybe it was fated. Either way, we were given a second chance at this life. Something Husband and I have never really gotten. We tend not to get the help that we give to others.

The next morning, after the job loss, we were able to sell enough things to keep us alive and the deposit to hold the land. We are selling things that if we were staying in the State we would keep. But this is a very long drive to move so much stuff. We are sacrificing Christmas for the boys with this move. We did sit them down and discussed it all. They are fine with getting few things this year to be able to have a cave, a tree house and zip lines in the future. I am proud of those three.

We now live below our means in such a way that to an outsider it might be alarming. But we have food, we have warmth, we have water and electricity. We have what we need, not what the world at large thinks we need. No perks. We will live on basics for now.

Sometimes I get upset about the things being sold. But it is for our betterment. This time period will be trying, we are well aware of that. We also know there is a chance that we will lose everything. But this risk is worth it, if things improve.

Laughter fills the sky instead of rain. . .