Full On Spring

Our family back home in Utah and Montana reported 2" of snow last weekend and here we are in Maryland with everything in bloom and leaf. It's green and wonderful! The humidity is back (hooray!) which is welcome to me after a dry winter. It's amazing how comforting a little humidity is to me. My husband would say otherwise who is from the dry, dry west. :-)

Last week we went on a family walk. We passed the beautiful fields of old farms that are no more and decided spur-of-the-moment that we would take a walk through the fields instead of just walking along the driveway. What a gorgeous piece of property! The hills are deep and rolling with lovely patches of trees scattered around. My favorite part is where the old farm house used to stand. Someone long ago had planted a large L of pine trees to shelter the house. Now they stand stately and tall, but forlorn somehow, as if they've lost their purpose without a house to protect.

We walked all the way to the back of the property line. There had to be at least 50 acres or more spread out, cutting a swath amidst the townhouses and other signs of civilization. We've heard rumors that there are people who have plans to develop the land into more housing tracts. There was even evidence of the impending future - newly laid gas lines. And it was unfortunate that some people had taken advantage of the fallow land and dumped their unwanted trash and old carpets. It's such a sad fate for a piece of land like that.

This spring, the ache to have my own land is sharper than usual. We had considered moving up to Pennsylvania to rent a bigger home with 1/2 an acre, but I was doubtful that they would have allowed us to have chickens and I don't want to move again unless I can have at least that! Another big negative factor was the long commute for my husband. So, we're still here in Maryland and I am somewhat relieved. We've established friends and where the parks are and when the farmers markets are, where we like to shop, etc. It's hard to uproot from that. The good thing that has come out of this emotional turmoil is that we are more committed than ever to building up our savings and a down payment.

We think we might want to buy a piece of land we like and then build the house we want. We've even looked into a house kit. We're hoping to be on our own land in 5 years! It seems soooo far away, but at least we've got our goal in sight.

*Picture by Ryan Faggard