Tuesday's muse
Way back in the 80's when I was just dating my wife-to-be, she was boarding a horse outside of town with a gentleman she had known since her youth. I was living in a large house in town and was heating with wood, so I made arrangements to cut my wood on his land. At that time he owned several hundred acres, kept a few cows, and boarded a few horses. Now I am not a cowboy, or an equestrian of any sort. I have ridden, but was not moved to the point that owning a horse was ever a consideration, yet the wood was free, and I enjoyed having a place to go. Around about the same time that we got married, I was approached and offered an opportunity to purchase a piece of land, provided that we could find a place to our suiting. She owned a horse, so this seemed to be a very logical move. Now, the first couple of places that was shown were nice, but they did not really suit my vision of where I wanted to be. There was however a place with a partially cleared, south facing field, and the hint of level ground under what seemed like a hundred blown over pine & hardwood trees. It was a thicket that any rabbit would be proud to call home. Parts were so tangled with trees blown over during hurricane Hugo, that I was not able to traverse the pile, even crawling on my belly! The land falls off on three sides, with a road (of sorts) to the south, overlooking the neighbor's barn and the valley bottom to the east, and to the north is a spring on the land (also covered in a tangle). To the west, between us and the setting sun is a rather tall hill. I rationalized that losing the sun early is sometimes a blessing. A deal was struck, and a dream had been born of a homeplace. Suddenly I am faced with the opportunity to work as much as I desired. My wife and I were to live with a common goal, and everyone was happy. The money and the deal were all set after the marriage (this will become important later), so we did manage to get the place paid in a relatively short period of time.
posted by sername at 11:00 PM
0 comments
