landed

for a moment there, life only made sense to me in snapshots.  the constantly changing landscape was a blur if viewed from any vantage point other than from within its own flux.  some of you have been reading posts on this site for a good handful of years now, and have thus witnessed a transformation in myself at the time of my own discovering it.  what began as mostly empty text about pork chops and farmer’s markets in brooklyn evolved into raising hogs and cattle with my own hands, and managing a dynamic vegetable farm in the hills of georgia before taking on a quite different challenge in the foothills of the great smokey’s.  

and now here we are.  another snapshot, another doorway.  arriving at my own front stoop.  i used to dream about this day:  sitting on a patio in west sonoma county, gazing at a swath of vines, and writing.  

leaving new york, farming in the south, studying under the management team of the number one resort in north america, and opening up our own farmstay and wellness center in the wine country of northern california.  it all sounds so well thought out.  the linearity of the story is shockingly smooth in comparison to the experience.  busting my chops on the floor of the new york stock exchange as preparation for herding eighteen busted-out cattle across a busy roadway isn’t exactly prescribed in any particular instruction manual.  but here i am none the less.  

we’ve found land.  we--have found--land.  the process isn’t closed yet, but i’m certain it will--and when it finally does, this here website will glisten with it’s lustrous glamor.  but until that day, she lies silent in my mind’s womb, gestating in giddy anticipation of sharing her in written word.  

since i last wrote: she made an honest man of me.  we wed on her home island, and afterwards we traveled by land and by sea.  we bonded with family and friends, and relocated across this great nation to the heart of california wine country.  the dog likes it here.  after a short but busy month of constantly visiting properties and searching for land we have finally found the perfect site.  

the excitement i have for this process can sometimes feel stifling.  in a world full of difficult challenges, hardships, imbalances and injustices feeling too good about our blessings carries a guilty weight around its’ neck.  but i know, in the heart of my mind, that we have worked hard, and we have stayed focused, and we are achieving our goals--and for that, i feel good.    

today, on this porch, the sun blasts through my window and warms my face like a magnifying glass.  tomorrow is another site visit to the property, and this time we are showing it to her brother who is visiting for the week, along with some consultants over the coming days.  having family on the land will be one of many upcoming checkmarks that will cement this experience into reality, plucking it from the stratosphere of "can you believe we actually live here?!" where it currently resides.  but for now, as i sit and write, the confusing energy of a new place, and a new home, fills me and swirls through my being like a cosmic spirit.  earlier today, driving from here to the coast, through the cow fields, over the golden brown hills, and to that great blue sea was--to me--like an eagle gently releasing it’s talons from a thousand foot rock   cliff.  just free.  

Comments

[matt]

yeah!