New year, new things

Well, it's a new year so new things must be in store.

We are still trying to downsize the farmstead and find homes for our animals. It won't be much of a farmstead then, but it is what it is.

We are growing tomatoes and kale on the sun porch even now, when the outside temps are still in the single digits. Although this week has been amazing, warming up into the 40's F during the day. The tomato plants are starting to bloom.

In just a couple of weeks I will begin the first of my classes towards my Masters in Cultural Resource Management. I have to say I'm excited and a little scared. It has been a long time since I went to college and now, with these two little wild children and their online home school, time is at a premium. But, it shouldn't be any worse than going to college during the day and working all evening, which is what I used to do. How did I ever get anything done?

Richard is so excited about me going to school that he is looking into pursuing his own Masters. A sustainable MBA. That should be interesting. He is working on finding the right program. We shall see. With both of us working on our Masters in our spare time, life is going to get interesting at home. Will there be any time for farming?

I'd sure like to get a nice kitchen garden going this spring and grow enough to put away for the next winter. The past few years have been really tough because we have not had our store of home canned goods that we grew accustomed to. Financially we could have really used those extras.

We are thinking there will be no hemp on the farmstead either as the state raised the registration costs to the point we can no longer afford it. Plus there is the testing fees, if one is lucky enough to be chosen. Let's just count on that. Yeah, we think we will skip the hemp. Too bad too. I have a ton of seeds. Ha. I should just wander and throw them in the wind. Like Johnny Appleseed. That'd get the county and the state all up in arms. Maybe for real. Better not do that then. I don't want to get shot by the law enforcement, which seems to be a real risk these days, although less for me, not being a black male.

We are really considering moving Down East when we finish our new degrees. So, once again I have been browsing the real estate pages. looking at ancient old farmhouses back in the state from which I once originated. They say that they are more likely to accept you there if your family has been there since colonization. Well, my heritage has, but I have not, being raised in my mother's home state of Colorado. I even have rumored ties to the Native American tribes of the north east. If only I could track down my Native heritage. I wonder if they would accept a long lost relative, one without the typical Down East accent it takes a while for outsiders to understand? Maybe you can go home again. Or, maybe not.

I have been a nomad for so long now, where exactly is home?

We are looking at buying a school bus to convert while we get our degrees. Then at least we will have our own home, built by us. I wonder if we could accomplish at least that? Then no matter where we go, we will always be home.

So the land is still for sale. All of it. I am feeling restless, confused, not sure where to be. My heart is breaking with each animal I rehome, but I know it is for the best. I am anticipating good things with the many changes happening now. And while I so want to run south to where the birds overwinter, I also realize that it would probably be best for our future family to go back to the place where I began. If the climate is going to change so drastically in the next few years, we need to be in a more hospitable climate, where the water is plentiful. And who knows, maybe it will warm up enough there that I will be able to tolerate the winters.

Two years is still a long time, especially for us, and a lot can happen. We shall see what the Universe holds for us. And with new degrees, the job opportunities may lead us in entirely different directions than we would ever expect.