This is the Place
Chapter 6…
We got in the car and my wife suggested we go over to the pond and up the farm access road which is on the other side of the creek. The weeds were getting tall next to the pond. I got out of the car to walk to the edge of the pond. When I got close, a whole host of frogs leapt into the pond to take cover. The road which leads to an empty field and the forested hills had deteriorated a bit so I had to go on foot. My wife waited in the car with our son while I proceeded with my camera. I knew there was a large clearing that I had seen from satellite images from Google maps. The field looked brown and the trees were bare in the image I saw online so I didn’t have high expectations.
Walking up the road I noticed many wild birds that I had never before seen. There was one that was magnificently colored with bright blue and other colors. I paused momentarily before proceeding to watch the birds and take in the fresh summer smell and the sound of the birds chirping in the trees. It was beautiful and very peaceful. As I continued walking, I went around the corner, no longer within sight of the car. A smile gradually overtook me that I was unable to remove from my face until long after leaving the property.
Walking only a couple hundred feet further I was able to see much of the clearing. Despite the image I had seen online, the field was green and the trees were covered in leaves and full of life. Looking all around, the area was completely hidden from the road and visible only to one house. A house built here would be completely surrounded by forest. It was very easy to visualize a safe area for my children to run and play and a house could very easily be built here. There was more than enough room for anything we needed there. I had found the place and the feelings just moments earlier were understood. The future location of our family home would lie just across the creek from the family farmhouse. We would be able to start something new and retain the old.
Why did this area seem to make me so happy? Why the spontaneous smile and all the joy. There was much to learn and many unanswered questions, but I felt that I had found the right place and that was enough for right now.
The Big Move