farm!

this morning i drove a ways out of town to look at an old farm that's for sale. the property is high on a ridge, rising about 400 feet from 1100 to 1500 feet above sea level. it's south-westerly facing, has forest, meadow and lots of roads from the old farm and logging operations. heavy fog blanketed the property when i arrived and the grass of the upper meadow was wet with dew and last night's rain. my pants are still soaked this afternoon. the only sound was of insects.

i wasn't quite sure where the property started and ended, but working off an old survey and a topographic map, and as the fog lifted, i got a better sense of the property. about ten acres is a meadow with views to distant mountains and the rest is forested. the forest has been heavily worked, not a lot of large trees left on the property, but enough maples to make decent syrup i expect.

i came across the old farmhouse and the remains of the barn foundation. there's a cellar hole ready for a new house! but, i think it's a bit low on the hill. i wondered why they had put the house where they did.

there are roads all over the property. a nice old town road passes along one edge of the property giving easy access to one side of it. i thought that with all the maples along this road sugaring would be facilitated.

so, this is a beautiful, quiet place, but it's very remote. getting there i ripped the engine shield on my car on a hidden boulder. i'm sure that's going to cost some bucks to fix. so, i'm already invested! winter access would be difficult, requiring at a minimum a four wheel drive vehicle if not something even more serious. when thinking about this place i'd have to consider walking to the house, like jim and rowan do at their homestead in east corinth. i must admit this scares me a bit. but i know that my fear is largely my own lack of confidence about my ability to survive without all the perks of modernity.

the fog lifted and the upper meadow turns out to have fantastic views to the south and west. a house could be put at the north eastern edge of the property and get plenty of sun all day long and there are some nice spots in the meadow, almost flat, that could be gardens. i'm dreaming.