Options

I have been looking long and hard at my options for moving forward in the past few months. For some time I have been considering a move to a different region of the country and I have finally concluded that it is not going to happen. I would have a very hard time supporting myself in either the northwest or the northeast, and I would have to give up all hope of ever owning my own land. I could buy an entire farm here for the price of an acre or two in most places. I’m also a child of summer and am not sure I could live someplace where winter temps often dip into the minus scale. And yes, there are bad things here in the south but there are good things too –we have incredible forests and mountains. Some of the prettiest country in the world is within reach of my home. And I do have something of a support system here, as evidenced by all the help I received when my car finally bit the dust last month. So I’ve decided to dig here. I know this land and the people.

But that only covers part of the story. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want to own my own land. Not much –an acre or two. I want to run an organic intensive farm and grow most of my own food as well. Give me my small piece of land and I can make it bloom. I feel like I am running out of time to make this happen as the economic crisis deepens and the world spins into collapse. I have the feeling that this year and possibly next are going to be the last years anything works ‘normally’. I can buy an acre or two here for between 5 and 8k –not pocket change, but not out of reach either. That’s good land, too. The question is, how can I get that money? My current house isn’t likely to sell anytime soon, given the economy, and I am having trouble maintaining my current state as things are. Any month things could slip. A mortgage for the plot of land isn’t an option, given my income. I could come up with a thousand, but not much more.

So I’m asking for advice and suggestions. All help is appreciated.

Minor Miracles

I know that the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, when I wake up, turn on the radio, and hear stories about car bombs, war, murders, and people suffering everywhere, and I all I can think is “Same old shit.” Then things get worse when I have to deal with other minor, and no so minor, irritations: my financial aid check being almost a week late, the oil leak in my car, the invasion of ants into my house, a broken a/c, flat tires, incompetent people working in a profession where incompetence can literally ruin people’s lives.

It’s things such as this that make me want to throw my hands in the air and say “Screw it! It’s all hopeless anyway!” That’s when I need to sit down and remember those minor miracles in life that make it all worthwhile. Here’s some of them:

-waking up to the sound of rain on the roof for the first time in over a year.
-dogs
-cats
-babies
-the smell of fresh baked bread
-cookies still warm from the oven
-friends
-a good book
-squash. You plant a seed the size of your thumbnail and six weeks later its coming out of your ears
-birds at the birdfeeder every morning
-sunrise and sunset
-a full moon riding shepherd on the earth and casting pale light on the world below
-3 complete strangers, teenagers dressed like gangbangers, stopping at sunset on the 4th of July to help an old lady and her granddaughter change a flat tire

What are some of your minor miracles that make it easier for you to keep going amidst the chaos of collapse?