Why we are Moving to the Country

Our "nodding donkey" at sunset.

I've blogged about it over the past several years but now that I am posting YouTube videos of our family farm, I'm being asked all over again: "Can you tell why you are there and what you intend to do?"

It seems tough to put it into words right now for some reason. I guess because over time, Wifey and I have seen so many things that have led us down this path that we simply can't remember them all. Every time we see a news article like: Pro-Abortion Backers Tell Legislator 'I Hope Your Daughter's Raped'... and they Chant 'Hail Satan!' it screams at us that the world is going insane. 

Then we read yet ANOTHER case where the government is BEYOND out-of-control like: State Dept Spent $630K on Facebook 'LIKES" and Obamacare Penalties are Delayed for Big Firms while Individuals are still REQUIRED to Comply. 

 Hell in a hand basket is a reoccurring theme and I don't want to get caught like the 72% of Americans who are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Which is exactly what I was doing up until a few weeks ago. Now don't get me wrong, I don't typically run around saying the sky is falling. I do my due diligence when it comes to collecting my news. That last article, for example, was soley based on a sample of 1,000 people. However, I believe it to be a pretty good reflection of our current society based on what I've seen post Katrina, Irene, and other disasters where people ran out of food in a matter of days...as did the food stores.

Life isn't going to wait for you Pilgrim...

But there's something else to the equation. There's an inner excitement at the thought of living self reliantly. Providing for yourself instead of relying on others. And ultimately, I simply don't want to work for someone else for the rest of my life. It harkens back to a conversation I had with my wonderful Grandma about a year ago.

We were talking about things and I decided to ask for her analysis on The Great Depression. So many people were beginning to compare the current financial situation to the 1930's and trying to come up with a nickname for our current troubles like The Great Recession, etc. I asked her, "What do you remember about the Great Depression Grandma?" To my surprise, she answered rather quickly and said "Well, it didn't affect us much...we grew our own food on the farm." Wow.

Leigh, over at 5 Acres and a Dream, sums it up nicely in a guest post she wrote today: "My husband and I chose the homesteading lifestyle because we love to live and work close to the land. We love living in partnership with the natural world around us and our primary goal is to create a self-sustaining homestead. This includes a number of areas: energy, water, animals, and food, which includes feeding ourselves as well as feeding our animals." There simply is no such thing as a Golden Parachute anymore. Working your entire life for someone else no longer has any perks. And as far as I know, nobody ever said on their death bed: "Gee, I wish I had worked MORE."

So those are some of the reasons why we decided to head out to the country. I'm 42 years old and Wifey is 37. God willing, we have a handful of decades left on this planet. It is now my goal to create a self sustaining farm that can provide for not only my immediate family and extended family...but for generations to come. Like one of my mentors, Joel Salatin, who has three generations working on his family farm and is doing very well. He was even invited to give a prestigious TED Talk (watch it if you have time, it is highly worth watching.)

 For those of you who are reading this and thinking that you just aren't quite ready yet...I'd like to share something with you. When it comes to putting your mind to something and getting it done, there is one man in American history who's achievements speak through his amazing accomplishments: General George S. Patton. Here is what he said on the  matter:

"A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.  Nothing is ever going to be perfect, especially during that organized chaos called war. In war, a good solution applied now can save lives, materials, and time. You can spend all of your time rethinking and revising your plans and never get the battle started, let alone won. There comes a time when you must simply stop planning and put the plan into effect. If you continue to wait for a perfect plan or for perfect conditions, the enemy will take control of the situation, attack you, force you into a defensive position, and possibly destroy you. Too much analysis causes paralysis." - quoted from Patton's One Minute Messages.

If you substitute "solution" with "plan" and consider your fight to be self sufficient and independent from government as a personal "war" then you'll understand how I am tying this all together. 

I hope this will help motivate some of you to follow your dreams. I am in the very first stages of following mine and I can tell you...I've never felt more alive nor felt that I was holding so many endless possibilities in my hand. Life is good.

~OJD