What you will find in this section is excerpts from my journal affectionately named "The Perfect Picture of Patience", kept over the six years we were building. Points of view and emotions of undertaking this project will come through on these notes.

It is said, “a life worth living is a life worth recording”. Humans hope not to pass through this world without making some kind of impact. Unfortunately, that impact has been in the form of consumerism and is blatantly showing up in the deterioration of our earth and it’s finite resources. People know that the latest product they are able to afford or put on credit does not bring about happiness.

There is a remembering going on and it is quietly effecting and putting people into action to do something different. What is this remembering? Many people want to remember the ability to be self-sufficient, to directly effect all aspects of their lives from obtaining food to building and caring for their homes. The idea of taking responsibility for all that we use with thought of where it came from and where it will end up is entering mainstream actions and ideas. We want to believe it is not too late.

In these pages is our journey from “a cultural coma” to self-sufficiency. It is not necessarily the easier path to take but undoubtedly the more joyous.

An Opinion

When we decided to make a total lifestyle change, all I wanted to do was run away from society and interact with our culture as little as possible. As we began to develop our homestead towards self-sufficiency, we discovered an incredible culture of people that brought me back to hope and motivation for the future of our species and a desire once more to share ideas and be social with our human race. I, myself, have been so inspired by books even in our age of technology, that I felt there was room for even one more to communicate a better way. Some may even say old ways, that when combined with the gift of human ingenuity, can help us live longer, healthier, fuller lives and pass on the much needed wisdom to our children who are starving to learn it.

I began writing this story less than one month after the terrorist attack on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, a day changing our ways forever. The terrorist are among us and with this ongoing uncertainty lingering in our minds, I wish to succeed in writing about a way of life that brings sanity back to our world. We may have gone too far, not only in the violence-faced everyday but also in the degradation of our earth. I hope in reading these pages, you are moved to make a change, first with yourself and ultimately with the world.

Magic Happens......All The Time!

In August of 2000, we had the opportunity to renovate our condo after long time renters were moving out. We had been back to visit every couple years since 1992 but this gave us a place to stay while working and enjoying a vacation. During a previous Colorado trip in 1995, we teased ourselves by exploring the possibility of buying some land a bit farther out from the city of Colorado Springs. We happened upon this six-acre plot that we fell in love with. Unfortunately, an offer was already in on the property and it did not transpire. In our hearts, we knew the timing wasn’t right. When we returned for two weeks in 2000, we planned to run by the property to see what might have developed with it. The last full day we were going to be here was the day we were going to take that drive. We hoped to get up early and head in that direction but a friend asked us to take a drive with him down to Aekin Canyon where a garden had been planted in memory of his wife who died of cancer the year before. After a very special morning with him, we had lunch and then headed to Woodland Park. As we pulled down the gorgeous valley on a dirt road that was the entrance to this property, a “for sale” sign stood out amongst the tall grasses. We grabbed a flyer and headed directly to the realtors office. Seeing the florescent green flyer in our hands he said, “that was fast, I just put that up there an hour ago”! Had we not gone with our friend that morning, we would have returned to Florida and never known the property went back on the market. We were also down to our last dollars with it being the end of the visit but happened to pick up a reimbursed check from a floor company on some work that had been done on our condo. We signed it over to the realtor as earnest money for the offer on the property.

We drove back to Florida the next day making our plans to return home. Once again, we were ready to sell everything to make this work. We put our house and the four-plex up for sale. Meanwhile, the banks would not give us a loan even though the sale of either of our properties would pay it off. We turned to family and friends to help us until we had a sale. We were able to eliminate the banks altogether and our determination enabled us to ask the impossible from others who ultimately came through for us. The next year was spent downsizing and finding out how little we could live with. By the time we moved back to Colorado in June of 2001, all our belongings fit in a 6x12 trailer pulled behind our 1998 Ford Explorer Sport.