Travels

Travels












“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

~Marcel Proust

Well today’s post is somewhat of a bit of “cat chin’ up” if you will. Wanted to wish each one of you who read this Blog a Happy New Year and may it be filled will all the joy & challenges that make life worth living. We have had our share in 2005 and look forward to greater things in 2006 and years beyond, as many as the Lord allows us. With that said I thought it might be a good time to share some of our story, in reflection, and amongst the tidbits let you see some of our hopes and practices along the way. As well, I’ll ramble along the way, about some of the community events we’ve noticed transpiring in the few recent months we’ve been at this “thing” for lack of a better term “The Agrarian Blogsphere”.

We have resided here in Catskill, NY for a little over a year and a half now. My wife, Brooke, and I moved “up” to Greene County and choose Catskill, NY primarily due to economic constraints in pursuing our version of “the good life” and raising a family. We will be married this spring 2006 for a total of 3 wonderful years. [And I do mean wonderful!] Brooke is a loving helpmeet and wife, intelligent & encouraging, not only to me but also to those who know her. She is a model of what young women should aspire to being when they pursue and win a husband. I look forward to the day that she trains up our girls, and helps do her part in restoring the foundations of biblical womanhood to our Christian community. That femininity is one of purpose and honor in the family home and carries a responsibility to be proud of when properly understood and implemented. (ok, there’s some of that ramblin’ I was speaking of) Back to topic.

I cannot say that we were pursuing any form of an agrarian dream or goals when we made our move to Catskill. Our limited focus was primarily economic, in that we saw what little advantage we would have in our desire to pursue a time when Brooke could reside at home raising & training up our children and instill our mindset and Christian culture in them from the start. This type of talk (crazy talk as some say) did not set well with our extended family and some (friends) acquaintances we have grown apart from in the past couple of years. [This tends to happen at times, we’ve come to accept it as part of the process] The offer was made to Brooke early on in our courtship that she had a choice. I said you can have the nice house, the right neighborhood, the new cars and all the “Trappings” that modern life will afford an individual, including the 2.3 children immersed in the culture of the public schools. She choose Door #2 or to barrow an analogy from a popular movie line she choose “The Red Pill” and to this day we’ve yet to see how deep the rabbit hole goes……

Door #2 was a door of frugality, at times struggle, and a lot of ‘not so new’ and challenging of our old ways of thinking. It has proven thus far to be everything we had hoped for in crossing though the ‘narrow gate’. After acquiring a transfer with my employer, we moved from the City of Poughkeepsie, up north to Catskill, NY. (Some how I think we have a bit further to go, but that’s another story for another time) We acquired a 6-month short-term lease for an apartment that was half the cost of what we were paying in the City so that we could “spy out the land” and find what now is “Our First Home”. Also this allowed for Brooke to finish her schooling and graduate with her degree in mathematics. [A promise that I had made to her father and meant to keep] What we acquired is a lovely old 1920 arts & craft style home in somewhat of a state of disrepair and much required TLC, but roomy, inviting and cost affordable. Next month we will be here one year and Brooke graduated May of 2005. Mission accomplished, Phase One.

To Be Continued…..