Back on the Farm

You know, even after fourteen years of telling stories about my life (and the things I build) on the internet, I still spend an inordinate amount of time staring at a blinking cursor on a blank page every single time I sit down to try to figure out what I’m going to write.

In the twenty forty minutes that have elapsed since I tried to start this particular post, I’ve: filled up my wine glass, walked outside and had a short conversation with the chickens, washed two dishes and then gave up on washing dishes, texted three people, saved (and then deleted) at least 3 things from my amazon cart, filled up my wine again, wrote an email, and took this picture of the cat:

That is the face of someone who has never dealt with writers block in his life, obviously.

Also, starting a post by writing about how I never know how to start a post is a cheap trick and I know it, but it has now been four hours since I sat down to start writing this and the better part of four weeks since I actually posted something, despite the many, many, unfinished stories currently in my drafts folder…

Part of the problem is that things on the farm seem to be changing quicker than I can write about them. I was super excited to share, for example, the story of the new guinea keets that were hatched on the farm a few weeks ago, but before I could finish the post a predator got to them one night and all 19 babies were gone the next morning. Which, ugh.

You know I appreciate an authentic story, and that is authentically what life on the farm is like sometimes, but it does feel a little unnecessarily cruel to write a post with a bunch of pictures of those cute little fluffballs and then end it with, “just kidding they’re all dead!” Right?

Also, on a happier, but still behind-the-times note, the “little birds” mentioned in the second-to-last draft on that list are now basically full-grown teenage chickens…

They even take selfies.

So, uh, welcome to the farm not-so-little birds! (I guess we can cross that post off this list now too.)

The other kind of out-of-character thing that’s been happening this summer is that I’ve been away from the farm. Like, more than once (I’ve barely left the farm for more than one night at a time in the last five years, so to be gone for multiple weekends over the summer is basically unheard of.)

I have a very strong feeling about the farm being my personal responsibility and that it’s not okay to just toss the work over to someone else when I want to go away for the weekend, but I think my mom finally convinced me she actually likes staying up here for a few days when she’s on summer break, and it’s afforded me the opportunity to go and do some awesome weekend climbing with my brother…

And I also booked a last-minute trip back out to Idaho to spend a few days backpacking in the mountains (again) and catch the eclipse last week.

Which was a completely amazing experience.

In the fourteen years since I bought my first house and started fixing it up and writing about it on the internet, this has basically been my one big hobby. Buying houses, fixing up houses, writing about buying and fixing up houses, and then, eventually buying and fixing up the farm. Honestly, it’s a little weird to have a life and hobbies outside of all of that, but also… kinda nice? At least it was for the summer.

So I guess this whole post was just a very long way of saying I’m back on the farm now, and settling back into the part of my life that’s less about adventure, and more about crossing things off that big old list I have before winter sets it.

I mean, adventuring was fun, but it sure is good to be home.

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