Thursday, March 31, 2011

Dreams Do Come True

We've had a most incredible life since we got married.  May of this year will mark our memorable 9 year flight of change and excitement together.  After marrying my dreamboat, dreams started coming true!  Six months after we married, we got our first home together.  After our second baby was two days old, our house was sold and I moved out to our 39 acres of raw land with all three children in tow.  Miracle Worker had already placed the fifth-wheel a couple months prior.


It was a dream come true!  Land of my very own!  Space!  Nature!  Peace!  A more natural way of life!  Another dream come true was the building of our little house, all 750 square feet of it.  We called it phase one.


Dreams have a way of evolving.  We needed to sell and move on.  But where to?  Then this care-taking for a neighbor came up as an offer.  They needed to sell too, but the market wasn't cooperating.  So until they can sell, they asked us if we would live in their home, take care of the house, barn, land, and be here to watch over their investment.  We accepted and here we are.  Amazing all by itself!


The point of this summary is to say that good things happen if you simply start by dreaming.  Not all dreams come true, but I've noticed how others either take their place or are much better than the original dream-seed.  Dreams don't die, they grow.  They become reality!

So much of what we have has been a direct result of Miracle Worker's barter savvy.  For example, we got two of our vehicles on trades.  We got llamas as payment for a job a man wanted to make good on, but couldn't pay money.  That may or may not have been one of the best deals, since we still had to feed them!  But, my garden is better for it anyway.  MW has obtained several different types of equipment because of his trading skills.  It all adds up.  Some skills, tenacious will, and a whole heck of a lot of dreaming!

At this point on our journey, we know not where we will end up.  But this leads me to my story I wanted to tell!  It's about a new dream-seed.  I can't get it out of my mind.  It's a long shot.  But what hasn't been a long shot in this roller-coaster ride we've been on?


If this dream comes true, it will be a down-right miracle.  As I mentioned on my last post, we had to go way outside of town to our rancher friend's place to pick up his heavy equipment trailer.  Now, my hubby knows me very well.  As we drive along, he preempted me by saying, "Just remember, we can't afford it."  "What?" I asked.  "You'll see."  We finally hit this road you see above.  This road crosses BLM and State Lands.  It's on the way to his ranch headquarters, which is what you call a house in ranching terms.  At this point I'm loving the terrain.  It's beautiful.  But wait, there's more...

Look at those mountains!  No one around for MILES!  That's what you get when you're surrounded by State and BLM.  Be still my beating heart...because things are just getting better...

This is right next to the headquarters, and I'm starting to hold my breath a lot... I can't stop taking pictures...

This little trail leads to the headquarters.

And this is my first glimpse of the house.  Look at those mountains!  Nestled all nice and snug at their feet!

Wait!  Another house there next to the first?  Turns out that second one is a little over a hundred years old, like so many other original ranch homes in Arizona.  Built better than most modern homes too!!!

This little piece of paradise is situated on about 300 acres of deeded land.  It's separated into two pieces.  This one is supposedly on 160 acres of the 300.  Not only that, but the deeded parcels are surrounded by 58 sections of State and BLM.  Each section is 640 acres each.  So, this paradise just got heavenly because it's surrounded by roughly 37,120 acres of untouchable land!!!
Excuse me a moment while I start crying...


Okay, here's the thing.  I can't stop imagining what we can do with this place!  All our dreams would find full realization here.  It embodies my almost mythical view of the desert southwest and it's personality.  This place is magical.  It's pure art to my eyes.  It's music to my heart.  This is a full-bodied dream like no other.

We could grow all of our vegetable gardens, orchards, trees, flowers, and care for our animals, and still not touch the natural beauty of the place.

This place looks like it is from another time, because here, time practically stands still.  The springs still seep and run out of the rocks.  It is a place to live closer to the land, untouched by urban sprawl.

It's located in a part of Arizona that actually leads to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, at the southwest portion of the canyon.  To help us make a living we could tap into the tourist traffic that skims by the area.  We want to give folks a chance to experience off-grid solar power (no chance of electricity here otherwise!) in their own little cowboy cabin.  Maybe they can go on horseback to take in the scenery.  Or, they could participate in a real roundup.  Or, go on a nature hike.  Maybe a moonlight hike/ride.  If you've never experienced the moon in an unpolluted night sky... all I gotta say is oh, wow!  There would be gardens and orchards galore to either help out in or simply enjoy.  It would be a place to find and experience the ancient peace of the southwest.

Okay, I'm into this dream deep.  If there was a Dreamer's Anonymous, I'd have to sign myself up!

Like I said, it's a long shot.  It's a dream.  Highly improbable.

It's for sale.  Did I mention that?

We are average folk, living on way less than most people live on.

So, like I said, it's a dream.  Need I say more?



This post has been linked with the Dandelion House Farmgirl Friday blog hop.


Hop on over and enjoy linking up with exciting farmgirls!
There are no limits to our dreams!


6 comments:

  1. I have an Aunt who tells me all the time to DREAM BIG!I have a feeling you are on your way! When we moved east away from our " dream of building on our humble ten acres in Northern Nevada" my husband told me, our dreams did not die, they merely sleep". so true of dreams...some don't come true and the ones that do happen in their own sweet time and are usually much better than what what we had originally envisioned!
    from one day dreamer to another!
    Deb
    Thanks for this inspiring post... I so " get" your love of the desert... it can put a spell on you just like the mountains, oceans and forests do!

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  2. It's that restless feeling I get when the dreams take hold and won't let my mind have a moments rest that can be so difficult sometimes. I sense you are wrestling with that right now. I see big wonderful things for you and your family because you dream. So get out there and create during this time of restlessness. It may only quiet the dream a bit but at least you can get some neat things out of the energy.

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  3. Great pictures and i loved your story and YES dreams do come true!!!

    Thanks
    Leontien

    and yep i'm your newest follower, please hop over!

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  4. Awesome landscape! (when I say Awesome--- I truly mean it but the whole sense of the word...not some kind of gnarly term...hehehe)
    I mean look at the view-- how can anyone not be in AWE of that? I can imagine your dream. you painted a pretty vivid picture.

    thanks for stopping by my place today; I had an email typed up but then noticed you've got no-reply email setup:
    So here it is! Have a great day.

    Great tips! Thanks.
    I am learning all this late it seems... I should know most of it you'd think after living in the country for the last 15 years... and growing up in 'semi-country'... as a kid.
    Thanks for stopping by!
    Don't you just loving reading about all the farms and such at the barn hops and Farm girls hops? I am learning so much. I'm so glad women are so eager to share.

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  5. I had a very similar dream of having the farm that surrounded my acreage. I bought it a year ago, and now I keep working on making the dream of being a full time farmer a reality. My point: dream big and trust the universe to bring your dreams to you.

    Teresa

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  6. Spring greetings from Colorado!
    I wanted to thank you for the beautiful comment you left this past week! Thank you for sharing about your special friend. She sounds amazing! You are blessed! You are right, relationships are so important!
    I look forward to discovering all the great posts on your blog too!
    May you have a very blessed spring with your precious family!

    Under His Wings,
    Malinda @
    vintagehomesteademporium

    ReplyDelete