The City Escape
This post is now officially 3 years behind…as such things happen with a very full life, a pandemic, and achieving a Doctorate.
As with the rest of the world in 2020, we were contending with the COVID pandemic and being holed up at home entirely more than our outdoor-selves could contend with. Adam and I both grew up being “outdoorsy”, have always been active with hiking and exploring, and him hunting. After spending oh-so-many months in our downtown condo, we were jonesing for some more space and breathing room away from the chaos of a pandemic world, and Adam found us this heaven on earth.
In October of 2020, we became the owners of 70 acres of woods about 2 hours outside of the city. No dwellings, no electricity, no running water…just all the trees in the world. The initial intent of this was for a camping and wandering escape for us, and hunting territory for him. Well, over the past three years it has become so much more than this, more than we ever dreamed of or envisioned, in all the most amazing of ways. Our dreams and visions, and versions of self, have also evolved with this.
We now have an off-grid cabin in the woods, with solar power and a well. We had the shell of the cabin built and delivered, but we learned and did all the interior ourselves; installing insulation, putting up interior walls, laying carpet and flooring, building a bathroom with a propane shower and composting toilet, a kitchen with sink and propane stove….it’s quite amazing. We have water filtration, a portable fridge, and the cutest wood stove that you could ever image. Literally everything we need to be comfy and cozy, and it has become a home away from home. We are there almost every weekend, except for steamy summers because we don’t generate enough power to run an air conditioning unit and cannot sleep that hot.
I have become a person who loves to sit on my porch with a cup of coffee and watch the sunrise, and go for a long walk with a glass of wine and watch the sunset. I plant and grow fields of wildflowers for butterflies and bees, maintain bird feeders and baths, have flowering bushes surrounding the cabin, and love trim/cut trees and shrubs to burn all the things in the firepit that I built. There are dozens of apple trees and acres of blackberries that I am working on bringing back from the wild, and that has been SO much fun…albeit a steep learning curve and tons of work.
Adam enjoys all of the hunting: archery, muzzleloader, and rifle for both turkey and deer. We have enjoyed clearing shooting lanes for his tree stands and permanent blind, as well as learning all about building and maintaining food plots. He is still trying to talk me into letting him hunt our rabbits, but they are too cute. We let a neighbor hunt our property in the Spring for raccoon. We also share the land with badgers, coyote, mink, groundhogs, so many squirrels and chipmunks, fox, and giant fox squirrels. My favorite have been the bird of prey: red-tail hawks, falcons, owls, and bald eagles!
It really has become my own personal sanctuary that is such a welcomed break from the hustle of urban living and having such an intense job. As a being a pediatric nurse practitioner who only takes care of kiddos with cancer, it can carry heavy. So heavy. Being able to watch some beautiful sunrises and sets, be surrounded by peace and pure quiet, hanging the hammock to read in, and all the colors of the skies and flowers have helped tremendously.
Truly. Heaven on earth.
