Raven's Wood...A Rebirth

We have renamed our home Dragonfly Hill

by

Christine Bruun

When we bought Raven's Wood it was a joyous time filled with excitement and plans for the future. We had such plans for it. However, things change. I had to learn to accept change and open myself to all the opportunities out there. One thing I have learned is that nothing is forever. Nothing stays the same. There is now, and there is tomorrow.

I thought when we bought Raven's Wood that it would be our place of retirement, our haven, our place of peace and harmony. And it was for a time. That brief time was wonderful. The harsh lessons of life soon crept up on our haven--encroaching and stifling. What lessons, you may ask? The cycle of life. The land has life. Our plans and dreams have life. Our joy has life, and as in life, there is also death. That is why I say, that everything changes. Nothing stays the same. There is no life if there is not change. It is a basic fact of life.

When reading Clarissa Pinkola Estes' book, 'Women Who Run With The Wolves', she talks about the life/death/life cycle. I did not understand it as completely as I thought. But in owning the land, it seemed I was always grieving for the death of something... whether it was the death of a favorite tree hacked down by a careless bulldozer operator, or the death of plans to turn the land under the power line into a topiary garden with hedges and pathways. ( cut down by a careless bush hogger who crossed over onto our property and unknowingly destroyed our dreams). I grieved for the loss of autonomy when we could not keep the motorcycles and four-wheelers from using our land for their own purposes, (just because we were not close enough to patrol its boundaries each and every moment of every waking hour). I grieved for this special, private place being invaded by neighbor's dogs, who were allowed to run free. I grieved for each newly planted tree or flower that was destroyed by these free-ranging pets. I grieved for the loss of each flower bed and garden spot that was taken over by fire ants. I grieved for the my safety and security each time a rifle or pistol shot echoed through our precious woods.

The worst grief was when we left. I had to welcome new owners into our home, upon our land. It was not the same. Suddenly it was no longer mine. They went about making changes, building their haven, their peace, their harmony. And it was not mine. I saw it all gone and I grieved. But, as the cycle goes, so does life. And though my dreams and plans died the day the new owners moved in, their dreams and plans gave birth to something new, something I could not have given the land or the house, and in many ways these new people fit the land and the house much better than we did, and that was hard.

The land and the house are still there. That life continues though in a different direction. At first even the birds and creatures, we had made welcome, left. That made me somewhat happy. They loved us and when we were no longer there they left. But eventually some came back. A lesson about life going on...

Our life goes on, in a different direction and now we are beginning to dream and plan again for another time...retirement. We have accepted the fact that as long as Jim is contracting, we should not own land or a home. So we are renting an apartment...for now. But we are planning for the future, realizing that things could change and we must change with life. We are on the road again. Settling down was a good experiment for the future. We learned a lot and we now know that we do not want to be Gentleman Farmers as we once thought. Had we not tried it we would have forever regretted it and wondered about it. Now we can boldly say, No! It is not for us. I am so glad we decided to live our life with no regrets.

We have chosen a place close to everything. In fact, walking distance to most things we enjoy. We are settling in and beginning to enjoy the place we are now. It has its drawbacks, of course. But it also has its benefits. It has helped us to hone our wants and our needs down so that when we are ready to retire, we will know what we want, (we hope). One thing I have learned is knowing what you don't want is just as important as knowing what you do want. And to that end, we have decided that we will be looking to the west, (Southwest to be exact) for retirement--probably Albuquerque, New Mexico.

One of the benefits of renting an apartment is expense. We don't spend near the money we used to. This allows us to pay off bills faster, which gets us to our ultimate goal of living a debt free retirement. Since everything is closer even our transportation expenses are cheaper and Jim is closer to work so has more time before and after work than before.

I guess what I am trying to say is that even though Raven's Wood is no more, our life is. And as we journey down life's road, I am always kept in suspense at wondering what is just around the corner or down the road a bit. And, I am never disappointed in that respect because my life is filled with the adventure of living each day as it comes.

We would have loved to take you on the original journey we had planned with Raven's Wood, but it was not to be. So stay tuned to the next chapter in our journey. You will never know what we have in store for you next. And isn't that what life is all about?

THE UNEXPECTED REBIRTH OF A DREAM

We are back at Raven's Wood... Unexpected and wonderful.  The people who were buying our home and land have fallen on hard times and have given the place back to us.  The timing was miraculous.  We were just ending one contract for another and so just moved our furniture and belongings into the empty house while we journeyed to Corning New York.  As I said earlier in this adventure, nothing stays the same.  Change is inevitable.  This was a welcome surprise.

After three months in an apartment in the Southern Tier of New York state, just across the border of Pennsylvania, I have had enough of the gypsy life.  I have left Jim in New York to finish out his contract and returned to Raven's Wood where I have begun to reclaim my home and land and rename our home to reflect the rebirth of a dream.  I am now calling it Dragonfly Hill.  During the spring, summer and early fall, we are blessed by dragonflies that flit through our property and give us wonderful color and antics. 

Join us as we once again invite you to share our adventures.  You can find the continued saga in our Garden Journal.  Let us know how you like our journal adventures by e-mailing us at: editor@cactusventures.com

Chris

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