In August 2020, Tom and I fell in love with and purchased a piece of land in Central New York.
We sold our Philadelphia townhouse, put everything in storage, and set up a tent on our 22 acres of heaven.
We lived on the land making plans for our future homestead until mid November when the snows arrived.
Stories and Real Time images made between August 15th and November 15th of 2020
This is an aerial view of our land in September 2020.
Well it doesn’t look like this any more.
Now there is an orchard and two large gardens and a driveway and a building site and a work shed and the beginnings of a spiral herb garden. We are starting to make our mark on this corner of our Earth.
We arrived in Cazenovia, New York early September, 2020. We lived on the land in a tent until the snow flakes fell in November.
There are stories to tell… this is just the beginning
We bought a huge 2 room tent. Bedroom and Kitchen: the bedroom had a queen size bed, storage for clothes and toiletries, the kitchen had a 6ft table for food prep, 2 ice chests for food and wine, a rolling cart that held china and silverware, cloth napkins, pots, pans, and utensils.
It warmed the water for washing up and kept us warm at night
mixing horse manure we got from our neighbor
but so cold… we slept with all our clothes on under every blanket we could find
A pack of coyotes moved through the edge of camp in the middle of the night.
They sound like sharp sticks. They sound like every illustration I have ever seen of wild dog-like creatures: chest thrust out, snout thrown up, hurling a vertical screech at the moon.
A pack of howling sinew. Dark silhouette in the dark forest in the dark night, invisible. The wild chanting of unseen creatures.
I am not afraid.
It’s the middle of the night.
I grab a wade of TP. I slip into my too-big rain boots, pull on my cashmere sweater.
There is something so awful and wonderful about crawling out of bed in the middle of the night into the cold dark air.
I find a good spot, squat and trickle. The position and the release feels primal. If I splash, the rain boots protect me.
But the real joy is looking up and seeing the black night sky thick with stars. No light pollution.
I can still smell smoke hanging in the air from the last of the fire’s embers.
Gathering wood for the morning fire is a meditation.
Making coffee is a prayer.
Fetching water is an all day affair. Doing dishes requires boiling a vat of water. It takes a long time to do all the simple things that running hot watering and indoor plumbing hasten forward.
All made over the camp fire…
Pasta Fagioli, Turkey Chili, Pad Thai, Lamb Stew, Salads, Burgers, French Onion Soup, Pancakes, Omelettes, Grilled Sausage, Moroccan Lentil Soup, Grilled Goat Cheese and Carmelized Onion and Cherry Sandwiches, French Toast, Polenta w/ Tomato Sausage Sauce, Oatmeal, Egg Drop Soup, Pork Chops with Apples and Onions and Cranberry Horseradish Sauce…
