One Week Getaway + Vow Renewal = Best Vacation Ever!

Brent and I had an anniversary in October. It wasn't a 10th or a 15th or any of the usual "big" years. But we felt like it was time to mark that special day in a big way. We loved our real wedding ceremony which was informal and outdoors on the edge of Otterbein Lake at Brent's grandparents' home. But we felt that we would like to have the experience of getting all dressed up and reminding each other that we would be happy to do it all over again. So we did!

We planned a week long getaway to the Smoky Mountains. I told everyone how excited I was and I don't think anyone really understood why. Brent and I had never spent a week alone ever. I already had kids when we got married and it just never seemed like something we could do. We didn't mind this but we started thinking that maybe it was time. So we lined up grandparents and wrote out schedules. I found great helpers to watch River Knits for the week. And with much excitement, we headed south! Before we left Brent had secretly put a new message on our car. It took me a while to catch on.


We planned a lunch time stop in Berea, Kentucky and ate at the unique little restaurant called Papa Leno's. I never knew that it was possible for garlic bread to be called decadent, but this was before I had eaten at Papa Leno's! If you are ever driving by Berea, treat yourself to lunch there and find out why.

While in Berea we saw that there was a solar tour of homes going on. We didn't have time to take the tour but we did stroll around the EcoVillage on the campus of Berea College. This is what apartment living should be like!


We finally went on our way towards the Smokies, made our way through the bewildering assemblage of carnival like tourist traps that make up Pigeon Forge to find our cabin, the Snuggy Bug. We laughed that the Snuggy Bug was really a lot like our own house. Who else drives two states away to stay in a house that is a lot like home? Apparently we do anyway!


The Snuggy Bug was advertised as being a one bedroom cabin in wooded setting. This was a little bit of a misnomer since it was really a one ROOM cabin. It did show us that you can do a lot of living in a small space. The open beams in the ceiling made it feel spacious and open even though it was about the size of our living room. We loved it!

One of the first things we were looking forward to was our vow renewal. Amanda and Michelle had helped me pick out a beautiful dress. I even had something borrowed--Amanda's cashmere shawl! --to go with the something old, new and blue. I had a true Tennessee experience by having my hair done at a local salon. While I was there Brent rented a tux, bought flowers and waited patiently. It was really fun to have my hair done fancy, but I was really looking forward to seeing my handsome man in a tux. I wasn't disappointed!


Our vow renewal ceremony was simple and short but left me with misty eyes and an overflowing heart. We have a (not digital) picture taken by the photographer that I love. Brent and I are facing each other and he is looking at me with a smile and holding my chin as if he is about to kiss me. There is a special sparkle in that picture that sums up my feelings about our special day.

After our vow renewal ceremony we ate a delicious meal at a neat little restaurant called the Greenbrier Inn. It was a lodge for travelers long ago, but is now a restaurant overlooking the mountains. Brent found a description in a travel brochure, or we would never have found it since it was at the end of a dead end road that looked like it went no where. I surprised Brent by eating every bit of an enormous steak. The food was good, but the company was better! We strolled around Gatlinburg that evening in our fancy clothes. Well wishers cheered us on and newlyweds held up their new rings in a sign of solidarity. We didn't care that we had been married for years; it felt exhilarating. I especially enjoyed knowing that my husband cared enough to do it all again, and in some ways, for the first time.

The rest of the week was as leisurely and decadent as we could make it. We ate at the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant not once but twice because we just couldn't stay away from the apple fritters with fresh applebutter. We toured the Great Smoky Mountain National Park--from Cade's Cove













to Clingman's Dome.












We stepped on the Applachian trail just to say we did.










In fact Brent jumped the Appalachian Trail...







We took a sky lift up the mountains, and I bought a pair of new shoes (that will show off handknit socks of course).

We decided we've seen enough of old farm settlements that are designed to recreate history though. We're ready to blend the best of the old fashioned ways, with the best of the new, so we can do it ourselves! So I made Brent promise that this stop at this farm recreation by the welcome center on the North Carolina side was the last time we really need to see how they farmed in the 1800's. We've seen it all, in every state we've ever been in, and really we've started to figure out that we already know all that stuff and more. How much corn do you really need to look at anyway?


My favorite thing we saw was the Motor Nature Trail, a winding one lane trip through rather dense forest. We saw ruins of old cabins,






dense forest,








primeval mountain streams







and even 3 bears!







All too soon our week was over and it was time to come home. As we headed north, looking forward to seeing our kids and thinking about what a great time we had, we realized that we were getting hungry. We figured we were pretty close to Berea again so the pull of Papa Leno's breadsticks guided our car into town once again. We were pretty used to being decadent by then, so it was an easy choice!

We were of course glad to be home but we returned a little different from when we left. We were happier, lighter, and we knew more than ever that we have something very special. Most of all we knew that we won't wait 11 years to do it again!

Sustainability Tour

Last week we journeyed to Stelle, IL, a small cluster of homes about 100 miles from Lafayette. A group of folks in Stelle started an effort known as Center for Sustainable Community. They teamed up with the University of Illinois to offer a one day tour of sustainable agriculture and permaculture examples. Beth is shown in front of a herd of sheep that are rotationally grazed on land that borders Stelle. We had an interesting time herding the sheep to a new grazing paddock.

Later we toured the Stelle community gardens, poutlry flock, and orchard. Shown in the second photo is a solar food dryer. The goal of CSC is to provide sustainable alternatives for living. It was good for us to view first hand some of the practices, and we realized that we can do many of these practices ourselves. Mostly it was a great day for Beth and I to be together and learn new ideas for our own Big Good!

Enjoying the Wabash River

In mid-August we joined with other NICHES landtrust members and canoed 16 miles of the Wabash River between Granville Bridge and Attica, IN. The day was beautiful. We stopped for lunch along Black Rock (picture). Prior to English settlement, Black Rock was an important strategic lookout for the Native Americans living in this area. It is now protected as part of the holding of the NICHES landtrust. After lunch we paddled down to the town of Attica. Along the way we spotted four eagles. We also marveled at the many small shacks and campers dotting the south bank of the river. Almost every spot had people camping out, fishing, or boating, and enjoying the summer and the river. Taking this canoe trip helped us realize the beauty of the river and the great natural areas that are near to us. Supporting efforts like NICHES helps to ensure that unique natural lands are protected, and made available for the public to enjoy.

Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me.

(Did anyone else grow up watching Hee-Haw?)

If you've been following this blog at all you know that Brent & I were really hoping to be able to buy "the land" in Warren County along Independence Road. We were working with NICHES, who was going to get help from the Indiana Heritage Trust, and they were going to get the woods & creek areas & sell us the home site & barn. It was all working GREAT and looked like the deal was a-go! Until NICHES called the owners in Iowa; and found out that they had sold the land the week before. We were in a fog for a while and could hardly believe it. We really thought we had everything on our side on this one. But I guess it was not meant to be.

About the same time we killed our camera on a WONDERFUL canoe trip on the Wabash. Unfortunately we can't show you the pictures because they are still on the camera and we don't have a way to read them until we get a new camera or borrow someone's card reader.

We have been kind of glum & in recovery for the last couple of weeks. But we are trying to consider other ideas and put out more feelers about new possibilities. We went to the library and looked up the county planning officials & building inspectors in surrounding counties and Brent has been calling them. So far we've learned that the Vermillion County folks would LOVE to have someone build a strawbale house in their county and they were nearly beside themselves with joy when Brent called to ask about it. I guess they don't get a lot of inquiries about people wanting to move their direction. The White County official had concerns about fire so we would have some educating to do if we found land there.

But isn't that really the big question?! Where can we find land? We're back on the quest. If you hear of anyone who would like to sell 5-10 acres with meadow or pasture, some woods and maybe adjoining a creek, pond or river, we want to know!

Wilderness Man No More!

Letting go of things that hold us back help free that space in our lives to be real, new, imaginative, and see life with new vigor. For me it is time, finally, to move beyond the stigma of being known as the local wilderness man, primitive living expert, etc. In the mid 90's for a few years, I lived a mostly primitive lifestyle in the woodlands near the Great Lakes. I did this for many reasons, some seemingly noble, but some because I was also running from my own fears and emotional hurts. The skills I gained from this period are perhaps still good to know...like making a fire by friction methods, or medicine plants, building a shelter, etc. But being known primarily as "the guy who lived in the woods" is not a good thing....especially since this is not who I am today.

Coming to grips with all of this, I decided to rid my life of all the primitive "trappings" I gathered and have held on to for more than 10 years. I put them in a huge pile (except a few items we are selling on ebay for helping with land fund and farmer's market fun money), and gleefully burned them. I think it might be the biggest fire I've burned in 10 years. Ah, the release. The new freedom. I'm no longer wilderness man! Instead, I'm really marching forward with Beth on the Big Good Path.

As we locate items in our lives, we decide if they are useful or meaningful to us. If not, they are getting ebayed, given away, or tossed out....or even burned!

Ebay for the Big Good!

What do an old wedding ring, a fetal doppler, a fraternity pin and a birthing stool have in common? They are all things from earlier eras of our lives that have needed to be let go.


You probably have a place like that too; a box, a closet, a shelf, maybe even a whole room. A place you don't want to go because you'd rather not think about what is in there. You close the door, the things in there get dusty or moldy and time moves on. But one day you realize that you really need to take a look, push aside the dust, and let go.

That's what we've been doing. Beth sold her birth stool, some midwifery textbooks, and her doppler. It was kind of hard both emotionally and physically to crawl into the closet under the basement stairway to sort out these things and send them out into the world where someone can use them again. But it felt great to turn what had become leftovers from another era of my life, into extra funds for the land quest. Just yesterday I took the final box to another local midwife for her to "redistribute" to other aspiring midwives.



Brent had delved into his unopened boxes & bins too. First to go--his first wedding ring. That put money into his pocket that he traded at the farmer's market for the the sweetest apple cider I've ever tasted and the most expensive chicken he's ever bought in his life. He said it was a good trade.

Next he sold a fraternity membership pin on ebay. The money from that has put lunch money in our son's pocket, bought us lunch yesterday at a cute little cafe we found just down the road from "the land," as well as sundaes at the Frozen Custard; AND he still has some in his wallet for this week's farmer's market.

So a new endeavor is set in motion. You could call it "Ebay for the Big Good." We're going to keep purging the things that we don't need anymore but that for some reason we have held onto. If it brings us a little cash in hand that we can trade for good local food and fun, all the better. If it gives us a lot then we'll put it in our land fund. If it brings us nothing other than peace of mind, we'll send it out into the world anyway and be glad that we're really moving on.




"You think by now we’d be a little further on
For all this tumbling we’ve been through...
I feel like I’m finally getting closer to you."
--Carrie Newcomer

Eating Locally - High Summer

It's the time of year when it would be hard NOT to eat locally.



We realized everything on our plates at this meal was local! An heirloom melon, broccoli and "Slaw Chez Nous" (from the cookbook Laurel's Kitchen)all from Cooley Family Farm. Plus my favorite Indiana summer time sweet corn; this bunch was the best I've had all year (and I consider myself a tough critic on that topic!)

In addition to the fresh local abundance that fills our table, we are having fun working on our early spring goal to preserve as much local goodness as possible to take us through the winter. In addition to the early strawberries (jam & frozen), we now have blueberries (also jam & frozen), early transparent apples (sauce that really is more like apple butter because we cooked it down a little too much), and our first attempt at tomato sauce. This was easier than I thought it would be. We're planning a 2nd sauce production run this weekend.



I used what didn't go in the jars to make a never-the-same meal from what I like to call my "Cooking for Poor People" cookbook. It is really a booklet I got when I took a class sponsored by Purdue Extension as a part of a WIC program years ago. The most useful recipe in it is really more of a formula for using what is on hand. When what is on hand is fresh and wonderful, it is even better!

In addition to tomatoes, we got a sack full of green beans, some crisp winter apples and a bag full of peaches at Brent's Mom & Dad's. The green beans will get canned and if the peaches ripen successfully in a paper bag, some slices will go in the freezer. We picked the peaches a little early to save them from the Japanese beetles. I thought we would store the apples, but they seem to just be getting eaten right now, which is all the better.