Someday…

Someday I will settle down, probably in southern Utah or somewhere else in the American West.  I will live with my wife and kids in a small house in the country, one that I’ve built with my own hands. It won’t be larger than 1,000 square feet, but we’ll have at least five acres of land–a small house with a big yard.

We will keep a sizeable garden and grow at least half of the food we eat.  We’ll start with tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, and zucchini, then move on to other crops as our tastes change and our gardening skills improve.  We will keep live chickens, and maybe a cow if it’s not too difficult.  We will eat what we love, love what we eat, and live by the maxim: “Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.”

In the winter, we’ll stay warm with a wood burning stove.  Everything in our house will all be centered around one main room, which will help to keep our family close.  We’ll sleep in the loft, with the kids on the other side.  Daddy’s writing space will be off in the corner, but not cut off from the rest of the family.

Our house will be well-insulated, so it will be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  We’ll get our water from a well on our property.  Like good old-fashioned Mormons, we’ll grind our own wheat and bake fresh bread every week.  We won’t own a lot of material things, but we won’t waste anything either.  The people in our lives will always be more important than the things.

When we aren’t at home, we’ll be on the road.  Our children will see the whole country, from the rolling hills of New England to the oil fields of West Texas, from the orchards of California to the skyscrapers of New York.  My wife and I will have seen the world together, and we’ll visit our international friends as often as we can.

Above all else, we will be independent.  No one will own us, and we’ll stay out of debt as much as possible.  Our failures will be our own, as well as our successes.  And when our friends and family need us, we’ll be there.

All of this will happen someday.  That’s my dream.  Someday soon, I’ll find a girl who shares this dream, and together we’ll make it a reality.