It all started in 2001. Di and I moved to Aroostook County Maine with our 3 year old son Sam. We wanted out of the rat race. We dreamed of simplifying our lives, to release the our inner existentialist in hope that we could find a more authentic and meaningful life. There was no concrete plan. It sort of fell together. I landed a state job in Presque Isle, Maine. We put the house on the market and moved. That was the extent of the plan. We figured out the rest a little bit at a time.
Aroostook offered a endless farmland and wilderness. It's the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined but has a population of only 70,000. Just ten years earlier that population was 125,000. The decline due entirely to the closure of Loring AFB and the collapse of the farm economy. This produced a real estate depression. With a good state salary, we bought a little farm for $42,000. For the first time in ages we did not need two full time jobs to pay the bills. No more day care. For the first time since I was a teenager I started the daydream about living the good life (read The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing to understand our motivations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_and_Scott_Nearing). Our vague goals started to coalesce into plans: an organic farm specializing in fruit procuction. With a good business plan I could quit the day job in a few years.
Congratulations on deciding to blog. I'm really looking forward to reading your story. I haven't read "The Good Life" and will have to add it to my summer reading list.
ReplyDeleteFor personal reasons it'll be very interesting to compare paths.
I came across your interesting BLOG and am enjoyed it. My wife and I visted Fort Fairfield a couple of years ago. My previous visit was fifty years ago at my grandfather's funeral. His name was Jim Dorsey, a farmer descended from one of the original settlers of the County. The farmstead was in Easton and unfortunately we couldn't locate it although we did take a long drive on Dorsey Road in Fort Fairfield.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom left the farm at an early age and ended up in the Boston area where we currently live. I am very intereested in how your farm is doing and how life in The county is especially the winter. Looking forward to more reading.