Sunday, January 16, 2011

the land

i drive past this field ten times a week. it looks remarkably like other fields here, an open corn field of perhaps fifteen acres with a brushy edge and a woods behind. 
harvested in fall.
this is my land, all hilly and rocky with beaver relandscaping the old meadow. 
most farmers left the hardscrabble lands that are similar to my place. what happens then is the land rests for years, then someone buys it for their new home, or perhaps for hunting, perhaps to split it up and sell small holdings. 
a piece of land i was interested in buying a couple of years ago was sold. a trophy house was put up. it is hideous. stuck up on a hill, an eyesore for all to see, and it is now for sale. 
for almost four hundred thousand dollars. 
boggles the mind. 
the intimate details, an intimate relationship with the land--here it's still possible. 
i'm grateful for that.

14 comments:

  1. fabulous new header!!!!!
    wish i could have some land.but then again it would only feed a need for possession as i wouldn't know what to do with it would i?

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  2. mcmansion is for sale?? hilarious. why build the behemoth if you didn't want to live there in the first place? the land is grateful for YOU, too.

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  3. neki-not sure i do, either. but i'm making plans this year for the first time in 20 years!
    aimee-oh, that place, it's ugly ugly and WAY overpriced for here. you can buy a fully stocked small farm for that-

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  4. love the new header. The land, all the lands, need more people like you.

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  5. I love what you've said about your land, Velma, similar to feelings I have about my own patch. It's such an intimate thing, the relationship to rocks and sod and all that lives on & within it. Those pages inside your rock covers...big story there!

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  6. You're making me pine for a bit of land! I know, poor pun, but I do love the open spaces. Just don't get to experience them all that often. Too bad about the monster house. They're quite the invasive species as they're likely to pop up just anywhere.

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  7. jean-hannah used my photo and re-plugged in the words.
    ... you don't need to "own" it, just visit and keep an eye in it. bear witness.

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  8. your new header feels so right.
    it's good to be a guardian of the land, to keep watch, i guess that's what i do with this paddock behind us. i'd love to roam on your beaver altered land, how much do you have?

    "trophy house" - a very apt name, we have one right beside us now, everyone in the street hates it and the owners think they are above us all.

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  9. this parcel is about 90 acres. not very big, just a rectangle that is easy to map from the air (i photographed it) and google maps (yep), and it's labeled on the 1865 county map i have.

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  10. ahhh velma - you are speaking my language..... and telling a tale I know and live.

    I hold that it is impossible to OWN land..... land owns you..... and with that connection comes the responsibility to love, respect and honour the land for future generations. may you always feel connected to your little spot (and from that all things will flow)

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  11. Ahhhh, I love the land that we are on here and love making my little trails for Dommie and me--love exploring in the spring to see what wildflowers are up--haven't been out there this winter but soon I'll be stronger! You are so connected! xo Cait

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  12. Velma - I'm grateful that there are still places that offer the chance for intimate relationships with the land and people who can honour them. That last photo of the rock - is time immemorial to me; so many stories, so much witnessed thru the ages.

    I love our plot (1 1/4 acres) and all it offers us.

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  13. and i love reading about what you're doing on your land--

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  14. 90 acres, a nice morning ramble. we used to have 100 of wild forest not far from here, but it was bushfire country.

    $400K for a trophy house - to put it into context that would only buy an average or even slightly less than average house here, 3 hours from Sydney in a moderate sized (<50K people)city. our real estate is high.

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