Lately I have seen homesteaders go on about how "Homesteading is not romantic! It's hard work!", and it IS hard work! However, it is the Romance that makes the hard work worth it!
I suppose there is this desire to protect, and prepare the newbies for the reality of homesteading. In some ways this is good. There is definitely a hard learning curve.
Interestingly, even book publishers often pooh pooh romantic country life in their manuscript acceptance. However, it was the Romance of Country living that made me leave the big city, and seek land to live on, that, and this distinct call from God to do so.
It's true, the practical books I read, gave me the tools to live this life. I began my first milking with a JD Bellanger book in one hand, and a teat in the other. That was getting close to 30 years ago now.
There I was a young mom of two at the time, with dreams in my eyes, and hope in my mind. I milked my first goat, because my second son was allergic to cow's milk. Really though, I did it, because I was excited about it!
Why was I excited? Because, in recovering from a post-partum depression, I stumbled across a book about homesteading. What sold me was the romance of it all! And frankly, through all of the years of perennial weeds, failed crops, bad weather, soil struggles, and just hard work, it is the romance that has kept me motivated!
As homesteaders, we see all the gritty reality we ever need. We deal with life, and death, and dirt, and grime, and sickness, and the ever present weeds! However, we don't live this lifestyle for that!
We live this lifestyle, because it calls to us in an essential way, and THAT, my friends is romantic! So dream on! Some of my memories:
