A Year on the Hill

from whence we came, and where we're going

It is nearing one year since we moved onto the hill. One full cycle of the sun. The seasons have rolled over us dramatically, turning the hill from gold to green and back to gold again, and we have felt every pelting storm and freezing night and blazing summer sunbeam to our bones.

A year ago, we sold our house, packed our bags, gave our stuff away and stepped into the unknown, into the wild in a leaky old trailer, to live on the land. They called us brave and they called us crazy and perhaps we were, but I think one has to be a little bit of both to get by in this crazy world. Though to be fair, this adventure has really not been too far from whence we came. We only traded an old, cruddy, concrete cottage for a caravan; closed fields, a garden, and barns for wide open rock, heath and bog; the comfort and convenience of power and plumbing for candlelight and rain.

The year has challenged us in ways we could not have imagined, tested our commitment to the lifestyle, each other, and the l…