We start with QWERTY Shoals

I have so much to tell you.

Fives years to compress into an hour—a challenge I won't saddle either of us with. So, I will start from the end...or, rather, the now, and then I'll work my way backwards in the future, to fill in the present. Stay with me. ;)

The biggest spoiler: Two months ago, I closed on a parcel of land in rural Maine with two sets of business partners, who are also friends. This is where I live now.

The land is mostly forested, with some very old logging trails and a large clearing (the "log yard") near the back. It has an easement that serves as a decent enough driveway, for now, which peaks on a fantastic ledge that runs through the property. There's a stream on one side, a brook on the other, and a large pond across the street. There are blueberries, and raspberries, and blackberries, and huckleberries, and a few other berries amidst the bracken ferns, the evergreens, and the deciduous trees. The goldenrod grows with abandon in the summer, especially in the log yard. There are a half dozen other native plants that grow wild here. And there's no poison ivy to be found anywhere humans might regularly trod.

Still, there are ticks. Like cockroaches, they are an excellent reminder of nature's persistence despite human interference. But in the heart of summer, even the ticks have given me a forbearance, for which I am grateful.

I am grateful for every thing these days. The land feels like it's hugging me every time I drive up the easement. It's easy to feel grateful when you've followed your heart's desire, taken the first scary step, and realized it's all possible, even when it'll be on a divine timeline, not your Virgo-planned one. And I'm grateful for that lesson too.

I've been sporadically documenting my life on this semi-off-grid location, and I plan to share that all with you. There have been wondrous surprises, annoying hiccups, and, most especially, beautiful presents from the land, my business partners and friends, my neighbors, and the village. I am excited to share all of it with you, through this blog and with the occasional embedded video.

I'm forcing myself to keep these posts shorts, because—if you've received any of my previous posts—you know I can write the too-long version very easily. I intend these QWERTY posts to be the tl;dr versions instead.