Isn't It Romantic

We live well away from the madding crowd - such as it exists in rural Vermont (no, it's not redundant). While we try to be as energy and resource independent as possible, the plot where our slice of life plays out is definitely a homestead - not a farm.

During summer months, we grow a fair amount of food, but my garden is as much about pleasure as it is necessity. We've had chickens for eggs, but also for company in the garden. When the fox raided our coop, we were sad but not scared - we knew there were fresh brown eggs for sale in the cooler at the end of our neighor's driveway. We've made our own maple syrup, but most of the time we buy it from friends who are trying to build a working family farm.

Most days we're so wrapped up in middle-class mundaneity that the solar panels and hot water on the roof and the amish wood cookstove that heat and power our life seem completely mainstream.

And then it snows. And snows. And snows. And we load a few more logs next to the woodstove and think how lovely it all looks. And, as much as I once romanticized the idea of being completely self-sufficient ,I'm glad we've picked the battle that lets us wait out the storms we've seen this winter without worry.

It is work - I hang every scrap of laundry and we monitor every watt we use - but it's also a luxury, and we're grateful for it each time the snow begins to fly.