If ever you have found yourself yearning to return to a place that brings you contentment, you will understand why I love the woods. It takes me back to the place where my fondest family memories began.
Since I was a young girl my dream was to return to the woods which was the place I spent nearly every weekend and vacation with my family from the time I was 2 years old until 11 years old. You see when I was 2, my father suffered his first heart attack. He was diagnosed with atherosclerosis and was given approximately 5 years to live (he outlived their prediction by another 5 years). There were no heart transplants, stints or any other life saving techniques back then. Just a life sentence. So, my father took that all in stride and along with my mother that decided that my father would live the remainder of his life doing what he loved best, camping and fishing. So, our adventure began and my love of the woods was born.
We travelled to the most beautiful remote wilderness areas of northern Michigan to camp and fish and enjoy life to its very fullest. We would load the whole family, sometimes even grandma and grandpa into the old stationwagon with the boat on top and the popup camper trailing behind and find the freshest, coldest water the UP had to offer. My mother would set up camp and my father would launch the boat and fish sometimes taking me with him. It was possibly the closest thing to heaven, the sun, the wind, the freedom, and I’m sure that’s what my father wanted to share with us.
Later on in my forties, my kids pretty much on their own, I started to yearn for the woods once again. I had made a plan to sell our home and move north into the woods. You just can’t even imagine what happened next…..The Recession. Lost my job, lost my home, lost all my savings. Wow, didn’t see that coming.
Tragedy. It closes doors and opens new ones. I downsized, moved, tried a couple new jobs, met some new people, and then fell in love. Out of that love, together, we created “The Rollin’ Rock”. With common interest, determination, a little savings, a shoestring budget and a lot of hard work a dream can come to fruition. Seventeen days out of each month we are able to continue working our dream towards our goal of a self sufficient retirement. Please check back with us from time to time and follow our journey as we fumble our way through the learning process of becoming minimalists. (this ain’t easy folks….hey, honey, can I bring my hair dryer?? just kidding!)
