A coffee shop? A pub? A retreat center? A cubicle? A nook?
The Black Hills of South Dakota.
I’ve been going there since I was a kid. Now my extended family is there. I want to own a big chunk of it.
Every time I’m there I try to find time outside, up where the air is a bit thinner and I can smell the oldness. I like to find places where the pines are dripping with moss and there’s either a great trail to hike or winding road to drive.
There is a magical feeling for me in those hills. My heart often aches when I see large pieces of land being split into tidy little lots, carved and scraped to accomodate a house on a hillside with a view.
Someday I will rescue as many acres as I can afford, to keep them from the fate of the sub-division. There I will be able to finally return to those things that keep pulling me. Sustaining our life with food raised outside our windows. Being close to my mother and grandparents as they grow older. Owning horses and raising livestock the way they were intended. Growing the vision for my business in the middle of this magic. Being steeped in these surroundings every day and finding a way to share it with others while still having respect for the land.
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing… I am rooting for you and your dream of preserving the land 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Mariah! I’m having fun rooting around at our site.
[…] I’ve said before, I can drive through Needles Highway, well really anywhere in the Black Hills of SD, and feel like […]