The Simple Life

Once upon a time when we were young we lived our dream.  Log house.  Woods.  Near a river.  No phone.  No TV.  Just him and me and peace and quiet.

We bought 80 acres in the Irish Wilderness in Oregon County.  It came with a bonus....the long-ago owner had built his barn around an old log house that had been brought up from Brawley Spring years before.  How fortunate!

We didn't know much.  But we had strong backs and the will to learn what we needed to make a life for ourselves, there in the woods, near a river with no phone, no TV, just him and me and peace and quiet.

For a time we lived in a tent.  We drove the long road back to work and the world, spending vacations and free time working on our dream.   Hauling those logs up the incline, him pulling, me pushing, until they were all in place.  No electric.  Just saws and hammers and shear stubborness.

We built our home and put in windows and doors and left our everyday jobs behind.  Packed up the truck, tucked the baby in the front seat, said good-bye to the life we knew.

It takes courage to start over.  We had plenty of it.  Snow coming in the gable end and dusting us all with fine white flakes that first winter.  But we made the changes that we had to make.

Lamplight.  Sitting with my little girl on my lap and singing her to sleep.  Him coming in with wood for the fire, stamping  the snow off his boots at the door.  Wind sighing in the pines.  Starlight twinkling outside.  And a million wishes came true. 

We were living the simple life.  It was all we needed.  Just him and me and the little one.  Alone in that log house, there in the woods, near the river with no phone, no TV....peace and quiet....living our dream.