Less than a week after we drove into Pittsboro with a U-Haul full of furniture, we found ourselves officially “On Project.” We’ve joined the Westward Expansion.
Our task is to help clear a fenced-in area of weeds so that some sort of crop can be grown there, unmolested by the deer and other crop loving varmints. On the first day, I picked twenty years of honeysuckle off a section of fence while Lyle introduced Bob to the bush hog.
The next day, Bob dove into the clearing effort head first and he has the battle scar – a blistering poison ivy swoosh – to prove it. After four days we had dragged away a significant pile of buried pipes and cable, pushed the clearing another two or three hundred square feet and cleared six sections of fence.
It took a fair amount of courage to pack up everything we owned and drive across country on the hunch that something good would come of it. But there are so many great enterprises going on here, it was an irresistible opportunity.
We were quickly rewarded for our faith with a warm welcome and have now proudly joined our house mates and friends in the creation of local sustainability. I have the feeling this is just the beginning.
