Eureka

Which one is the farmer in this picture?


After our last, unproductive trip to Middle Tennessee in search of land, we decided to redouble our efforts to find land--even if it was a smaller parcel--closer to the friends my sister's family had made two decades earlier.

I knew that the people in that area had several large land holdings but didn't know if they would be willing to part with any of it. I asked my sister about that, but she put the thought away. She'd not dared dream of such a thing; not only would she never ask any of them (she has couth, my sister, whilst I have chutzpah), but she would also never think such a good turn of events could befall her and hers.

Yet, in a series of phone conversations with the people in the valley over several weeks, one such opportunity opened.

The farmer is depicted above. He and his family have an old farm of several hundred acres. They offered to sell us about 11 acres of it because they so dearly love my sister and her boys and because the farmer's mom and my sister were close back when the dear old lady was alive.

We were ecstatic.

So, we immediately planned a trip back to that area to not only look at the land that was offered, but to also talk to those there about practical yet inexpensive building methods. Middle Tennessee State University is one of the leading institutions in the south in using slip-form insulated concrete in construction. One of the people in the church teaches in that department, so my sister and my brother-in-law picked her brain on that method of building their house.

Meanwhile, we scheduled a viewing of the property with the farmer for Sunday, May 18th. We met him at his barn near the proposed site; he revved up his 'gator' and we clambered aboard and took off into a field that lined a thick wooded area.

He proposed +/- 11 acres that is roughly shaped like a backwards flag or a hatchet; a 100' wide road frontage (where electricity is and, recently, city water has been added) that cuts a 300' long swath up alongside the field through the woods and the flares out left (towards the west) into a large, gently sloping area with several flat places for building sites. Behind the gentle slope--and beyond the proposed property--is a 1200' hill, or what they call a 'mountain' in that part of the world. Ralph owns all of it.

Now, the farmer has had the proposed site tested for septic and found at least three 'perc' sites, so we're good there. As we walked into the woods, we crossed a wet-weather creek (the farmer says he will put a culvert in for us) and came to one smaller cleared area in the trees. This is one possible build site--probably for my house.

We continued on through a slight thicket and came to a larger cleared site. This is where my sister's house probably should be built. The electricity folks will pay for one pole and will 'give' us the first 100' feet, but then we pay for installation per foot to the pole/house. I'll find out the exact amount and let you all know soon.

Anyway, we took in the site, enjoyed the woods, and saw walnut trees, mountain junipers, a dogwood or two, and a bunch of blackberries as well as fragrant honeysuckle. My sister paused a moment and begged us to be still and silent; she wanted to listen to the sweet sound of...nothing! We heard the birds, heard the breeze in the leaves, and the buzz of the odd insect, but that was it. No car noises, no highway traffic--nothing but nature.

The farmer says the land isn't worth that much to him; he'd rather sell it to us than have it sit there and do nothing. Thus, it all looked too good to be true, but there was more.

As we trudged up the slight incline ahead of us, we heard my BiL cry out, "Come on, you two! This is amazing!"

We came up the hill and the path (an old logging road, actually) broke out into a cathedral-like clearing with knee-high grass (see picture above). It was as if God had created a special glen, a forest sanctuary, for us.

My sister was literally moved to tears; the BiL had a goofy grin on his face; my nephew, despite his allergies, smiled broadly. I was snapping pictures but was as amazed as they were. It was so lovely!

The farmer showed us another logging road that ran to the back (top) of the glen and then another that ran along side it. He said he would include this area in the parcel as well. It's farther from the road than the other site, so to build there would be more expensive to run water/electricity, but it could be done. He reminded us that we would have access to the mountain behind our land to roam at our leisure. No one could build around us--ever.

My sister thinks we should leave that area as-is and use it as a park-like area or commons for gatherings or reflective time--a natural chapel, of sorts.

We asked the farmer one more time if he were sure he wanted to sell. He assured us that he did.

With hugs and handshakes, we agreed. Who says you can't do business with a handshake these days?

The farmer will now have the land surveyed, staked, and a contract drawn up for the purchase.

Looks like we've found it.