A Homestead Birthday, Part 2 of 2

As the sunset on Friday night and I settled into my chair to rest from the work we had done I knew that folks were en route to the first family and friend camping night at our homestead.  The weather was forecast to be unseasonably warm and what had started as a guys only trip had happily grown to include no less than 4 families with 10 kids and 3 dogs.  The remoteness of our location mandates that folks meet at a prominent landmark and then caravan out to our place.  I stayed to make sure the fire was ready (and safe) and to ensure that our chairs (especially mine) were not absconded with by a band of rabbits on the run or a bear in need of home decor.  Basically, I was exhausted and needed a break.

About 7 pm I saw headlight coming up the road and the festivities officially commenced.
A good buddy and his family showed up and promptly pitched 6 hammocks for his crew plus 2 more for my older daughters. Another family arrived with their new tent.  A team effort got that baby up.  My girls set up camp for my wife and youngest son. Another buddy opted to sleep under the stars with my elder son and me, but more on that later.

With camp set the whole crew settled in around the fire.  There were burgers, steaks with peppers and onions and shrooms, hot dogs, marshmallow, chip, soft drinks and harder ones.  Kids laughed, dogs barked, adults adulted and I enjoyed what can probably be described as one of the top 10 nights of my life.  When the eating was done a guitar and harmonica kicked off some gospel singing complete with multi-part harmony.  At one point I even heard a Bon Jovi guitar riff and think a cowboy on a steel horse rode by.  The kids headed off to their respective tents or hammocks about 9 pm.  The conversation ran the gamut from classic rock bands to whether or not we would see the eclipse that night.  Cigars were passed around.  The laughter and conversation completely ignored the fact that most of these folks had never met each other.  While they were all buddies of ours they had never, in fact, met each other.

Let me stop here to tell what will go down as one of the highlight of my life.  Friday, February 10th, 2017 I slept on the floor of what will become my house.  My son and I camped out under the stars on the floor that we build a few weeks before.  I laid there listening to him softly snore and watched the moon move across the sky.  There was an eclipse scheduled but someone forgot to tell that to the moon.  It blazed all night long and provided ample illumination for my imagination.  I laid there thinking that this floor may support me until my confident, strong strides are replaced by the shuffling of elderly feet.  The 5 year old boy who slept next to me may very well walk through the door we have not yet framed and stand on this very floor to tell me that he has met 'that girl'.  It could be that my daughters' children learn to walk on that floor.  It was a moment I hope to not soon forget.  Granted, it's just a small cabin in the woods.  But I am building a family and a heritage much more than I am building a cabin.  As I drifted to sleep I was wrapped in a cloak of contentment that I am enjoying more in the last year than I even imagined possible.


The kids were up for keeps by 6 am and I could see from my position on the cabin floor that they were doing their best to eradicate the remaining marshmallows for breakfast.  We fired up the cast iron one more time and cooked up eggs, steak, sausage and tortillas.  The conversation picked up right were it left off the night before.  We covered various views on political topics including healthcare, constitutional freedom and how expectations varied based on where folks grew up.  We covered the various interpretations of the sin of Noah's son, the pros and cons of compulsory military service and the varying degrees of freedom from and dependence upon a government and how that impacts the lives of people.  Cigars returned and it was determined that 930 am is absolutely not too early for hard cider when one is camping.

I couldn't help but marvel how far the folks had traveled to find their place around our fire.  The feet gathered that day in the foothills of the Ozarks had walked in South Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Virginia, California, Vermont, Saudi Arabia, and Germany.  We laughed and learned and bantered until 1230 when we couldn't put it off any longer.  The real world was calling and, if we were to answer her, we would have to break camp and get cleaned up.

I find myself saying this a lot now but I am richer today that I was before that camping trip.  New friendships were kindled.  Older ones put down deeper roots.  My children hosted their new friends in our woods.  When we all said our goodbyes and headed back into town I was simultaneously thrilled and exhausted.  I noted that night that our whole crew was in bed by 8 pm.  It was a full, rich
weekend spent enjoying God's creation and one of His greatest gifts of friends and family.  Monday I head back into the office to tackle computers and end users that really have no business saying they know how to use them.  But I'll do it knowing that I'm never more than an hour or so away from peace and quiet.  And if all goes well inside of the next 7 months we will be living there full-time.

Here's to hope that gives men courage to dream great things and the resolve to make those things happen.