THE OLD STUMP

The old stump sat at the edge of a field along the top corner of our seven-acre woodlot. Dad said it was from a big elm tree that had been in the middle of our dirt road until the township cut it, dug it out by the roots and pushed it there with a huge bulldozer. Roots and all, I seem to remember it being about ten feet high, though things always seem bigger when you're a kid. 

That big stump was a feature of many stages of my life. It was near where I buried Ralph, my pet mouse, when he died. I also buried a time capsule  at the base of the stump. And it was where, in my teenage years, I'd go to sit up high and look out across the field at the sun setting in the west and dream of finding peace in happiness in a future time and place.

The old stump is long gone. Along with so many cherished things, and people, time took it away. This blog is about my journey to find the peace I longed for back then.  It is also about simplicity, and self-sufficiency. If you long for these things too, then you've come to the right place.