But...what does it mean?

You know, a couple of weeks ago after Old Head's sign went up in the yard, our neighbor yelled from her side of the fence, "Hey, it looks nice." "What does it mean?"

And you know, she's not the first to ask. So I figured I'd explain.

First, you should probably know that the people who live here are all just a bit on the crazy side; not enough to be harmful, (i think) but a "bit touched" just the same. And we like to express our creativity in various ways; through music, art, computer games, friendship, and our words.

The blog name, Homestead Light Condensed, as the title says is because we are planning  to cram a lot of homesteading on a little piece of land (condensed), because we are a little (ok, ok, a LOT light on experience) and because I'm a Graphic Designer by trade and a lot of font (text formatting) styles are "light condensed".

Now, the Aspirin Acres part. 
The meaning of this can vary from day to day. Some days the Aspirin Acres means that this place has the ability to take away the "headaches" and stresses of the world outside. That when you come home to this little place, hidden at the end of a dirt road that 99 percent of this town doesn't even know exists, you enter a world completely different than what is out there. This place is (most of the time) as oasis...an island unto itself and we have joked, several times, about building a moat at the front gate, just to make sure that the outside world can't penetrate the peace.

Other times, this place is the REASON for the aspirin. As with any homestead, many of the things that are used here are used, re-used, recycled and repurposed - that's kind of the whole idea of homesteading; to live simply - and buying a bunch of expensive new, shiny stuff pretty much negates that purpose. Who needs the extra fluff anyway. We pride ourselves on being able to take stuff that might have been thrown away by someone else and finding a new purpose for it. (And, by the way, Old Head is an expert at not only finding uses for old stuff but at KEEPING old stuff, but that's another story.) Yes, Old Head, there are many times when your pack-rat ways have helped and I try to keep remembering that.

So, back to the need for aspirin. There are some days that just make for great stories - but usually, those days are the days where everything seems to be falling apart, breaking down, getting loose or just plain going crazy. On these days it might make one think, "Why am I doing this? I live 3 miles away from a Publix supermarket and I can buy whatever food I want - why in the heck am I putting myself through all this for some pork, eggs or veggies?" But in reality, we know that we aren't really doing this for the meat or the eggs or the vegetables.

We are doing this for the experience.

We are doing this for the education.

We are doing this for the sheer enjoyment of watching piglets chase each other around.

We are doing this for the pride that we feel when we watch our chicks grow new, colorful, amazing feathers or when we hear the first inkling of a crow from our first rooster.

We do this for the amazing sunrises with the fog lifting off the lake and the sun shining through the trees at first light or blazing like fire from across the yard in the evening.

For the amazing feeling that we get when a pig, who has been running, screaming from you every time you exit the back door, comes up and tentatively eats out of your hand.

And, believe it or not, for those glimpses of wildlife that wander on through the property. The cardinals, the robins, the blue jays, the mockingbirds, the woodpeckers, the egrets, the cranes, the armadillos, the turtles, the ridiculous number of frogs, the opossum, the raccoons (sorry, Old Head, but yeah, even though Rocky likes to tear through your trash bin - he's kinda cute.)

Well, you get the picture. Living on this little piece of land in the middle of a growing city is a truly amazing experience and I am thankful for the experience - just about every day.

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