Starting Over
The longing and itch to move on to bigger and better spaces, to start from scratch and build again was getting stronger.
Greene Boys 2004
We were outgrowing our 7 acres after 27 years of living, birthing, and growing. My Man was dreaming of acres of land...and lots of it. Room to roam, hunt, fish, to work and grow some more--this time with his crew of boys. 2000 was a banner year and the toodoo about Y2k and all the scary predictions came and went with much adoo about nothing. But then we had always strived to be self-reliant and live out from the bustle of city lights, so the longing for bigger spaces and double-digit acres didn't have much to do with the calendar and current events.
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1966 was another banner year as a 16-year-old was man-size in both determination and stick-to-it-ness. Determined to have something of his own, he had saved his summer wages working through his teen years of $0.93 per hour working on a road paving crew and then as a carpenter's helper at $1.25 per hour. He then bought a house for $5000 cash and was a homeowner at the age of 16.
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1973 was the summer that changed the course of my life when I made the choice to come to the US and be with my sister in the dormitory on a college campus. I found my Man by being her tag along to Greene Gate Farm during school holidays since our parents were missionaries on the other side of the globe. Roger had already decided life was just fine as a single guy living at home on the farm and working a weekday job for Xerox. He certainly wasn't expecting a 14-year-old gangly blonde to show up that Christmas of '73 on Greene Gate Farm.
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Our story fills the pages of "Built from Scratch: A Love Story" in my lifebook I self-published in 2020. It is available in mini-digital sections and all the extra behind the scenes of the stories that fill the pages are found here on my home on the world wide web where I share our "built-from-scratch-life".
Review:
Fascinating, humorous, and unique
This book is the most unusual book I have ever read! It contains the true story of a couple whose hard work and creativity made a dream farm come true, while raising 11 children. The photos, poems, recipes, and do-it-yourself instructions scattered throughout the book make it a must read. I will treasure this book, and I highly recommend it. ~Grace R.
- Martha Greene
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