"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the water."
Genesis 1-2
This Independence Day 2024, we prepared our land to receive a well. Water is the source of life. Perhaps water is a connection with God, and even the beginning of the Universe and time itself. Here's a video of our recent preps involving sourcing water on our homestead.
Dwelling on all there is to do to accomplish a dream can be demoralizing. Reflecting all you’ve accomplished can be uplifting and satisfying (assuming of course you’ve actually accomplished anything).
Here’s the driveway of our property when we first bought it in 2017.
We got stuck in the mud there more than once and camping in the rain was like an experience from an Infantryman’s perspective during WW2, as I’d imagine it.
Seven years later and the rain no longer hinders our use of the driveway. We also have trees providing some shade from the sun during the Spring and Summer months.
Soon after purchasing the property we naively planted a bunch of trees without first testing the ph levels of the soil. We lucked out with the London Plane Tree. This species has thrived on our property so far.
On our Dream 10X podcast, we ponder ways in which success can be achieved by thinking big and taking small steps to achieve those dreams. At Ca Ira Castle, we are all about small steps, as small steps are all we can seem to manage at times. I recon small steps are better than no steps. The important thing is to keep moving forward.
Ca Ira Castle is about our dream to one day build a castle. Our dream is totally irrational and almost impossible to realize. That's one reason its such a cool idea, and a big reason why it is so hard to make progress toward.
This weekend, however, we were able to actually get away and work on our dream a little, and it was a fantastic weekend for dreaming outside! The weather was amazing - cool nights, clear, and we think we saw a comet! We saw a green tail moving across the sky early evening the night of 9/16 around 8:30pm. The tail moved in a North-Easterly direction pretty fast, but not as fast as a shooting star. It was visible for approximately 2-3 minutes. We believe it might have been Comet Nishimura.
One of the great things about being out in the country is almost no light pollution.
In addition, we got alot of work done cutting grass, clearing trails, spreading stone out on the dirt driveway, etc. Happily, we got to walk the trails a few times as well, which is one of my favorite things to do after clearing them.
We took an inventory of the trees we have planted over the last 3-4 years, and rejoiced that many of them are thriving. Some are hanging on still. Many did not make it. The native trees (and weeds), however, are absolutely thriving. And the grass we planted to help manage soil erosion is growing strong as well (necessitating the need to cut grass with extreme prejudice in places).
This weekend was a small step in maintaining cleared fields and trails. We are doing our best - with the time and resources we have - to create a harmonious and aesthetically pleasing arrangement between man and nature in a chaotic and messy environment largely undisciplined by man.
Other steps we have taken recently toward realizing our dream include obtaining county approval for well and septic. We're not quite ready to start running yet, though. Besides, it is a real joy to see the environment rebound like it is, this after being clear-cut, dry and eroding for many years.
One interest of note is a once large pile of throw-away wood left by loggers. When we bought the property, we thought we would one day have to burn the pile of logs in order to clear them away. Not true! Many years later, the logs are almost all gone due to natural decay, leaving behind a rich, spongey soil in their place. Time and bacteria for the win (again)!
Life springs eternal, and this Adam and Eve love experiencing the rebirth as caretakers of the garden.
One project I undertook at Ca Ira Castle this Fall was to build a pond. This after being inspired talking to Jamie Byron on our podcast over at Dream 10X about sustainable land management practices (among other things). The goal in building this little pond is to prototype a possible solution for rain water catchment using a big hole in the ground.
If water can be retained from rain fall over extended periods of time, perhaps it will attract additional wildlife to the spot, such as frogs, birds, snakes, deer, etc. Where the animals gather, the food chain thrives. The animals eat, drink and poop and they enrich the nutrient poor soil in the process, which hopefully leads to richer soil and healthier plants and trees (and ultimately more oxygen for you and me).
It never hurts to have a source of water nearby. I figured water catchment would be cheaper and easier than digging a well, at least in the short-term. Water can always be filtered in times of emergency.
That's the theory anyway.
On September 7, 2020, I dug the hole in a spot near our fire pit where water was naturally pooling. I facilitated the water runoff by digging a shallow trench from the highest spot on the land to the newly dug hole.
On November 2nd weekend Cindy and I celebrated our first anniversary by running a 30 mile run in Farmville, Virginia. We stopped by the land to check on the pond real quick before coming home...
We returned to the land again on November 28th weekend following Thanksgiving. It was cold at night, but my heart was happy to know that water was being retained in my mud hole.
So far, the water retention prototype is working. Deer sign all over and frogs have begun moving in. I am interested to see how this project holds water throughout the course of next Spring and Summer.
Fergus Muirhead introduces the Glenfiddich Piping Championship 2019 from The National Piping Centre on Vimeo.
Wouldn't it be great to have a beautiful place to celebrate the best bagpipe and fiddle talent in the World on US soil? We think it would be amazing to have a special place in the United States to host such a competition, and have Pipers and Fiddlers from around the world come and compete in a beautifully grand setting, not unlike Blair Castle in Scotland.Finlay Johnston performs Piobaireachd at the Glenfiddich Piping Championship 2019 from The National Piping Centre on Vimeo.
So thinking of the Glenfiddich Championship in Scotland and the Highland Bagpipe Competition in general, I've set about to starting my piping hobby back up trying to use Piping Competitions (which are hard to come by these days with COVID-19 concerns and all) to try improve my piping skills. Here's my recent submission to the Ohio Scottish Games Piping Competition 2020 Online (I dream of having a Pipe that sounds as well a Finlay Johnston's one day...):