Dwelling Place

When I imagine what my life might look like five, ten, sometimes as much as 30 years into the future many images come to mind. First, I think of my dwelling place. I imagine a humble dwelling with access to land for growing food and raising animals. Homesteading has been a dream of mine since I began my semi-itinerant life when I left my childhood home in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 2007.

The idea of working with the natural landscape to meet my needs has fascinated me most of my life. I spent the first 25 years of my life exploring within the geo-political boundaries of Arkansas with no aim to call another place home. Little did I know that my sights would soon be set on a new geographic territory to inhabit. Second, I imagine the physical place I envision spending the rest of my days on earth. I often daydream about inhabiting the Hill Country of Central Texas, roughly 200 miles south of Fort Worth, Texas where I have lived since autumn of 2013.

I can easily get lost in my mind thinking of the stunning karst topography: Winding rivers, rocky limestone and granite hills sprinkled with native plants: yucca, prickly pear cactus and various wildflowers, and large tracts of Texas live oak and mountain cedar. Lastly, I imagine the connections I will make with the Land and fellow cosmic citizens I will hopefully one day call neighbors.

It is not difficult to see the amount of time and thought I have put towards these dreams; however, this is not meant to be a memoir of my longings to live in communion with the natural world. This is a record of my journey of transformation as an educator as a result of exploring the principles of Montessori education with bioregional awareness.