Moving to the Great North Woods
It all began with a joke ten years ago. We had just relocated to Tampa Bay from Southeast Florida. It was the biggest move I ever made, leaving behind my family for a new adventure across the state with my husband, Dan, and kids in tow. It was a risk, a gamble. Something I was not known to do. But when my husband’s company wanted him to relocate, something inside me felt it was a good risk. My family was shocked that I, the person no one ever thought would leave West Palm Beach, was eager to uproot my two boys, Hayden and Merrick, and move two hundred and forty miles away from my support system.
The risk paid off, and we loved living in Tampa Bay. My career as a writing instructor took off, and Hayden and Merrick quickly acclimated to other new lives, making good friends and enjoying all that the area had to offer. The risk was worth it, which led to me saying, jokingly, one day to Dan, “Next risk we take should be to buy a bunch of land and become homesteaders,” to which Dan laughed at the idea of me living in a rural landscape instead of the safe and comfortable urban sprawl I was accustom to.
Yet here we are a year and a half into living in the great north woods of Michigan, just shy of ten years after I made my joke. Our dreams are grand for our forty acres of rolling wooded land. Chickens and an enormous vegetable garden to start. I am hoping for goats, alpacas, and pigs down the road. There may be a farmstand in the future, too. People thought we were insane when we announced we had bought a house and forty acres in Copemish, Michigan. They said I would come running back to Florida after my first winter. So far, I’ve proved them wrong and surprised myself. It turns out I like winters of snow. Snow and cold are a built-in excuse to slow down. In Florida, I was always on the go, wearing myself down to an exhausted puddle of nothing with no real reason to slow my roll. Fall and spring are a marvel. The changing leaves and the budding flowers thrill me. Every day brings change here. The landscape is always in flux - a polar opposite to the monotonous and static Florida terrain.
Our radical move turned out to be another risk worth taking. These “gambles” have changed me profoundly. I have learned that taking some chances, being bold, and doing things others may fear are the roots of building a worthwhile life. Sure, we have taken risks that failed miserably along the way. We are not immune to faltering and our gambles not paying out. But the old cliche seems to be right: the risk is worth the reward. Even those chances we took that bombed were all learning moments for us.
So, I look forward to new adventures and trying new things for my new chapter in the great North Woods. I am eager to enter the world of homesteading, raising animals, growing food, and becoming more sustainable. I also am excited to explore the world, starting with our epic eight-week adventure to Europe in the spring. And, with my debut novel launching in June 2025, I am thrilled to focus on my writing journey and developing all the stories within me.
I can’t wait to share all these new experiences and risks with you. I hope you enjoy sharing the ride with me!
Sarah ~