Today was a very productive day on the land. My cousin Mike and my Uncle Larry, both of whom are very familiar with campers and RVs, came to help us set up the camper. Mike, who has his own home restoration company, is likely going to be our contractor when we build the yurt. He pulled the camper from the home of its former owner and we found the right place for it on the new land. His wonderful wife, Cindy, and their three awesome blond daughters all came along. There were five girls, age 3-13, mine included,romping all over the land.

The best thing that happened today is that we found what appears to be a perfectly good septic tank!! Woo-hoo! Shit happens! That will save us thousands of dollars. The last picture above, although barely visible, is the top of the tank.

I'm looking forward to getting some sod around the camper for a start. Eventually, we'll have luscious Zoysia grass and terraced rock walls and beautiful flower borders. But--for now, some sod around the camper would be nice.

We also put up the mailbox. It's a sweet one that Greg's grandfather made years ago. It's ornamental iron, which has been the family business for years. It's got a cute little squirrel on it. We plan to paint it purple or blue or both, keeping the squirrel brown. It was psychologically very satisfying to get the mailbox set up. Made us feel for real about the land.

Our electrician finished his work yesterday, so that's ready to go.

Greg and I have both been coping with occasional freak-out moments where we wonder what on earth we're doing. It happens usually when people more knowledgeable than we are regarding home building talk in words we don't understand. It makes our heads swim! I try to remind myself that all of the skills that we've learned--acting, cooking, gardening, singing, sewing, knitting, teaching--all those things were not easy to learn and took time and patience. And so will this process. We'll learn the words and we'll gain skills. We'll work hard and eventually we'll have the haven we've dreamed of. For now, though, we're still freaking out just a little and we're awfully glad for family members with sweet skills and big trucks!