We're moving. . .

to Berea!!!!!!!!

Okay, so we won't be moving for another four years (or three if both twins choose to follow Liza's example and graduate early), but -after looking for at least two years- we've found our community.

We want out of "the city", space to extend our gardens, a simple life of gardens, music, relationships, and so forth. We'd been focusing on the eastern side of the Appalachians with no success. Our thinking has been that James's family is in C'burg & Waynesboro, and I still have two brothers in the DC area. We'd like to be near them. Getting other places is easy from the DC & BWI airports.

But we want out of the megalopolis, and the traffic and density, etc. We already live our lives at a slower pace than most folks, and quite happily so.

James's military retirement gives us options since it provides a minimal income-but with medical coverage for a very reasonable price. We figure that once the kids graduate and we clear the housing expenses (mortgage, primarily, but also most utilities), we could easily make enough money to cover the rest of our expenses (in a lower cost-of-living area) with part-time or temporary work. We'd be able to select work based on interests/passions/values, rather than having to focus on the paycheck.

Our goal is to have the property paid off and money saved for building expenses so that James at least, if not both of us, can take a year or two and focus on the building without having to fit it in around a job. And be able to spend much of our time making the world a more beautiful place. . .

After investigating and visiting various communities in the Piedmont (NC through VA, and looking into PA) without finding "our place", I figured we'd widen the search field a bit.

What are we looking for?
A community within an hour's drive (or a little bit more) of a good-sized military base so we can take advantage of the retiree's benefits (medical and maybe commissary), a college town to provide a more diverse perspective on the world (since other small towns can be very homogeneous) and opportunities for me to teach (which rules out most church-affiliated schools except Quaker ones), a public library, a Friends' Meeting, hopefully a Buddhist group of some sort for James, contra-dancing nearby, and affordable non-toxic land (we can build soil but cleaning up major toxins can be a problem). Access to the Interstate system is a plus, but we don't want to be within sound range of the road or train tracks.

We want something in the 2-10 acre range within a couple miles of the college so we can use bikes as our primary mode of transportation for much of the year. Outside a neighborhood association because we don't do lawns! A southern exposure or at least solar access is essential.

Nice-to-haves include: bike trails nearby, a creek or pond, established nut & fruit trees

We'd rather not have a house on the property, since we want to build and won't be moving for a couple of years anyway (vacant houses deteriorate and we aren't looking to be landlords!).

James and I spent Memorial Day weekend in Berea, KY. Why Berea?
It has all of the must haves PLUS an active sustainability group and other environmentally-focused folks. Berea College even has an Environment and Sustainability Department, a history of supporting the Appalachian people and culture, and a philosophy I love! The town grew up around the college, and the community seems to have a more tolerant/open-minded attitude than other small-ish communities we've visited. I received multiple welcoming responses from emails I sent to the Friends and the sustainability group. We met a local musician, Mitch Barrett (check out his Sacred Yard song!), our first night there-and he put us in touch with other folks we needed to talk to.

In short, it feels like a place we could almost "fit in", feel comfortable, connect with like-minded folks, contribute, and so forth. And it's beautiful country, besides being where all my mother's family has come from for roughly two centuries!