My grandparents live in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas, near some towns nobody has ever heard of. You can tell you're in Kansas when you see fences made out of sticks instead of fence posts. Also, there's not a lot of point in actually farming in Kansas. The land isn't good for much more than pasture.
My grandparents used to raise cattle for beef, but are getting up in years, so now just rent out the pasture and still live in their little farm house that may-or-may-not have mold in the walls that makes Grandma's ear have fluid in it. In case you were curious. Grandpa still likes to putz around, riding the four wheeler to find asparagus, building little inventive boxes in his workshop. He's the kind of person that HAS to have work and never wants to be put out to pasture.
So we finally took our vacation. I haven't been there since I was pregnant with the first one because it's a good seven hour trip (if you factor in a lunch stop and gas), and I have zero desire to do a seven hour trip with a baby. But since Matthew was out of work, we finally said, "Let's do it." Even though Joy is definitely still a baby.
Joy actually did great. They all did. And we finally made it out to middle-of-nowhere acreage.
Which got us thinking: Look at this great acreage. My grandparents need help. My Mom talks about moving them to our town to take care of. My uncle comes down every Saturday to help them. Couldn't maybe we live out here?
The short and practical answer is No. We could not. But how could it work?
Matthew would need to get a job that is entirely remote. Or maybe mostly remote and one day a week or something in Kansas City, three hours away? We'd be really far away from our normal family. But oh, my grandparents would love it.
They could stay in their house, probably. We could build a new one somewhere on the lot. Or take over the other house that used to be my great grandparents' down by the creek. Scratch that, we'd just replace it or something. I married an architect and that means a custom house, somewhere. I could help my grandparents. They could love their great-grandchildren. We could grow a big garden. Raise some beef. Have a farm dog. The children could roam over the land, fish in the ponds, explore the creek. I could find wild asparagus.
Matthew and I had a few fun dreams of the sort, as we romped around the farm. Unfortunately, reality. It would be highly unlikely Matthew's new job would accommodate this. We are seriously near nothing. They have been invaded by wind turbines constantly making a noise similar to a plane flying in the distance. And let's not forget that Kansas has ticks, chiggers, and several species of venomous snakes.
Mom, is that snake venomous?
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