Chapter One - The (Unknowingly) Momentous Decision

                             

Driving past the Potomac Valley, right outside of Missoula, Montana, I looked over and sighed again at how stunning it all was. Big green pastures filled with cows, blue-green mountains in the background, sky stretching out for miles. We had driven past this valley many times on our way to look for land to buy and I did the same thing each time we drove past - sighed at the beauty of it. It never occured to me that this gorgeous spot would one day be my view from the mountaintop. I look back now and wonder if God smiled every time I looked at and longed for a place of my own like this, knowing that He would one day give me that very thing, like a Mom who smiles when her child pines over a certain toy for Christmas and she has already bought it for him.

At the time, my husband and I lived in Lolo, Montana on the other side of Missoula, in a house my father had left to my two sisters and me. We were living there, taking care of it, keeping it nice until we found a buyer. I really liked that house and would have loved to have kept it but alas, it was too big and far too expensive for us. My dad had left each of us a small inheritance and my husband and I decided to buy land of our own somewhere in Montana. We had both fallen in love with the area and wanted to live there. We were originally from Texas, had lived there most of our lives, had family there and had a genuine love for it but once we spent time in Montana, we were goners. It was love at first sight and it never waned for either of us.

We had been living in the Lolo house for a few months with every intention of moving back to Texas when the house sold but then one day I blurted out, "Why don't we just stay here? We both love Montana. Our kids are off on their own. Our families are scattered all over the place. We both hate the heat and traffic and crime and congestion and crabby people in Texas. Why are we going back to that? You can work anywhere being a carpenter and a builder. This is the first place in my life I have ever felt really at home. I'm comfortable here, with myself and with the people. It is pure heaven here in the summer. And the winters aren't that bad." My husband Butch (he's from East Texas, hence the nickname) in his characteristic man-of-few-words way said, "Ok."  and the decision was made. Easy as that. Well. Huh.

The variety of responses we got from our family and friends when we told them we were staying in Montana were all over the place but two stuck out more than the others, "But you don't LIKE to be cold!" (true) and "But it's SO FAR!" (also true). Mostly we got their support though because hey, they now had a cool place to go visit.

That wonderful summer we drove all over Montana looking for land (which was so fun. I love car trips.) We told each realtor the few things that we wanted - land that backed up to state land, at least 20 acres, wooded, no neighbors, water on the property and cheap - to which each realtor either snickered or roared with laughter and said, "Who doesn't?" We were told that what we wanted didn't exist. But being determined Texans we weren't about to give up. No small, treeless, subdivision 'ranchettes' for us, no sirree Bob.

Lo and behold, I found a place with all of our wishes, plus some. 162 acres! Springs all over the place! Backing up to state land on three sides! No neighbors! Seclusion, Peace, Privacy! Beauty! A VIEW TO DIE FOR! And unbelievably, the view was my old friend THE POTOMAC VALLEY. No way.  And it was CHEAP! I KNEW I could find it. I KNEW it existed. The only downside was that it had no power running to it, or anywhere near the general vicinity. Hmmm..... Off grid? Hmmm.... Can we do it? My husband Butch was a seriously talented carpenter/builder/Jack-of-all-trades who had built hundreds of homes and knew how to do exactly everything. This man can build and fix anything. But we weren't spring chickens anymore. He was in his late 40's, I in my early 40's. And we didn't have a ton of money. We would have to build it all ourselves and neither of us had ever lived off grid before. But 'Off Grid, Raw Land' was all we could afford and still be able to get the other things that were important to us also. "So, do you think we can do it? SHOULD we? Are we a bit too old for this? Is it a good idea? Is it worth it to own our own land here?" I asked him nervously. I mean this was a whole mid-life complete drastic change. He may have been a country boy, but I was a born and bred city girl who liked occasional outings in the country. For picnics and stuff. I was not a little nervous at the whole idea but at the same time curiously excited at the thought of taking on this challenge (which kind of surprised little ol' mousey me actually). I asked again, "Do you want to?" He again with the few words, "Sure. Why not?" he said.

And the decision was made. Little did I know what I was in for. I'm really glad I didn't have a clue though because I wouldn't have done it. And I'm so glad I did.