We believe that people of the future will live much more simply and much more intuitively than people generally do now. Distant future generations will not only examine “the facts” in the mental and linear way we do today but will rely much more on inner guidance. They will know that having an idea or inspiration, consulting their hearts about it and then trying it out to see how Nature responds to it is a very effective way to gain information and create change. To strive to live this way now is in some way to create a pocket of the future. Our move to Floyd County, VA is an illustration of this for us as a family.

A few months ago we had no intention of moving from our home in Louisa, VA as we had only just bought it two years ago. During that time we worked hard to turn that small house on 3.6 acres of land into a mini dairy farm. We fenced the perimeter of the property and cleared and fenced three pastures. We built a straw bale cowshed and had mostly finished up building a large straw bale milking barn. In fact Leslie and I felt like we had just about completed the infrastructure of the farm. We were both eager to put our energy and resources into areas other than major building and reorganizing type projects. Moving was a distant necessity that we were more than willing to keep in the background.

As our longtime goal is to have twenty plus acres of land so that we can develop a multigenerational farm, we did realize that we would have to move at some point. We couldn’t buy that kind of acreage in Louisa or the surrounding area. The land there is being eaten up by urban sprawl and is far too expensive for us to buy a farm. Older farms are disappearing along with the business and professional farm services that we needed to keep our homestead going. We also discovered that there is a major hay shortage in our area. This was a big deal for us since our pasture was still too thin to adequately feed our cows; we needed hay all year long. Part of our plan was also to work from home which required high-speed internet. This was not going to be available any time soon in our part of Louisa. So the need to move was there but given our financial circumstances and mindset not to mention fatigue, moving was out of the question.

Then as Leslie described in our first post for this blog, she learned about Floyd County from our cow mineral guy at Countryside Natural Products and I Googled it. I discovered that Floyd was uniquely suited for our family as it offers three essential elements that are not commonly found together i.e. a strong rural agricultural farming community blended with the kind of progressive community that so often thrives in a college environment together with high-speed internet. Land and housing prices turned out to be cheaper than Louisa too. One after another of our concerns about moving as well as obstacles to the move began melting away.

More importantly our hearts were strongly guiding us to move to Floyd, no matter how sudden or improbable such a move might be. This was coming from our internal process and was congruent with the long term spiritual and family goals Leslie and I had set years earlier. In fact, everything we found out about Floyd before we moved as well as everything we have found out since arriving here has confirmed the correctness of our inner compulsion to move here. This includes needs of our children. For instance our oldest daughter, Carolyn, is a talented classical singer. She is very committed to pursuing her passion and wants to develop into a choral conductor. She utilized every resource available for this in Louisa and had great support from friends and teachers. Would Floyd have anything to offer to continue building on her gift? The answer came quickly. Floyd County is rich in the arts and is a hotbed of music. One of Carolyn’s singing teachers in Louisa turns out to be a long time friend of the high school singing teacher in Floyd. She had nothing but praise for the teacher and told us that this area would actually be far more competitive than where we were and a wonderful move for Carolyn.

Another concern was that there would be no Indian food markets nearby. We eat Indian food two or three times a week so this was significant. Louisa is near Richmond where there were six or seven Indian markets. We did find out there was at least one Indian market two plus hours away in Greensboro N.C. and we were willing to adjust ourselves to that. Then the day after we moved here to Floyd we headed into Blacksburg to return our Penske rental truck (their service was far better than U-Haul’s by the way). After dropping the truck off, we were all hot and tired. I happened to see a place called Oasis World Foods Market which had a cool sign. When we went into the store, we found that it was an international market with pretty much all that we need for our Indian food supply as well as other foods that we were very happy to discover like fresh bamboo shoots. The store was split in half. On the other side was Eats Natural Foods Co-op which has many of the other things we need and are accustomed to. The two people working there were the owners and turned out to be neighbors of ours, living only “a city block” away.

Finally there are the trees. We named our old home in Louisa “Beckoning Trees Farm” as the place had great trees. It was enclosed by 50 foot white pines. We also had great oak trees on the property as well as hickories, black walnuts, dogwoods, pear and poplar trees. Our new home in Floyd had just a few very large trees. At first glance, it seemed that we were taking a loss in terms of trees at our new home. We kind of dreaded this and were concerned about the cows not having enough shade as well. But even here we were pleasantly surprised. It turns out that we have some really exceptional trees here including a large apple tree. However, the real gem is a pair of large shade trees on the edge of the pasture which the cows gravitated to immediately. They love to lie under them chewing their cud. The trees were covered with poison ivy when my son Will and I came to put up fencing a week or so before we moved so we cleaned some of it out. After moving here, I examined the trees and found a bunch of chestnuts underneath them. Then my daughter Anna said one of the Realtors had told her that they were chestnut trees. I looked up the American Chestnut Foundation web site and after comparing leaves, it appears we have male and female American Chestnut trees. This is amazing as American Chestnuts are all but extinct due to tree blight. I have since built a bench and sitting area for our swing under these beautiful trees. It is the best spot on the property now as it is like a doorway between our yard and the cow pasture, a meeting place for us and the cows. Even our border collie, the chickens and our cats frequent that location. So as it turned out, the trees here are even better than the ones at Beckoning Trees Farm.

On the other side of the conformation of our move, the day we started loading the moving van in Louisa, a fleet of bulldozers drove up to the woods on the backside of our house and began clear cutting everything. A week later when we returned to take another small load, the stretch of woods behind us was gone leaving the back of our old farm completely exposed. It was a harsh reminder of the urban sprawl monster that had chased us all the way to Floyd.

This is a Cliff Notes version of how we went from no intention whatsoever of moving to moving to a county we had never heard of a month and half after hearing it mentioned. There were a lot of difficulties, by the way. Taking trips 3.5 hours each way to Floyd and back to look at properties sandwiched in between the morning and evening milkings was tough. Working out finances (even with all of the help we got) was tough. The move itself was tough. In other words, it wasn’t all bliss nor is it all bliss now but by surrendering and being guided by our inner Self, we have a feeling of overwhelming well-being and congruence. This is what Pockets of the Future is all about. Had we used the approaches to such things employed today, we would still be in Louisa surrounded by high priced land and a over saturated housing market. Instead we are in Floyd, a pocket of the future in its own right, moving forward with our goals and aspirations and being supported by our environment more than ever before possible.

 All the best,

Paul

It is a beautiful first day of summer here in Floyd County, Virginia. A sunny blue sky over an 82 degree afternoon. Clear mountain air. A breeze that flaps the laundry dry and smells of fresh grass. We have two birthdays in our family today - a son who turns 12 and a heifer who turns 2. All things considered, today is a fine day to launch our Pockets of the Future Blog.

It was our dairy cows who brought us here to Floyd County. We were living in central Virginia where the humidity was high, grass was short, hay was scarce and points of view could tend toward the less flexible. In our constant struggle to find enough hay for our two cows and two heifers, we unwittingly started down a path toward Floyd. We learned from one local hay farmer that in the mountains there were dairy cows (something you just don’t see in central VA) and good quality alfalfa hay by the truckload. When I called Countryside Natural Products to order their fabulous Healthy Minerals for our livestock, I spoke with one of the owners. I asked him about real estate in his area of Fishersville (near Waynesboro). In the course of that conversation he mentioned that there is a place called Floyd County where “lots of natural minded people are moving these days.”

My husband and I were intrigued but had never heard of Floyd County so my husband Googled Floyd County here, here, and here. Not only did it look perfect, we discovered it was the next county over from Blacksburg where I lived twice as a girl. Even then I loved the area and the mountains. A few days later we put in a call to Dee’s Country Places Realty, Inc. Within a matter of weeks, the wonderful Cate Fugate and Jackie Boswell helped us find our 1940’s farmhouse. Moving here with six children, 4 cows, 3 goats, a dozen hens, a dog, two cats and lots and lots of books was more difficult but we are here now and happily fashioning this bit of Floyd into our new homestead.

Paul and I wanted to start this blog some months ago but Paul decided to wait until we had moved here. Floyd County itself is clearly such a “pocket of the future” that it seemed only right to begin talking in earnest on this subject when living in a place where it is lived in earnest in various ways.

Following our inner prompting to add dairy cows to our family life has brought us many blessings over the last year and a half, not the least of which is the enormous benefit we are experiencing from bringing them here to Floyd where they may thrive on good grass and mountain air. How we ourselves will thrive here will be the backdrop to this blog.

From the beautiful mountains of southwest Virginia,

Leslie