From a Virginia suburb within the Capital Beltway to the rural crescent of Prince William County west of Manassas

Our acre hill top opens up to a full sky of bright sun and twinkling stars. Many ferns, camellias, azaleas, and blueberry bushes were transplanted from our old house. The moos of distant cows are heard and the outstretched wings of swooping hawks glimpsed.

To replace an old heating system, we drilled a 320-foot geothermal well. During the three months of waiting for well permits, we've been burning stacks of firewood in our wood stove for added comfort and enjoyment.

We have twenty years of good memories from our old house - raised two boys and cared for my mother. The departure of our youngest – after the excitement of his senior year of soccer and social activities, however, brought an unusual stillness to the house. He’s now at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Aiming to become a dietitian.

A couple of years ago, as a student at James Madison University, our oldest son successfully piloted a fresh vegetables aquaponics/fish pond structure enclosed in a hoop house for an organic farmer outside of Harrisonburg. After a year-long pursuit of suitable land with just the right soil conditions, robust clean ground water, and solar siting, we purchased a plot of rolling undeveloped open fields and forest in Rappahannock County within sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The farm that he is developing is an hour away from us outside of Boston, Virginia - a general store on a wide spot of the road to Sperryville with an adjoining post office and a flag pole out front and approximately 500 people scattered nearby.

Development of the farm – from well drilling, bringing in electricity, getting a used mobile home approved for occupancy – has taken much longer and involved more detours learning the ropes of managing chickens, ducks, turkeys, guinea hens, goats, and dogs than we all expected. To get basic internet for email - not streaming video or music, we had to install a satellite dish.

So does a professional bear and fox wrangler!

A new large barn was started last month which hopefully will become the focus for exotic chicken and goat breeding in the coming year.

For me, the commute to work was cut more than half by our move to new quarters. At the beginning of the year and before our move, I was an Administrator of our 92-unit assisted living facility on the campus. I enjoyed the chance to be responsible for leading a team of dedicated staff who provided care for individuals from age 25 to 100, most of them who have mental health diagnosis including dementia. But this past summer, I decided that being Administrator and Director of Information Technology was unsustainable. I am now focused on my core competency and what comes to me more effortlessly - providing oversight of all-things technology-related for a long-term care campus with several hundred residents and staff, and contributing to the nonprofit’s long range strategic planning to fulfill its mission.