My Dream Orchard Has Become A Reality

We planted the first trees in our fruit orchard about 3 and a half years ago. It was before I married the husband and I was still living in California at the time. We were talking on the phone one night and he asked me if there was anything that I would want for my home in the future. Immediately an orchard came to mind. A few years prior to that I had drawn basic plans for my "dream home"...I was still working in engineering at the time and was using AutoCAD all of the time. When I drew the home there was lots of detail...some of the things I included on the plans were admittedly a little bit impractical, ie: bowling alley in the basement, did I think I was going to be on an episode of MTV's Cribs? But some things I had on the plans were actually great ideas.

Among those good ideas was an orchard. I've always wanted to be able to go outside and gather fresh food for myself. The vegetable garden has really met that dream of mine. Our orchard is just beginning to do the same. This year will be the first that we'll have more than maybe two pieces of fruit. I'm told that after your first summer of getting a little bit of fruit, the next summer the trees explode with fruit. So I'm hoping that next summer I'll have more than I know what to do with. Of course I am grateful for what I'll have this year, it is exciting to see my dream coming true.

At some point I'll have to pull out those old plans and do a post all about them. It is actually kind of cool to me to see just how many of the things that I had put on those plans are now part of my life. I never would have guessed that my life would go in the direction it has. About seven years have passed since I made those plans for my dream home...what a difference seven years makes! It will always be interesting to me to reflect back over time and see how things develop and change. I love my life. There are things that are stressful at times, and I definately deal with my share of anxiety. But, I do feel blessed, fortunate. Walking around and taking pictures in my orchard is a normal evening for me, but what a luxury!