the woods

every time i drive around out there in the open country, where there’s a lot of mountainous terrain, high meadow, wetlands, open fields and forest, i get this yearning, this powerful urge, to want to buy a big expanse of land.

what the hell would i do with a big expanse of land? i don’t own any tractors. i don’t know how to drive an excavator or bulldozer. i don’t even know how to use a chainsaw (or have chaps to protect my legs). even if i did have any of that stuff, what would i do with a big expanse of land? it sounds like it would be a ton of work.

and yet.

and yet i can picture myself walking on trails i cut into the land myself. i can picture myself sitting in a high meadow, with an access road that leads in. maybe it’s hayed out twice a year to preserve the view. i can picture myself creekwalking in the creek that runs through the land. i can picture myself snowshoeing through the woods. maybe camping there.

is it actually possible to buy some land that gives me that stuff without all the headache of owning a house? i don’t want more chores to do outside, my primary house gives me plenty of that.

do i need electricity or a well on such a property? could i get away with a port-a-potty instead of septic? would a shed suffice? or maybe even just a platform that i put a tent on? how does anyone make a decision like this? i know people do it, i just don’t understand what the thought process is.

i’d like to know.