The Great Landrush of 2006

I realize my blogging as of late has been sorely lacking my own poignant commentary - perhaps you have noticed and rejoiced?

Anyway, I have been educating myself with regard to the ins and outs of land acquisition and thereafter building upon it. Seriously, one wonders if the old days of simply parking the wagon and then hoping that the locals don't come and slaughter you for stealing their land wouldn't be less complex and risky than the permitting and financing we must go through today.

Amazingly, some of the counties - particularly Jefferson - have FANTASTIC mapping programs that offer a wealth of information including topography, wetlands, landlside hazards, stream setbacks, zoning specifics, and existing permits. The trouble is, most real estate agents do not give you the parcel ID's when they advertise the land and thus you REALLY have to do some work to find the specific parcel on the county maps. Gee, I wonder why they don't offer the parcel numbers????? Hmmmm????

Anyway, our journey to "Rural Residential 1:5,10, or 20" continues. Of course, it is feasible that the perfect property (with a house already in there) will show up - thereby eliminating the nightmare - yet strangely fun - process of pointing and clicking through the Great Landrush.

Comments

Huw Richardson said…
Rural Western North Carolina is growing an Orthodox community around a monastery...
3:57 AM
Anonymous said…
There's an idea James, we could each donate a few acres, build a chapel and a rectory and we'd have created a monastic endowment just like pious Orthodox kings and queens of old!
7:09 AM
Anonymous said…
I humbly suggest growing a parish around normal human beings. Monastics in the US have a tendency to...Well, just keep it laymen with a priest, and if monastics happen, they can do so with seclusion and not adoration.
-- Bob K.
3:31 PM
Huw Richardson said…
That's assuming we've got your run-o-the-mill hyper converts... which, in this case, I assure isn't true. "Paschal troparion sung to Dixie at trapeza to great laughter" should lighten up the visualisation a little :-)

But they've got the land, Rade - We're just always thinking of moving closer to the parish (which is not to be where the monastery is, btw... another thing to be aware of!)
4:57 PM
fdj said…
I'd be down with giving a Parish a couple acres. We could even help build the Church - I suggest we do it in the Rusyn old wooden church style...not a nail to be found therein. Hey how about an Orthodox retreat center? Hmmmm...

:)

Balance is key, I think, with regard to Monastic vs. Pairsh life. I tend to agree with Bob in that converts have a tendency to over romanticize the monastic life (sometimes adopting monastic practices that cradle old country Orthodox would rightly find patently bizzare). That being said, there is much we lay-family people can learn from monastics (and vice versa.) Again, balance.
8:29 AM
Anonymous said…
:)
1:07 PM
Unknown said…
I love your agrarian posts, so I thought I would pass on a song I heard at a cute movie this weekend. The weekend was Over the Hedge. An animated feature that I took my kids to see. Below was the theme song at the end. There is a spoken word part in the middle by the incomparable William Shatner, but I deleted it out for space.

Lyrics
Rockin’ The Suburbs

Let me tell y'all what it's like
Watching idol on a friday night
In a house built safe and sound
On indian burial ground
Sham On

We drive our cars everyday
To and from work both ways
So we make just enough to pay
To drive our cars to work each day

We're rocking the suburbs
Around the block just one more time
We're rocking the suburbs
Cause I can't tell which house is mine
We're rocking the suburbs
We part the shades and face facts
They got better looking Fescue
Right across the cul de sac

Hotwheels take rising stars
Get rich quick seminars
Soap opera magazines
40,000 watt nativity scenes
Don't freak about the smoke alarm
Mom left the TV dinner on

Yet we're rocking the suburbs
From family feud to Chevy Chase
We're rocking the suburbs
We numb the muscles in our face
We're rocking the suburbs
Feed the dog and mow the lawn
Watching mommy balance the checks
While daddy juggles credit cards

We're rocking the suburbs
Everything we need is here
We're rocking the suburbs
But it wasn't here last year
We're rocking the suburbs
You'll never know when we are gone
Because the timer lights come on
And turn the cricket noises on each night
Yeah, yeah, we're rocking the suburbs
Yeah, yeah, we're rocking the suburbs
4:38 AM
Susan Sophia said…
Theron,
I LOVE THAT! Thank you for sharing!
8:14 AM
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