Because we were about to be homeless, once our offer on the new property had been accepted, the sellers were kind enough to let us park a rented fifth-wheel in the barn parking lot until they had found a new place to live and could relenquish the house to us.  It started out kind of like a family camping trip – Randy and I living in a 26 foot travel trailer, along with two cats and two dogs.  By the end of week five, however, any sense of adventure we had started out with was LONG GONE.  While our old house had only been 1056 square feet, the travel trailer was a whole new interpertation of small, and while people tried to respect our privacy, everyone was curious about the new owners, so there was a steady flow of traffic to the barn to meet/welcome us.  The first few weeks were like living in a fishbowl.

I suspect Randy was more prepared for the reality of farming than I was.  I had never lived anywhere so small, nor had I ever lived anywhere so big.  Siletz was the smallest town I had ever been a member of – I grew up in the fast-paced life of the inner city in St. Louis, MO.  While the town itself felt very small, I had never had so much space all to myself – nearly 20 acres – when walking from one end of the property to the other, I actually found myself getting winded!