Greetings from Planet45

It’s time to talk about one of my favorite subjects again, and that would be this big old Red House. It looks old because it is: at one time it was the only residence out here on Rocky Nook – and that was in 1857. It’s a center chimney four-square, two stories- actually, 2.5. It’s hard to say if the original structure was that size. One of my favorite things to do is to research the history of the property, and part of what I hope to determine eventually is the age of the current structure, which may very well have been built over the cellar hole of a preceding structure.

The first people to live on the Nook settled here in the mid 1620s. Not on this site- up the road a piece, and you’d never know that there use to be a house and barn there. The site has undergone some archaeological examination, but mostly it’s just a lovely green hill with very old trees and a rock with a plaque on it. The inhabitants were John Howland and his family. John came over on the Mayflower (yep, that one), married fellow passenger Elizabeth Tilley, lived in Plymouth town for a while, but eventually purchased 20 acres of land with a dwelling house and barn from fellow pilgrim Mr. Jenney,  and started to build a life here.

Rocky Nook in those days was a peninsula of pastures- and probably forest, but that forest would have been demolished in order to build and heat homes. The Nook juts out into a well-protected bay and, as you would expect by its name, its coast is lined by rocks. A time traveler arriving on a cold winter night would think it a bit of a boondocks- isolated, wind-swept, perhaps the sound of a few cattle lowing, because many, many more cows lived here than people. It must have been little better than camping  on a cold night, but I’d bet things were very sustainable. Elizabeth had ten children. Ten.

The Howlands farm was lost to a fire, as was, I think, the homestead of John Howlands’ son, which was later built just West of his parents’ place.

More soon.

It’s spring and the farmhouse (AKA Planet45) is alive with socializing and romancing birds, knee high dandelions and buttercups, woodchucks, mice, ants, bees, and a hundred thousand other things stretching wings, legs, fronds, pistils, and what have you. It’s an exciting time to be on Planet45. It’s a stirring, daunting, and exciting time to be embarking on new ventures too.

Unlike the shrubs blasting into bloom around the house, I take tentative steps to establish a little business. In an economy like this, one searches for gigs and full-time employment at the same time, which in the abstract ought to require the same sets of skills. Identifying prospects might be the same for gigs and employment, but going after those prospects is different. Positioning oneself for employment requires a level of visioning and strategizing that is different from that required for landing small projects. Establishing a pattern of business with a client requires long-term thinking that takes time away from job-hunting.

It’s hard to maintain that balance. I’ve picked up bits of advice here and there on the internet (and I am sorry that in some cases the attributions never made it into my head). Here’s one I like when I get overwhelmed: do the revenue-producing work first thing. For example, I get an occasional paper to edit or grants research to do- those earn income and help me to “live another day” to do the longer term work. Having that essential, well-defined task to complete puts structure into days that can deteriorate quickly into amorphous blobs. Invariably I learn something or pick up a nugget of inspiration as well. And knowing a little income is on the way helps the focus on more creative or visionary tasks later in the day.

Growing things require care, nutrition, structure. What do you do to help grow new patterns of behavior in your professional life?