Look Down

There have been many times in my life when I’ve had to find miraculous ways to make things happen. I’ve had to take nothing and turn it into something. I’ve had to make do with things that maybe weren’t quite what I wanted. Perhaps some people would call it settling while others may call it compromise. Maybe it’s both of those things but I’m learning that maybe it’s given me an advantage. Let me explain.

In this new adventure with Red Dog Farm, we simply don’t have a large budget to work with. By this, I mean we are going on a wing and a prayer. Many people would say that it’s foolish to try to do something so massive with a paper thin budget. Maybe it is. Maybe there are a hundred different reasons we could think of for this to fail. Maybe this is more massive than we realize. Maybe we don’t have enough capital to do everything we want to do up front. But let me tell you why I don’t think none of that matters.

When my friend, May, asked me to help her, she told me about how unsettled she was about keeping the farm. She thought her only reasonable option was to sell the farm but it had been up for sale for a while. After three contracts fell through, she was at a crossroads. I told her to quit trying. If she was that conflicted about selling, and tired of being in limbo, she needed to find another way. We met for lunch a few weeks ago and started our plans for turning the space into an event venue. She already used parts for Airbnb rentals and had those spaces mostly ready for use. But the property needs a refresh so that it’s visually comparable to other venues. There are a lot of little bitty projects that need doing. And, maybe a few that are a little bigger. Some of them are just a matter of elbow grease and others are just too big to do on our own. So we have to improvise.

Why should anyone have to throw up their hands in defeat just because they may not have a lot of wealth to offer? The only way a dream can come to fruition is by someone having the tenacity and faith to make it happen. Someone can have all the money in the world and not be able to pull it off, whereas someone with the courage to dare can make it happen. And, May has courage. She has tenacity. And she has a group of friends who care enough to devote their time and energy without asking for a dime. If one day this place is making money hand over fist, that’s great. But the most important thing to me right now is not seeing my friend fret and worry about her future.

Underdog stories don’t typically lead with a ready-made solution, do they? Nope. That’s what makes the resulting win that much sweeter. We root for them because we can relate. We want someone atypical to overcome ridiculous odds to give us all hope that it doesn’t always have to be perfect circumstances that yield the best outcome. Kind of like the good food that sticks to your ribs, we all want that good story to stick to our hearts and minds. Logical thinking is the biggest barrier to the biggest breakthroughs. It’s purpose was intended to keep us safe and alive, not averse to all risk.

Our goal for yesterday was to get the yard cleaned up a bit so that we could take some pictures. I wanted to spruce up the porch with some plants but it is way too early for lots of greenery. So I did the next best thing. I bought two pedestal planters, some dirt, and some plastic plants and hanging baskets from the Dollar Tree. It sounds like a recipe for ugly. But, when you are limited with funds and choices, you improvise. I prayed for greenery before going to the Dollar Tree. Pretty specifically, actually. I asked for the kind of greenery that would flow over a pot and give the realistic look. I prayed for greenery that would resemble grass to give it height. Then I prayed for flowers that wouldn’t look tacky and fake. When I walked to the floral section, I could not believe my eyes. It looked freshly stocked with just the kind of greenery and flowers that I needed. It might not sound like a big accomplishment, but I think it’s just the beginning.

When I got to the farm, May’s friend Jackie was getting the yard whipped into shape. He helped her plan a new sidewalk and began pulling the existing sidewalk edging out. I wanted to take pictures we could use for advertising. We both worried the weathered and damaged roof of the old well house looked less rustic and more dilapidated. It seemed like a silly thing to focus on but we wanted the pictures to look polished. But, we didn’t have the materials for a proper repair. The old moss covered shingles resembled bark. We began to search the yard for fallen bark to wedge in between the old shingles. After we gathered hands full of bark, we went to work wedging it tenderly between the shingles. May commented that all we had to do was look down. All we needed for a quick fix was already provided.

It got me to thinking about how what we need has already been provided. We have a team of friends ready to lend their hands. We have plenty of creativity. We have the will to succeed no matter the challenges ahead. Sometimes we do have to look down, humble ourselves to see that it doesn’t always take millions of dollars to make something magical happen. I’ve frequently stolen the line from Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come,” while talking with May about the future of the venue.

It’s a blank slate right now. For people who need space and accommodations, it’s a dream come true. There is plenty of space for parking, flat land for a tent, a space for a ceremony, overnight accommodations, and a view of the hills. There is potential for more. There’s a small space in the back of the main house that overlooks the hills and gives a killer view of the sunset. Right now, it’s fenced in and was most recently used as a goat pen. It’s more work to add to the growing list of things to do.

As the list grows, we pause to wonder if we’re crazy for thinking that we can do this. Maybe we are. At least if we fall flat on our faces, we can’t say that we were scared to try. Failure isn’t an option. We have to make this work, for May’s sake. Creativity is going to be the tool that rescues the project. Tenacity is going to be the catalyst for something bigger than we can clearly see from here.

We finished the well house roof. The bark didn’t work as well as we hoped. Our friend, Chris, took the top of the roof off and spun it around to the side where the shingles were in a bit better shape. We pulled salvageable ones from the other side and he reused rusty nails to put them back in place. Obviously, we were not deterred by the risk of tetanus. The other lesson of the day was that when things don’t work out as we originally planned, we try again. And again, and again, and again. Giving up is not an option. It may not be ideal. It may not be properly repaired and the wind today may have knocked them all off the roof. It is that we got our pictures and met one goal. It’s enough to hold us through until we can do better.

The day ended with us four ladies standing around my car talking until dark about how we all ended up to be there. Our stories of heartache, disappointment, and sadness have shown us that if we can get beyond unimaginable pain, we have all the tools we need to make this possible. We’ve all been through trials that we couldn’t see our way through. We’ve crawled. We’ve clawed. Even when the darkness wanted to consume us and swallow us whole. The fire tried to break us. We teased that we would call ourselves the Angry Women Club. I think a more fitting name is the Ashes of the Phoenix Club. We all know that when everyone counted the Phoenix as lost to the flames, she rose from the ashes. And so will we.