Whenever I watch movies about pioneers or homesteaders It strikes a chord in me that makes me wonder if I was born in the wrong century. Although they did not have many modern comforts, and their lives were filled with danger I feel a longing for some of the adventure and experience they partook in. What a thrill it would have been to be a part of a wagon train heading west into unexplored lands filled with the hope of a prosperous future. It must be the same feeling that modern astronauts have when they are strapped into the rocket on their way up through the atmosphere.

Where is that equivalent experience today? Where can the average individual strike out into the unknown, stake a claim, and see the fruits of his labor? I want to be proud of my accomplishments, to be able to sit on my porch at the end of the day and look out over my land with satisfaction that I have tended it well.

Is that dream able to be realized through my efforts in my career as an urban planner where I look out over an urban landscape that I helped to shape? Is that dream able to be realized in a more rural setting on a small ranch where I strive to live a sustainable low impact lifestyle?

Perhaps both scenarios are possible to fullfill or satisfy my desire to settle the frontier in my own way.

On Zank Ranch I hope to have a garden, an orchard, raise farm animals, and perhaps a few exotic ones as well. I would like to create a place where other family can live and enjoy a life with a greater connection to the land. I think it would be great to learn some of the basic skills that hardly anyone knows how to do anymore like making cheese and butter, growing plants, tending animals, and other ranch type of things.

What do you think are other ways to capture the homesteading, adventuring, or pioneering spirit?