All-seasons acreage
This Michigan family finds beauty on their land every month of the year.
Dean and Sari Solden never imagined themselves living in the country. Dean grew up on the New Jersey Shore, and Sari spent her youth in Detroit. Together they made a home in San Francisco before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan. They woke to the beeping of the trash truck backing up and went to sleep to the sound of traffic.
All that changed after they took an enchanting two-week vacation in the pastoral English countryside. They came home and felt something wasn't right. They were missing the country.
The couple began reading the rural property ads in the local newspaper and talked to real estate agents about finding affordable country property within commuting distance to Ann Arbor. By the time the Soldens saw the ad for a big remodeled farmhouse and four ponds on 20 acres within 10 minutes of Ann Arbor, they were getting anxious for a move. They contacted the listing agent and just planned to drive by, because the asking price was out of their range.
Pulling up to the property, Dean and Sari saw that the driveway was lined with tall pillar-like black walnut trees making a rising gentle curve toward the house. Two swans gliding in the pond came to greet them. The couple took a short stroll up the hill to the pasture where they petted curious sheep through the fence. The place was starting to arouse those idyllic feelings they experienced in England.
What clinched the deal, for Dean at least, was a ride on the tractor. The owner offered to make him a "really good deal" on the tractor if they bought the house.
Nervous and excited, Dean and Sari went home to think about this opportunity. A few days later, Sari drove to the property on her own. While sitting on the back porch contemplating the potential of the place, a small herd of deer wandered across the lawn in front of her. Sari says, "It felt so peaceful. It felt so right."
Convinced, the Soldens made an offer that was accepted, and they moved out to the country by end of the summer. City friends bet them they would only last a month. After four years, the Soldens are sure they made the right decision, even though the transition has been quite challenging at times.
Sari and Dean decided to keep seven of the 20 sheep they saw grazing in the pasture on their first visit, not anticipating that a few were pregnant. Dean and the couple's teenage daughter, Dasha, soon got into the rhythm of chores and the care of the animals. In their first spring on the farm, the Soldens lost one ewe and two lambs, a hard lesson for former city folks who had been insulated from some of nature's harsher ways.
Since then, every morning Sari counts her sheep as the animals walk out of the barn into the pasture. Laughing, she says, "I understand now about counting sheep. Every night I see my own in my head!" Even with the maintenance and responsibility, Sari has found much pleasure and contentment from these basic farm routines.
Sari has spent a lot of time observing the habits of the sheep. Gradually, she began thinking about them and their behavior in terms of metaphors in her work with women with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Sari noticed that sheep often hide what is wrong with them until it is too late to do anything to help them. She said many of her clients hide their feelings or illnesses, so she has used stories about her sheep to illustrate conditions and to help modify behavior and improve the lives of people affected with ADD.
Sari seems to embody the sense of calmness her rural setting invokes. She says, "I just like to sit and contemplate the countryside, to look at things, to enjoy the pastoral view. "She has more time to think about her writing and her work, to spend with family and friends, and to absorb the peaceful surroundings. "With this place, I am trying to strike a balance between the lawn and keeping it natural, "Sari says, smiling at Dean and anticipating his response.
Dean's eyes twinkle and he becomes animated, saying, "I love running the push mower. It's great exercise! It's aerobic. I sweat and it builds up my muscles, and I save money by not needing a gym membership!" However, even at 40-something, Dean doesn't have enough time and energy to cut several acres of grass by hand.
With a grin, Dean says, "I did buy the Kubota tractor. I guess it's a guy thing. I like to drive it around and cut the grass. With my headset on to muffle the sound, I'm at one with the machine, oblivious to distractions. Even Sari can't always get my attention."
Riding the tractor, fixing the outbuildings, tending the sheep, clearing paths through the woods, and just walking around the property have given Dean quiet time to think. Recently, while walking his property, Dean says he had "one of those ah ha! moments." Until he had actually lived in the country, he hadn't realized the difference in the rhythms between urban living and country life. Dean was happily surprised how easily he has adjusted and how much he has been inspired by this move to the country.
Besides working as president of a senior housing development company, Dean is an accomplished jazz musician and composer. He says the country life has become his muse. To him, all of the rural elements are like a jazz album, combining swing, samba, and improvisational tracks in endless combination and variety. He has converted one of the smaller outbuildings closest to the house into a music studio. There he plays the piano and composes, while the countryside provides the harmony.
Dasha, a busy teen, has maintained a city connection by commuting to school in Ann Arbor. She loves horses and is learning to ride at a nearby stable, where she has also been working with disabled children, assisting with riding lessons.
Since all three members of the Solden family are involved in some form of caregiving, they fantasize about starting a retirement community for old horses and other aging domestic animals on the property. This year, they experimented with the idea when a family friend moved her older horse and goat to Soldens Country. Dean has been thinking about developing rural retirement communities in farmlike settings for people, too.
So inspired by their move to the country, Dean and Sari are working on a book about their rural experiences titled, Lessons From the Farm. How Living in the Country Taught a City Couple the Simple Truths of Life. Four sections, based on the four seasons, contain chapters of lessons learned and reflections on what nature can teach about the meaning of life with humor and sensitivity.
The Soldens believe if you are open, flexible, and not afraid of hard work or change, a move from city life to country life can be exhilarating and rewarding. Smell the rain on the meadow; listen to the soft baas of sheep as they settle down to sleep and to the cricket chorus rising with the deep blue cloak of night.
Now that's living.