"
The Phoenix has risen from the ashes:
In 2018 I returned to my beloved northeast Iowa, although a different region than before, almost as far northwest as you can go in the region, out on the windswept prairie. The prairie turned out to be the toughest environment, full of surprises, constantly testing humans who dare to live on it, and I swear it was trying to kill me, that first year. From record snowfall and blizzards, polar vortex, a tornado, wind storm, and flooding, I went through it all. But I have come to love this wide-open land, and the vistas are just as beautiful as others I've enjoyed. There are pheasants everywhere, wolves, deer, coyotes, and eagles, amidst the giant fields and CRP land. I used the move to reinvent myself and change my life, take advantage of new opportunities, and begin making Happy Tails into a very personal business. I live in a little 1881 house on a small homestead I've transformed into One World Micro Eco Farm, my second business, producing organic, sustainable produce on my quarter acre of precious, virgin, 3 foot deep, black Carrington loam soil. The best, humus-rich prairie soil you could ever imagine! The same dirt as the first settlers foumd under the thick grass sod, in 1865. Having a sustainable, income-producing, organic micro eco farm has been a lifelong dream of mine, and I have to beleive I was given this fabulous soil for a reason: Make the dream come true before you die. This is your chance to do it right, totally your way, using all your accumulated experience and knowledge.
In Sept 2020 my illness, FAP, had to be dealt with again, requiring another major abdominal surgery to prevent intestinal cancer, at Mayo Clinic. The (often painful) recovery process resulted in a couple of nasty new, chronic conditions making me miserable much of the time. That was almost 17 months ago as I write this. The doctors weren't entirely honest about what recovey would be like, until I had a diagnostic endoscopic procedure to find out why I had so much pain, after months of suffering and winter weather preventing travel. He was the one who informed me it would take an entire year, longer, in fact, for me to find the "new normal". Oh, great! That was both devastating news, and something of a challenge, and involved multitudes of lifestyle changes, some new medications, and holistic approaches to integrate everything, including Happy Tails, into what finally became my "new normal", trying to live a harmonious life, following my Nichiren Buddhist beleifs. I also began renovating my house, doing a lot of the work myself. It's like, one day I was suddenly doing a lot better; I was having more good days than bad days, and my system had finally settled down. It's still evolving, in smaller ways here and there, but it worked out pretty good once my body adjusted to it's new internal configuration and I found the right path forward. Harmony and good karma have always been important to me, and for Happy Tails. I've even got the new One World Micro Eco Farm business going full steam ahead this year, selling my bountiful organic produce.