Why Homestead?

Me and the man spent the whole day outside working in the yard today.  We got a ton accomplished and the yard and garden are looking great.  Afterwards, we sat down to dinner with the family and had grilled sandwiches surrounded by our new backyard.  Once everyone left and the baby had gone to bed we sat around our fire pit and talked about our day.  We both had a sense of accomplishment but not really.  It feels great to make so much progress, but it isn't really ours.  We are still renting a house outside of the city in a small neighborhood.  None of the work we did today will be around in a few years when we leave the place and start over.  But starting over in a place that all ours will mean everything to us.  That "not really" will be erased from our accomplishment and the work we do will be for us to enjoy for years.  Now I understand that this has nothing to do with homesteading, just owning our own home.  The work we will be doing will be different though.  We will be building up a garden and planting an orchard that will feed our family for years to come.  The home we build will keep us warm every single winter.  The treehouse we build will entertain our children  for as long as they still can fit into it.  The barn we build will house the animals that provide us with food and wool.  The chairs we built will sit around a fire pit that is so far away from the city that we will be able to see all the stars in the sky.  And it will all be ours.  :)