When I first saw this land it was strewn with fallen trees, gullys and swamp. No one wanted it and it was offered at a very reasonalble price.

Instead of a desolate swamp. I saw a beautiful paradise. It would just take a little work. I also saw a lot of good trees that needed to be thinned, cut into boards and made into a house and furniture.

The first thing was to buy a tractor big enough to move the dirt out of a low place into a high place. The low place would become a lake and the high place would become the spot where I would build our house.

The swamp looked a lot better after a couple of years of hard work. The lake was stocked with 100 catfish and 60 large mouth bass. Since then many different kinds of fish have developed and it has been said that birds drop fish eggs when they come to go fishing. This was at one time the heart of the swamp. Boys love to come and fish.

I had some excellent help in getting the work done. A big job like this couldn’t have been done alone. These are my brush cutters and burners. They had piles of brush burnng for six months straight. Wait until you see this place now.

In Search Of Paradise  (I found it and made it)

This is the results of our efforts. It wasn’t easy, it took a long time, but we have a place like no other. The trees that were removed to clear the land were worth more than we paid for the property. The only cost was our labor. We have two workshops on the property where we make things such as furniture and repair our equipment. If you look closely, you can see the edge of the lake on the far right. It offers a beautiful view from the house. We raise a lot of fresh fruit from our now many fruit trees, we also raise chickens and geese.

I challenge everyone to follow their dreams and to build their own paradise. It all begins with attitude. It takes a lot of work and a loving family who wants to share your dreams. My only advice is don’t wait until it is too late to start. I was close to seventy when we began.

Dr Robert E McGinnis