It’s a red-letter day at the Lindahl-Mallow’s. I just paid off our mortgage. For the first time in our marriage, we are completely debt-free. It took longer than I’d hoped and, be that as it may, we have careful plans to do everything in our power to stay that way. The relief I feel has so many parts to it. Too often now, I read the news, listen to our leaders, see so much suffering, and believe our country–the world itself, is a very slow-moving train wreck.  Not having debt, having some land where we can grow things, knowing how that works, gives me some reassurance about our capacity to carry on even in very hard times.  If all we do is become more be self-sustaining, I want to believe we will do our part to try to change the death-dealing course our world seems hell-bent on following. There is a whole new meaning to ‘ a lightness of being’ this Friday afternoon…