Deeper and nearer

Photo of curds from my caerphilly cheese. Yes, I washed my hands.

I have not been neglecting my dreams. I have been taking classes on how to start my own business at the Small Business Association and with their affiliate, SCORE. Very helpful and productive use of our tax dollars. I have all kinds of information that I need to research in order to write a solid business plan. My work is cut out for me. I like having a plan, though. It is nice to have a good map in order to move forward and not get lost.

I also feel that I have a bit more to learn before I'm comfortable making my own commercial endevor. I want to make some hard cheeses on a larger scale than in my own kitchen. More tools for my toolbox. Recently I saw a posting on one of my online discussion groups. A goat dairy in North Carolina is looking for interns to work on their farm for 3 months and work in all aspects of the cheesemaking business. This posting looked too good to be true! I'd get to learn about production from udder to market. It took me a few days to ponder the implications, but finally Jim and I decided that this was a good opportunity for me. I see it as graduate school. What do I have to lose? I emailed 'em my resume and a cover letter and got a reply with in a couple of hours. They said, "Wow!" They like me. I talked to the cheesemaker for 45 minutes on Sunday. This looks like a good thing for everyone. I'm not comitted to doing anything this spring, so I could make this intership work. I couldn't design a better graduate program.

Sure, I'm nervous. It is three months away from home, three thousand miles away from home, and three counties away from where my mother grew up. It is also time that I could be searching for our new home and business. I'd be working all Spring. There are pros and cons in every major decision.

I could just bite the bullet and get going, learning as I go. I'll do that anyway, I just want to get a few more tricks up my sleeve and I learn best from working with others in a group setting. Gaining the knowledge in isolation is never fun.

Climax, North Carolina, here I come.