The best solutions often come at the worst cost. For two decades, Kim grew a business and a life inside the protective casing of fear—terrified of what would happen if she were ever forced to leave the farm she called home. But human time moves fast, and when an eviction notice arrived to signal that the land was being developed, a twenty-year tenancy vanished in a blink. In this audio essay, Kim reflects on the long, overlapping histories we leave on borrowed ground, the difference between a grand illusion and a true sanctuary, and how a sudden uprooting led her to the 200-year-old threshold of Lavender Hill. We are all just passing through, but some evictions force us to transplant our lives into much richer soil. In This Episode: The Ghost of Morpheus: A twenty-something dream of a grand estate in Tryon, NC, and the warning hidden inside a beautiful illusion. Pot-Bound Roots: Navigating twenty years as a "humble apologist" on borrowed land, overshadowed by the footprints of those who came before. Operating on Land Time: The sudden shock of a six-month eviction notice and the confrontation with a geographic clock. Discovering Lavender Hill: An impossible listing beside a prison, two juvenile armadillos acting like puppies, and a hidden meadow that became a love song. The Reality of Sanctuary: Learning to live in a place that demands partnership rather than deference. Notable Quotes: "Like a garden bed filled with mint, my shoots overlapped with the Turk’s broad trunks, and the shared history of other trainers who had come before us in that space, on that land." "It felt like I was walking into a dream, but one that didn’t come with a warning." "To a mountain or a pasture, a twenty-year tenancy is just a blink, a single season in a vast, geologic clock... Every landlord, every trainer, every husband, and every writer is eventually evicted by time itself." Connect with the Farm: If Stable Roots feels like a conversation you'd like to keep having, join our community. Every week, Kim Carter writes about horses, land, grief, belonging, and how we sometimes have to get lost to find ourselves. Read the original essay & see the photos: at Substack. Support the work: Consider upgrading to a paid subscription to directly support the horses, the land, and the stories harvested at Lavender Hill. Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe
