People have a rather idealistic view of how and where I live, and I have to admit that it is good here. But not ideal. Ideal, I suppose, would be boring anyway. I’ve lived in a lot worse places, dangerous places, so I appreciate where I am now. What I do requires a quick learning curve as I’ve never done this before. If I screw up, plants and animals may die and the owner, personal friend, will lose his investment. So, there’s that little scythe overhead.
There is no real job security in this. The owner might want to retire from his work in Yorkshire, come down and take over next week or next year. The government has expressed a desire to buy this place from under the owner and add it to the National Park. All of this could evaporate within 24 hours. So, there’s that little scythe as well.
If I have a complaint at all, it would be that it’s difficult to get away from this place for more than 10 hours or so. These animals need to be fed and cared for, and I’m the only one here to do that. But this is easily solved with a couple days notice and I can bring in two very good teens to run the place for a few days and they love the hard currency they get for that. It’s like arranging a baby sitter, I guess. It’s really not a problem.
This was a hard question to answer. This setting and job is perfect for me at this time in my life. I’m bloody lucky to have landed this, and I remind myself of that daily.