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[sanrico AT highdesert.com]

On Fri, 14 Jul 2006 00:32:23 -0400, Viking wrote:

> 
> 
Amy -
There's SO much in this that I want to answer / comment on - but I see too 
much
of myself both in your self-doubting query and in Bev's most excellent 
response,
and I know fer shure it would detour the whole thread off into an egocentric
spin. Suffice to say, I am relieved - albeit amazed - that we loners are not 
so
alone after all. Let's hear it for the misfits! Best of luck in your 
(ad)venture
- please, please keep us up to speed on how you're progressing. I'm sure your
predicted barrage of questions will benefit everyone!
Sandy  


 The Studebakers wrote:
> 
> > I confess to being a fence rider, and feel torn and envious of those 
> > who aren't (Bev, et al)  Perhaps (LOL) I have an unrealistic dream of
> >  being some southern belle that works the farm, sweats, doesn't wear 
> > make- up, and then cleans the house like Martha Stewart, homeschools,
> >  and throws on a dress for a night of entertaining.
> 
> I know there was a part of me that started out thinking like that, too.
>   It was a small part, but it was there.   :) For me, I've always known
> that I was different-I had a different mindset and I never seemed to fit
> in any kind of social niche, mainly because I ask "why do you do that?
> or why are you wasting that?" to the wrong people....lol  A lot of
> things just never made much sense to me.  Luckily, being older than you,
> I grew up in the bra burning, hippie era, so it didn't seem *that* odd
> when I quit doing bras and makeup in my early twenties.  Martha Stewart
> came along in the 80's and made things like keeping chickens fashionable
> again.
> What you have to realize, though, is that Martha has a huge staff to
> help her with those chickens, horses, gardens, etc.  Homesteading,
> Martha style or not, takes a lot of labor.  I'm know Martha knows how to
> do it, but after she became really famous, she got a lot of help.
> Basically, what I am saying is don't try to be Martha.  You will only
> get frustrated. No one alone can keep a perfect garden, healthy animals,
> a perfect house, etc and still have time for entertaining and craftwork,
> let alone all the other stuff she does.  When we host our monthly
> astronomy get-togethers, I run around frantic the week before trying to
> clean up the place.  Then, I get behind on other projects and it takes a
> week or more, weather permitting, to catch up on that.  I try to use the
> weather to schedule what I do...and that's not always convenient with
> all the other stuff going on or stuff that needs to be done.  For
> example, I weed and mow in the mornings when it is cooler...I pick
> blueberries in a light rain(to avoid the bees), and I fold clothes,
> cook, and do laundry in a heavy rain.  We also like to butcher during
> light rains, too, but that isn't always possible.  Mid day, when it
> starts getting hot, I come in, take an email break, maybe do some
> housecleaning or pay bills, etc, then by late afternoon, I go out and do
> chores again, cook dinner, play with the dogs, etc.  I like to burn
> brush piles when it is not windy a day before a storm is due, just in
> case the fire gets away from me, I know I will have rain coming soon so
> the whole forest doesn't burn. :)  Of course, those days are few and far
> between, so the burn piles get larger and the whole place looks junkier.
> I depend a lot on the weather, and it greatly determines what I decide
> to do for the day.  I stay out of the garden when it is wet if I can
> help it.  I try to run errands into town when it is 98 degrees outside.
>   You get the idea.  It doesn't always work, but it helps.
> 
> > 
> > You guys are my wake up call.  I must admit fear is starting to creep
> >  in, can I really give up these comforts to simplify and make this 
> > change for our family?  Well, it's too late to turn back now!
> 
> Not really.  You can live in the country without all the work if you
> want.  I guess it depends on what comforts you are giving up and how
> important they really are to you as to whether or not you will be happy.
>   Mostly, it's a trade off...a good one, I think, but a trade off
> nonetheless.  You just can't have it all......you can't have a 2 minute
> response time for calling 911 and be somewhere that allows you to have
> chickens and goats.  You can't drop by Starbucks for a cup of joe at
> midnight, cuz chances are that even if your little town has a Starbucks,
> they roll up the sidewalks at 6pm. :)  You probably won't be able to
> take 30 minute showers anymore because you will be on a well.  There's a
> paradigm shift...soon, your neighbors won't care if you smell like a wet
> chicken, and you won't have to have your hair/nails done as often, if at
> all.  It will be your mindset that impresses people, not your looks.
> Soon, you will be able to walk out your back door and experience things
> that most people only dream about....a newborn fawn nursing from it's
> mother, the silence of a fresh coat of snow on a crisp January
> morning...and try pulling down your pants to pee in your backyard where
> you are living now!  Shoot, I can garden in the nude here if I wanted
> to, and in complete privacy!
> Are there things I miss?  Sure.  I miss being able to go to specialty
> grocery stores on a whim for something exotic like Dungeness crab.(well,
> it's exotic in these parts, anyway<g>)  I miss things like being able to
> call Dominoes on those days when I just don't feel up to cooking.  (I'm
> hungry right now, can you tell?)  But do I regret moving here and living
> this life? ABSOLUTELY NOT.  I wish I had followed my heart earlier in
> life.  I wish I had made the jump you are about to make when I was 25
> instead of 35.
> It will be an adjustment for you, I'm sure, but I think you will be glad
> you made the move 5 years from now.
> Hang in there, Amy, and good luck....
> 
> Bev
> -- 
> erthnsky AT bellsouth.net        BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia 
> USDA Zone 7
> 34.498N       85.076W
> 
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