Homestead mailing list

[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >The thing I'm wondering from you is this:  how does one better guard 
> themselves against these unforeseen events? 

While there are some few things I could add here, such as 'Did you have 
insurance on the house that burned?"   As close hauled as is my economy, I 
carry 
fire insturance on the house.  When we first moved here we lived in a trailer 
very similar to yours, a 1953 New Moon 27'.   I think we paid something like 
$90 
a year for farm insurance that would have covered it had it been destroyed.  
At any rate, I only paid $400 for it and as was our wont we put that much 
away 
against another one if need had been.

But such observations are trivial compared to what you have described.  So 
here is my question, I guess.   If the basis of your economy had not been 
homesteading by instead had been, let's say, owning and running a restaurant, 
or a 
cab company, or even just working a job ... how would you have avoided the 
financial troubles that all of those events placed on you??  Such troubles 
are 
nothing that is unique to homesteading.  That would take the wind out of the 
sails of anyone no matter what they were doing to support themselves.  While 
all 
those things were going on, how would you have continued if you had been a 
concert pianist, a banker, or a pastry chef??  

There are no plans for any type of peace and prosperity for anyone, not just 
homesteaders, that can take into account all and sundry disasters such as 
your 
house burning down or you child needing lengthy medical attention.

Bev asked in a posting on this thread, "What if Herself severed her hand?"  
Well, that's all the more reason to walk very circumspect to make sure that 
one 
is not risking one's hand.  For example we don't use tractors and 3point 
hitch machinery that probably accounts for a high percentage of homestead 
severed 
hands.  That is, the best we can all do is stack the odds in our favor.

What happens if my knees go out??   The more important question is what 
happens if they don't!   How much of my life am I willing to sacrifice to the 
notion that I might one day need knee surgery?  It's very unlikely, my father 
is 
still on his feet at 81 and my grandfathers all had the use of their knees 
until 
long after that.  In the mean time I eat well and don't abuse my knees from 
either over use nor under use or requiring my knees to carry more than the 
weight Nature intended.

How do you prepare for the unforseen?  Increase the odds in your favor.  
Stack the deck.  Then go for the best run you can.


James