Homestead mailing list

[Cathy <goosecreekfarm AT gmail.com>]

On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 8:33 PM, <Clansgian AT wmconnect.com> wrote:

>
> Cathy, I've caught a lot of flack from this list over thim because of my
> advocacy of doing things by hand rather than by machine.  One of my main
> reasons
> for advocating that is that it is just about impossible to get much out of
> shape when you engage in manual labor on a regular basis.  Comparing it to
> a
> fastidious housewife vacuuming the carpet and dusting the drapes is
> ludicrious.
>

Oops, I thought we were talking about what personal activity habits made the
difference between slim vs obese homeschool moms.  Really, I did---not being
a smart-alek.  You'd get no argument from me, for example, that scything a
field makes for a better aerobic workout than riding a tractor.  I tried my
hand once at scything a hillside acre--took me two days. A regular practice
of that would certainly lead to increased aerobic capacity.  I put the geese
on that patch instead, and limited my hand-cutting to machete-ing the path
to the blackberries. : )  I did, though, refuse to buy a riding
mower/tractor to maintain the acres that fronted the street.  Until we could
put fencing and animals on it, I put in over 10 hours a week in mowing duty
(grass grows quickly in northcentral PA).

I remember listening to moms talk about how terrible their children's
schools are and how difficult it is to arrange family life and how they're
not learning anything, etc etc.  As a homeschooler, I had the answer to all
those problems--take the kids out of school!  The moms turned to me, "I
think it's so amazing that you do that.  You must be so dedicated.  I'm not
smart, I had trouble with math/science/writing.  I could never do that."
Then back to complaining and hand-wringing.

You addressed your comments to a generic "you;" I'll respond to them
personally.  Predispositions or not, I believe I am responsible for much of
my condition in life.  I think that would be true even if I were not
predisposed to being self-confident and independent-minded.<g>  My choices
and actions have consequences, many if not most of which can be predicted.
Especially the actions that I take daily, or many times a day--even small
ones, like drops of water on rock.  I also believe that it
probably_was_easier for me to homeschool than it would have been for some of
those complaining moms.

Cathy