Voluntary Simplicity Thread

[Sahamamama]

This thread about VS has gotten me thinking about typical "suburban" life. I've lived in the 'burbs of NJ nearly all my life, but when I lived in MO (I LOVED Missouri), I lived out in the country -- about 5 miles outside of Springfield. I lived in a trailer literally in the middle of a cow pasture, and the cows used to come up to my back porch if I played Christmas carols on my saxophone.... :lol:

 

Anyway, the VS thing has made me once again think about how UN-self-sufficient we really are, those of us who are not living "off the grid." When I was in Belize and Malawi, most people there have gardens, some sort of fruit trees, and raise a few goats and/or chickens and/or pigs. I realize that the water sources might not have been pure, that the work-load was heavy, and the medical care not available, but, in a way, they were/are more self-sufficient than most of us are.

 

When my husband and I bought this house 2 years ago, I called the township to ask about having a few chickens on the property. I was told "no farm animals." Not even 3 chickens? So I asked about rabbits. "No farm animals." I asked, "What if they are your pets." That would be OK, but we couldn't EAT them. So, I COULD legally have a 12-foot Burmese python in my house -- that could eat my children -- but NOT a chicken.

 

Many people I met overseas had a little business -- making jewelry, making baskets, selling stuff at a little roadside stand (in Malawi, it was roasted mice on a skewer). Here in the US we would have to have a license and permit for everything. Are there any cottage industries that you can think of, where a person can PRODUCE and sell something, that don't require a permit?

 

We also don't seem to have the skills that more self-sufficient cultures have -- do your own wiring, do your own carpentry, do your own car repairs -- at least WE don't here! Darn. I wonder, in our technological age, in the suburbs with its rules and HOAs, IS there a path to simplicity?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Skills I want to hone (and want my children to learn too): Why? Because I think they are good skills to learn, and fun, and I don't think you would ever regret having learned them even if you never use them!

 

sewing, knitting, crocheting etc.: Of course you can go to the fabric store for materials but also if push comes to shove, you can remake old clothes (esp. big flowy things) into new clothes. You can also unravel old sweaters and use the yarn.

 

gardening, canning, composting, drying and cooking and medicating with herbs, foraging for edible wild plants: If you really had to you could use every square foot of a suburban property for garden space (though some of the McMansions now a days don't leave much "yard room")

 

first aid, survival skills, camping.

 

home repairs (carpentry, wiring, etc.) My father-in-law learned all these things one by one from books. Now he rents out houses (and fixes them mostly by himself) for income.

 

car repairs

 

cottage industries - that's pretty individual to the area. If you make more than $400 at something a year I think that is when you have to pay the IRS self employment tax. Anything less than that is considered for tax purposes a "hobby". But don't take my word on this - this is what it was 15 years ago when I had my own business (tutoring out of my home) but of course things change. Our little town requires permits for some cottage industries and not for others- and they use the $400 rule for whether it is a business or a hobby (this info. is from my neighbor who boards dogs at her home).

[riada]

Jean you have a great list of skills that everyone should learn. I enjoyed reading through it and share some similar thoughts with you on this, especially that the skills will never be a waste to learn.

[Sahamamama]

Jean in Newcastle --

 

You listed "home repairs (carpentry, wiring, etc.) My father-in-law learned all these things one by one from books. Now he rents out houses (and fixes them mostly by himself) for income."

 

Could you please tell me -- what books/series did your FIL use to learn these skills? I know that Storey Publications has resources for some of the other skills you mentioned, such as gardening, food canning & drying, etc. I just wondered how your FIL went about gaining some independence. Thanks for the feedback. :001_smile:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Reader's Digest has a general encyclopedia type of book.

 

Time - Life has a whole series of books on every thing from "Basic Wiring" to "Masonry". I know that my FIL had some of their books on the topics he was interested in.

 

Lowe's, Home Depot, True Value all have general home fix-it books out.

 

There are a bunch of books out now for women who want to do home repair but I haven't actually read any of them (and I know he hasn't!)

[Alenee]

We finally got our dream of getting away from the HOA's and suburbia Keep Up With the Jones' attitude last summer when we moved to the country. We planted a nice sized garden a few days ago (we live the the Pacific NW). We're planning to raise chickens for eggs. We may get a goat for "lawnmowing". I'm lovin' it!

 

My dh has always been a do-it-yerself'er and fixes most everything when it breaks. Wiring, paint, plumbing, car-repair, computers...you name it, he fixes it. I think one has to have a mind-set for this though. He can read a technical manual like I read novels. My girlfriend who sold us our house wanted all sorts of things fixed here but her dh just "didn't want to spend the time learning it".

 

I think it's that way with a lot of things. You can ALWAYS buy something new, but there's such pleasure in creating and repairing!

[Diana in OR]

Skills I want to hone (and want my children to learn too): Why? Because I think they are good skills to learn, and fun, and I don't think you would ever regret having learned them even if you never use them!

 

When my dc were babies, I spent a lot of time learning how to cook simply, garden, put up produce, etc. At one time or another I've made candles, soap, cheese, grape juice, herbal ointments and tinctures, yogurt and the like. I can grind my own grain. (Can't sew to save my life, but I tried!) I don't always do all of those things now, but I'm confident that I could provide basic needs for my family without much difficulty because I took the time to learn those things many years ago.

 

 

gardening, canning, composting, drying and cooking and medicating with herbs, foraging for edible wild plants: If you really had to you could use every square foot of a suburban property for garden space (though some of the McMansions now a days don't leave much "yard room")

 

 

In our tiny suburban yard(it's .12 acres, the house takes up about half of it), we have all sorts of herbs and fruiting plants that we've incorporated into the landscape, and a spot for a nice square foot style garden. So yes, it is possible.

[Robin in Tx]

We live simply in the burbs. It can be done.

 

Work is work. My husband's work requires he be near large industry. That is his work, and it is as valid as working the land. I don't feel like we're missing out on a better lifestyle just because we don't produce our own food. That work is just as hard! And Just because we're in the burbs doesn't mean we're "keep up with the Joneses" type. We have a decent house in a nice neighborhood and are thankful for the HOA becuase we've been on the other side and we appreciate a few rules. I cook from scratch, we have modest tastes and budgets for clothing, etc., but more importantly we don't go crazy with a busy lifestyle. Our lives are pretty simple. I don't think simplicity equates "self sufficient on the farm", although most use the term "simple lifestyle" with the lifestyle of the amish, etc. I think simplicity should also imply an ease of lifestlye. For me, certain conveniences actually make life easier. Good plumbing removes a LOT of hassles, kwim? LOL Because of the long hours my husband works, our smaller lot is easier to care for than the acreage we used to have. He doesn't want to have to come home to another job! And I can not tell you how much simpler my life is now that I don't have to drive 30 minutes to the store or the library or the doctor or anywhere else. And I don't have to fill my car up with gas as often, either. I enjoy having neighbors - I like to get to know people. I'd rather have people at my door than a cow :). I have lived in the city where there was perpetual traffic/road repair and concern about crime, and I have lived in the country, and I can honestly say that living in the suburbs has been the easiest, simplest place we've ever lived. *Could* I maintain a garden and raise chickens if I had to? Sure. But I don't want to. That would be too complicated for me -- I could more easily live simply in a downtown second story flat!

 

I think there's a lot of over-romanticizing of the country life. For those who love it, I say great! But it's not any better or any more rewarding than any other good, productive way of life.

 

P.S. Most of the neighbors in my subdivision have one or two fruit trees, and they plant vegetables in their flower beds or in pots or small plots. I think you can do things for self sufficiency even in a small inner city house.

[Alenee]

We live simply in the burbs. It can be done.

 

Work is work. My husband's work requires he be near large industry. That is his work, and it is as valid as working the land. I don't feel like we're missing out on a better lifestyle just because we don't produce our own food. That work is just as hard! And Just because we're in the burbs doesn't mean we're "keep up with the Joneses" type.

 

My dh also has to be close to his industry...we just happen to have found a home in the country very near his job. I don't think country simplistic living in the OP was meant to be described as better than others. You cannot deny that learning these trades mentioned though are good ones to have. I think that was part of the gist of the OP. Not by any means trying to put anyone down.

 

I was not meaning to imply that everyone living in a suburban neighborhood was a "keep up with the Jones'" type. But MY neighborhood was! That's all I meant by that. I hope you didn't take it personally. By the tone of your post, it appeared you did so I wanted to reply and make sure you knew.:)

[Robin in Tx]

Carli! No, not at all! I didn't take anything you said personal. I know that there are those "keep up with the Jones" types around here. I was simply pointing out that you don't have to fit that stereotype just becuase you live in the suburbs.

 

I've been on these boards for many years, and this topic comes up a LOT... and the general consensus is ALWAYS that life in suburbia is a slow death in a hell hole with no redeeming value. Well, only if you let it be! LOL Seriously, though, the real point that I was trying to make is that simple living really doesn't have anything to do with where you live and whether or not you are self sufficient. It's about keeping things simple.

 

Sure, it's great to know various trades so that you can fix things yourself, etc., but there are other skills that are just as great to develop, and we all have the same 24 hours, and you can't do everything. My husband loves mechanical work, but he hates yard work and carpentry and painting. He'd rather work a few extra hours at the job he loves and earn the money to hire a carpenter or painter. A self sufficient lifestyle isn't a simpler lifestyle... it's a *different* lifestyle, and I imagine that among those who are living more self sufficiently, there are some who do so simply, and some who don't. The same with people in the city or people in the suburbs. Some live extravagantly and some live quite the modest, simple lifestyle.

 

That's the distinction I was trying to make. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was reacting to your post specifically. I really wasn't. :)

 

Robin

 

ETA: To the OP, if you're still reading, all I was *really* trying to do is answer your question and say that yes, you can live simply in the suburbs surrounded by technology. Don't confuse simplicity with things that don't have anything to do with simplicity, kwim? No matter where you live, this can be done! Good luck!

[staceyneil]

We live in the burbs and are trying to live as sustainably as we can. It's not easy. Last winter my daughter and I decided we wanted to supplement our tiny kitchen garden with a small flock of laying hens (for eggs and manure to compost). We called our city and they said, "NO CHICKENS!"

 

Not to be deterred, DD (10 at the time) called our local city councilor and asked to meet with hime about "a neighborhood pet issue". She presented him with her well-articulated argument, as well as a poster she made describing why she should be able to have chickens in the city (my hens -no roosters- will be quieter than dogs; reduce,reuse,recylce: hens turn kitchen scraps into eggs and compost; keeping chickens is educational; etc). The councilor thought it was a great idea and agreed to ask the rest of the City Council to make an ordinance change. Well, long story short: the rest of the council was dead set against it and it took us waging a MAJOR campaign ALL SUMMER LONG with petitions and press and a web site to drum up public support. We made presentations at about 7-8 city meetings and spent literally hundreds of hours on it. It was a huge undertaking, but finally, in Spetember (we started this in May) we were sucessful. Thank goodness. I was scared that if she lost, DD would be really jaded about politics and the system. But now, she is super empowered! Really feels she can make a difference. Very cool.

 

Plus, we have our fabulous hens.

 

Here's a web site we put together about it. www.SoPoChickens.org (If you go to "Chicken Laws" and scroll down in the text is a link to the archived site we used during the campaign. If anyone decides to do the same, feel free to use any of the stuff on the site for your own "campaign".)

 

So we have our chickens, our 150 sq ft garden planted intensively and in succession to maximize harvest, we got a freezer on craigslist that we pack with our own veggies and farmers market veggies when in season. We split whole grass-fed organic cow and pig with friends and freeze that meat. We eat mostly whole (organic) foods so a lot of cooking time -no packaged convenience food- but really good healthy and cheaper stuff. Hang out laundry on the line. etc.

 

Stacey

[Kelli in TN]

Here's a web site we put together about it. www.SoPoChickens.org (If you go to "Chicken Laws" and scroll down in the text is a link to the archived site we used during the campaign. If anyone decides to do the same, feel free to use any of the stuff on the site for your own "campaign".)

 

 

 

 

:hurray: This is for your daughter!!! Way to go!!! How inspiring!

[chickenpatty]

We live in the burbs and are trying to live as sustainably as we can. It's not easy. Last winter my daughter and I decided we wanted to supplement our tiny kitchen garden with a small flock of laying hens (for eggs and manure to compost). We called our city and they said, "NO CHICKENS!"

 

Not to be deterred, DD (10 at the time) called our local city councilor and asked to meet with hime about "a neighborhood pet issue". She presented him with her well-articulated argument, as well as a poster she made describing why she should be able to have chickens in the city (my hens -no roosters- will be quieter than dogs; reduce,reuse,recylce: hens turn kitchen scraps into eggs and compost; keeping chickens is educational; etc). The councilor thought it was a great idea and agreed to ask the rest of the City Council to make an ordinance change. Well, long story short: the rest of the council was dead set against it and it took us waging a MAJOR campaign ALL SUMMER LONG with petitions and press and a web site to drum up public support. We made presentations at about 7-8 city meetings and spent literally hundreds of hours on it. It was a huge undertaking, but finally, in Spetember (we started this in May) we were sucessful. Thank goodness. I was scared that if she lost, DD would be really jaded about politics and the system. But now, she is super empowered! Really feels she can make a difference. Very cool.

 

Plus, we have our fabulous hens.

 

Here's a web site we put together about it. www.SoPoChickens.org (If you go to "Chicken Laws" and scroll down in the text is a link to the archived site we used during the campaign. If anyone decides to do the same, feel free to use any of the stuff on the site for your own "campaign".)

 

So we have our chickens, our 150 sq ft garden planted intensively and in succession to maximize harvest, we got a freezer on craigslist that we pack with our own veggies and farmers market veggies when in season. We split whole grass-fed organic cow and pig with friends and freeze that meat. We eat mostly whole (organic) foods so a lot of cooking time -no packaged convenience food- but really good healthy and cheaper stuff. Hang out laundry on the line. etc.

 

Stacey

 

 

:thumbup1: Way to go to you and your daughter! That is great!

[CalicoKat]

This thread about VS has gotten me thinking about typical "suburban" life. I've lived in the 'burbs of NJ nearly all my life, but when I lived in MO (I LOVED Missouri), I lived out in the country -- about 5 miles outside of Springfield. I lived in a trailer literally in the middle of a cow pasture, and the cows used to come up to my back porch if I played Christmas carols on my saxophone.... :lol:

 

Anyway, the VS thing has made me once again think about how UN-self-sufficient we really are, those of us who are not living "off the grid." When I was in Belize and Malawi, most people there have gardens, some sort of fruit trees, and raise a few goats and/or chickens and/or pigs. I realize that the water sources might not have been pure, that the work-load was heavy, and the medical care not available, but, in a way, they were/are more self-sufficient than most of us are.

 

When my husband and I bought this house 2 years ago, I called the township to ask about having a few chickens on the property. I was told "no farm animals." Not even 3 chickens? So I asked about rabbits. "No farm animals." I asked, "What if they are your pets." That would be OK, but we couldn't EAT them. So, I COULD legally have a 12-foot Burmese python in my house -- that could eat my children -- but NOT a chicken.

 

Many people I met overseas had a little business -- making jewelry, making baskets, selling stuff at a little roadside stand (in Malawi, it was roasted mice on a skewer). Here in the US we would have to have a license and permit for everything. Are there any cottage industries that you can think of, where a person can PRODUCE and sell something, that don't require a permit?

 

We also don't seem to have the skills that more self-sufficient cultures have -- do your own wiring, do your own carpentry, do your own car repairs -- at least WE don't here! Darn. I wonder, in our technological age, in the suburbs with its rules and HOAs, IS there a path to simplicity?

Dh & I are looking into wind and solar energy. Just beginning to learn about it now but there is a way to "reverse the flow" and sell back your excess energy to the electric company or at the very least get a credit on

your own bill. It would only probably be profitable for our household.

[jmgconner]

We live in the burbs and are trying to live as sustainably as we can. It's not easy. Last winter my daughter and I decided we wanted to supplement our tiny kitchen garden with a small flock of laying hens (for eggs and manure to compost). We called our city and they said, "NO CHICKENS!"

 

Not to be deterred, DD (10 at the time) called our local city councilor and asked to meet with hime about "a neighborhood pet issue". She presented him with her well-articulated argument, as well as a poster she made describing why she should be able to have chickens in the city (my hens -no roosters- will be quieter than dogs; reduce,reuse,recylce: hens turn kitchen scraps into eggs and compost; keeping chickens is educational; etc). The councilor thought it was a great idea and agreed to ask the rest of the City Council to make an ordinance change. Well, long story short: the rest of the council was dead set against it and it took us waging a MAJOR campaign ALL SUMMER LONG with petitions and press and a web site to drum up public support. We made presentations at about 7-8 city meetings and spent literally hundreds of hours on it. It was a huge undertaking, but finally, in Spetember (we started this in May) we were sucessful. Thank goodness. I was scared that if she lost, DD would be really jaded about politics and the system. But now, she is super empowered! Really feels she can make a difference. Very cool.

 

Plus, we have our fabulous hens.

 

Here's a web site we put together about it. www.SoPoChickens.org (If you go to "Chicken Laws" and scroll down in the text is a link to the archived site we used during the campaign. If anyone decides to do the same, feel free to use any of the stuff on the site for your own "campaign".)

 

So we have our chickens, our 150 sq ft garden planted intensively and in succession to maximize harvest, we got a freezer on craigslist that we pack with our own veggies and farmers market veggies when in season. We split whole grass-fed organic cow and pig with friends and freeze that meat. We eat mostly whole (organic) foods so a lot of cooking time -no packaged convenience food- but really good healthy and cheaper stuff. Hang out laundry on the line. etc.

 

Stacey

 

Woo-hoo!!! Way to Go DD! I checked into my city, and they require a special permit, but I've noticed on the online minutes, that they've always granted the permit for 3-5 hens. Maybe in a year or two I'll be ready to tackle chickens. Thanks for the link!

[Sahamamama]

Robin in Texas & Carli in the Pacific NW -- It's helping me to sort out my thoughts about how we will live and where we will live and why we will make those choices (to the extent that we have the freedom to choose all those details).

 

My OP was basically me musing out loud. :001_smile: Sorry, if it came across as being "romantic" about the country and down on the 'burbs. Just last night my husband and I were sitting out on the front porch (of our suburban cottage) and talking about our envisioned future. Where? When? How? How long? And we were also listening to each other's hearts, and to God's voice in our hearts, and just to the night-time sounds that we hear -- the birds, the muffled traffic on Olden Avenue, the children on the next street over.

 

When I did my OP I was just thinking about the way my parents used to do things, the way their parents used to do things -- and life now. It's different, but I'm not saying it's better or worse. We live in an OLD house, and all the time I think about the former occupants -- Joe and Grace. What were they like? She canned on an old Glenwood stove (c. 1920) in the basement, and washed clothes in a washtub, hung them on the line to dry. He gardened and was Mr. Fix-it (not as skilled as he thought he was, though :glare:). Anyway, all that old stuff was here when we moved in....

 

Makes me wonder what skills I do not have, and maybe Robin is right -- they are the skills and ways of a day gone by... they are skills that we do not learn anymore, because they are skills we really don't need to live this modern suburban life. But... if we wanted a different life, somehow...

 

Well... you can see that I really AM being vague about what that is, so I'll go eat dinner now. Cooked on the good old gas stove, not the wood stove, LOL.

[Robin in Tx]

Sahahamama - what's really fascinating to me when I think about the way my grandparents and parents lived in the 20's (the canning, the washtub), is not how self sufficient they were or more capable than I am... I am not captured by their lifestyle so much... what I *am* captured by is their attitude about it - they lived that way and thought they had it GOOD. *That* is what is missing today in my mind... not the self sufficiency but the satisfaction with the lifestyle. People today seem to be more concerned about what their life isn't instead of what it is. I'm sure my grandkids will look back on how I lived and will think my life was "rough" (already my dd is shocked at the idea of no computer, no cable tv, no microwaves, no central a/c)... what I'm really hoping is that when they look back on it, they will see me as someone who really appreciates everything I *do* have and that I was satisifed with my life. When people look back on past generations, and they think of them as simpler times, I think what they are referring to is not simpler day to day life, but a simpler mindset - a simpler way of finding satisfaction with honest work, a simpler appreciation for life, being genuinely entertained with simpler amusements. You can do that today, but I admit it's hard to keep all the stimulus shut out. I wish the poster with a vacation home in Maine would invite me up for the summer :).

 

Robin

 

P.S. I know you weren't romanticizing country life, but I think many do and it's sorta contagious,kwim?

[Sahamamama]

Here's a web site we put together about it. www.SoPoChickens.org (If you go to "Chicken Laws" and scroll down in the text is a link to the archived site we used during the campaign. If anyone decides to do the same, feel free to use any of the stuff on the site for your own "campaign".)

Stacey

 

Stacey, I am so glad that your daughter had a successful experience in persuading the City Council of the benefits of keeping a few backyard hens. Your SoPo site is fun, I love the coop designs! If you haven't already read it, I recommend to you Barbara Kilarski's book, "Keep Chickens! Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and Other Small Spaces."

 

I think that THAT is what I was referring to in the OP -- the fact that in the suburbs many of us are SO disconnected from plants and animals and growing things and making things that we feel as though these things are BAD for us somehow. I wonder why the City Council fought so hard against a few backyard chickens?

 

I have German friends who live here in New Jersey, but every summer they go back to Germany to visit family. In Gunter's home village, most people have gardens, fruit trees, and a few chickens. From what Gunter said, that is the norm there.

 

When I was growing up here, my family always had a big garden. We went to you-pick farms for peaches, apples, asparagus, blueberries, and strawberries. We went into the woods for blackberries, raspberries, and Concord grapes. I remember spending many hot, sticky August hours canninng tomatoes with my mother and grandmother. We pickled beets, cucumbers, mixed veggies, and beans (in Missouri I first tasted pickled okra, yum). We made jams and jellies. We canned and canned and canned -- until the basement shelves were full. We bought rice and oats and honey from a food co-op, back when most "non-hippie" people didn't do that, and if you knew my parents, you would know they were soooooo "not hippie," LOL. But we really were organic, now that I think of it!

 

My children are so little now, and I have all I can do to keep up with them and the house. But maybe, in a year or two, we'll get a garden and some fruit trees in... maybe can, maybe not.

 

I agree with Robin that simply doing old-fashioned or country-type tasks does NOT necessarily make life "simpler." It is actually simpler, in a way, to get my applesauce at Shop Rite. BUT, in another way, I wonder what we are missing when we pull all of our food off a store shelf. I wonder what connection to the scheme of life we are missing out on, that our parents and grandparents maybe knew better than we do. Just random thoughts.

[Sahamamama]

What's really fascinating to me when I think about the way my grandparents and parents lived in the 20's (the canning, the washtub), is not how self sufficient they were or more capable than I am, but their attitude about it. They lived that way and thought they had it GOOD. *That* is what is missing today in my mind... not the self sufficiency but the satisfaction with the lifestyle. People today seem to be more concerned about what their life isn't instead of what it is.

 

Yes, that is what my husband and I were talking about last night -- how we really ARE so blessed RIGHT NOW and how we have this great marriage and these three beautiful daughters and my family nearby and his job and our church and our home and two cars that run and food on the table and on and on.... We are only dreaming and speaking of what COULD be, how life might unfold, and how we would like to try to shape it.

 

Many people think that we are strange because we don't have a TV. My husband's parents cannot imagine why we moved into this little (700 sq. ft.) house with three small children, but we wanted to be able to actually PAY the mortgage. :glare: We drive very used cars, we cook almost all our meals at home, we don't really go OUT on dates (library DVD on the computer -- that's our date!:001_smile:). But we are happy, and we know it.

 

While I am waxing nostalgic about my dear, departed grandmother -- I am reminded how much she hated farm life while she was growing up on the farm. My grandfather would often tell me stories about churning butter as a boy, hitching up the wagon for his mother, and driving it into town to sell extra butter and eggs (he thought he was a big-shot to drive the wagon at 9 years of age!). He had fond memories, but his life was not nearly so hard as my grandmother's life was, early on. And she truly HATED the farm. She used to say she was glad to have gotten off the farm, and never would she go back. So, that was her verdict on it!

 

I must be getting old, to be thinking so much of generations past.

[Kimm in WA]

Talk about VS to the extreme! Check out this site (kids were homeschooled):

 

http://www.pathtofreedom.com and take a look at their garden. Drool! BUT,it does take 4 people working FT to keep up!

 

Kimm

[Alenee]

Sahahamama - what's really fascinating to me when I think about the way my grandparents and parents lived in the 20's (the canning, the washtub), is not how self sufficient they were or more capable than I am... I am not captured by their lifestyle so much... what I *am* captured by is their attitude about it - they lived that way and thought they had it GOOD. *That* is what is missing today in my mind... not the self sufficiency but the satisfaction with the lifestyle. People today seem to be more concerned about what their life isn't instead of what it is. I'm sure my grandkids will look back on how I lived and will think my life was "rough" (already my dd is shocked at the idea of no computer, no cable tv, no microwaves, no central a/c)... what I'm really hoping is that when they look back on it, they will see me as someone who really appreciates everything I *do* have and that I was satisifed with my life. When people look back on past generations, and they think of them as simpler times, I think what they are referring to is not simpler day to day life, but a simpler mindset - a simpler way of finding satisfaction with honest work, a simpler appreciation for life, being genuinely entertained with simpler amusements. You can do that today, but I admit it's hard to keep all the stimulus shut out. I wish the poster with a vacation home in Maine would invite me up for the summer :).

 

Robin

 

P.S. I know you weren't romanticizing country life, but I think many do and it's sorta contagious,kwim?

:iagree: ps. glad to know it was nothing;)