Tuesday, September 9, 2008

August 19th 2008


The more we delve into this lifestyle we have chosen, the more I think about how downright stupid people have become. What we do isn't hard, it isn't rocket science, it isn't brain surgery, it's simple. Nearly every day both of us get questions or comments (which we're still getting used to) about what we do. Sometimes their questions make sense, like asking how hard it is to use a pressure canner, but others....wow....just plain f'ing stupid. Let me list a few of the questions and comments we have gotten so that anyone reading this can understand where I am going.
1-how do you get eggs without a rooster?
2-what do you mean they lay colored eggs? (1 of ours lays green-the 2 lay brown)
3-Oh! the brown eggs are the low cholesterol eggs! Are the chickens lower in cholesterol too?
4-you made applesauce? with what?
5-you make your own laundry detergent? where do I get the mix? Do i just use the powdered stuff and add water?
6-aren't chickens noisy? They crow!
7-how do your clothes dry OUTSIDE??
8-What???? Potato's grow in the ground??? (same question with carrots) Plus-how can you eat those when they just had dirt all over them?
9-What do you mean you can eat rabbit meat??
10-Why did you make pickles from cucumbers? Don't you grow pickles?
11-(one of my favorites) Can you EAT the eggs your chickens lay???
12-What???You don't have a tv? what do you DO???????
Those are all serious questions we have been asked! Now I'm well aware that not everybody has taken their lives in the direction we have, and that this kind of life certainly isn't for everybody, but good god, people ARE just plain old stupid anymore. It wasn't that many generations ago that our families all did this, for myself and Lisa, (and many others)it was our parents. Even something as simple as replacing a button on a shirt is too much for some people to handle now. At times, I'm just amazed. My neighbor is a good expmple. Rick and I are good friends, we've gotten along since we bought the house from him, and normally we share vegetables with them. (WOW being neighborly! Speaking of things that are lost!) This spring when I was outside planting, he told me his wife and daugher (who's my age) were going to put out 2 or 3 containers of tomatos, maybe just 12" pots. Yea....that didn't happen...why? She said it was too much work.
I am a firm believer that knowledge is power, and I strive to learn everything I can on how to take care of myself and Lisa. I have hundreds of books now, all on farming, self sufficeincy, homesteading, log home building, hide tanning, chicken raising.....everything I can find in these areas, I read. THAT's what we do without tv, we LEARN. Unfortunately, while we and others learn old ways, others simply forget it, don't know a thing about it, or just plain don't want to learn. I made the comment to my stepkids once, about what if we had a massive blackout and didn't have power here for a month. Their answer? Go somewhere that had power. Sadly, most adults would answer the same. Me & Lisa? No problem! We have TONS of food canned in jars, grow our own, have the chickens and rabbits, have the ability to hunt and fish, can cook complete meals over a fire, can light the house with lamps and candles, and can certainly be entertained by each other or a good book.
I've touched on this before, but we have become a very lazy, greedy, I want it now society. When we want something, we simply go buy it, now knowing or caring where it came from or what it costs. Food is the main example of this, grocery stores pack full of people buying every single thing they need, day after day, making millions off of ignorance and convienence. Food has lost it's importance, it's simpleness, and it's charm. Food is a gift, food is what we need to survive, yet people hourd to the stores to buy boxed, pre-packaged, frozen, microwavable, instant, ready to eat, and even "fast" food. Meals are no longer enjoyable, they're no longer an event every day for the families to sit together and talk. Meals are "hurry up and go", and for what? So little Timmy can go to soccer practice? So little Emily can go to cheerleading? So dad can go golfing? So mom can go to PTA? Sad, just sad. We've let our busy hussle-bussle lives get so far out of hand that we have lost touch with the most simple, pleasureable things like meals and where that meal came from. Hell, some families don't even cook and eat out every day. I once worked with a guy whose wife never learned to cook, so they ate out every single night, 7 days a week. They both had cereal for breakfast, and fast food for lunch, again, every single day.
What happened to us? When did we become so lazy? When did we become so ignorant? When did we decide to toss out all of the knowledge of our ancestors and trade it for satellite tv and Olive Garden? When did we become so damn stupid that we don't know that applesauce comes from apples???????????????????????????????
Just some more food for thought...
Chris

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