If our ancestors could ...
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| My grandfather's family and farm early 1900's |
see the world today .. I think they'd roll over in their graves and go back to sleep. They would be amused at all of the people that think it's cool to knit or make soap (for fun or to practice). Baking bread .. well, that was done blindfolded. Sweeping floors without an electric vacuum .. been there done that too. How about going off into the woods to find herbs for healing? That too! Up before sunrise, milk the cows, feed the animals, cook, weave, garden, take care of children, clean, heat water for a once a week bath taken oldest to youngest using the same water in a portable tub. Many folks were so dirt poor they had dirt floors. Don't even get 'them' started about living off grid. There was no grid to 'get off of'. And, yet, myself included, we prance around 'discovering' that lost skills can be rekindled. I think there is a reason some of these skills were 'lost.' I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with rekindling the old ways, cutting down on our consumption of fuel, lessening our footprint. And for sure our 'modern' food system is bankrupt ... but I think there is a hyper-activism in our society today fueled by
fear of a meltdown and lots of people are lining up like lemmings waiting to rush with the crowd over the edge of a cliff. There is a list a mile long of supplies ranging from bomb shelters to bug out huts ... gas masks to ammo and guns stashed between wall studs. People going to and fro obtaining the latest-greatest gadgets. Some folks are getting rich. Others are becoming poorer. TV shows are popping up feeding the frenzy. Freeze dried this and freeze dried that. They want INSTANT survival skills and spend TONs of money insuring their safety should any one of 100 disaster scenarios play out. Whew! Am I the only one that thinks this movement is a few tacos short of a fiesta platter? It's almost akin to GOLD FEVER ..[
greed and the contagious excitement] a type of RUSH. Come let us reason together. Be sensible. Save some money for a rainy day. Pay off debt. Have a disaster plan for your family that doesn't include a thousand different ways to check out of society. Really .. are the zombies that close to an invasion? Life is too short .. get out and smell the roses. Our ancestors did NOT think that survival skills and supplies could be obtained from watching a TV show for ideas. They 'practiced' life every day and lived surviving the elements by their wits ... not from supplies someone has put on a list that you NEED to buy to survive. I'm telling you .. I'd rather become zombie food than live in such panic driven fear. Food for thought.
13 comments:
Bravo. I love reading some of these blogs centered around this idea. Though it's always a good idea to be prepared for emergencies-c'mon--enough is enough. Living life simply and frugally guarantees one peace of mind. My larder is packed because I love good food. No paranoia here.
Loveed this post. Have a great weekend!
:)
Mrs Mac - Using hand operated appliances is what I prefer. I have yet to meet anyone who has the latest gadgets and who says they have time to spare because of them.
Good old elbow grease, and time to prepare a meal with all the love that I can pour into the meal. What can be more fulfilling?
I really enjoyed reading this post. Thanks!
Amen sister! Well said. All of these thoughts have been playing through my head as well. We have a passion for learning the "lost arts", but you are right, this is the world we live in and we need to take a certain social responsiblity that our media is saying we don't really need in such crazy times. Instead of an all for yourself survival frenzy, we need to be figuring out how to keep a responsible society IF something happens.
Great post. I learned lots of lost skills from both sets of Grandmothers...I continue to use those skills and have been somewhat amused that less than 5 years ago it was considered weird..now I'm with it! Why do I spin and weave wool on cold rainy days: I do it to reduce stress...why do I can fruits and veggies: because I garden to reduce stress and what else can I do with all of that produce? I raise chickens because I enjoy watching them...they help reduce stress....HOLY COW! I need to get rid of whatever is causing me all of this STRESS!!
"A few tacos short of a fiesta platter"?! Hahaha! I haven't built a bomb shelter yet or anything, but I am having fun learning to be more thrifty as I was not necessarily raised with frugality. I discovered and continue to discover a simpler way of life. Don't worry. I'm not about to start darning everyone's socks over here, but I am so excited to plant my first real garden this year! =)Love your blog, by the way!
Well .. I really hesitated pushing the 'publish' button on this post (LOL).
@ Sue ~ my larder is full too and it's taken me six summers to get a feel for gardening .. with a long way to go.
@ Dani ~ you are a shining example of how to get to the point of living 'off grid' while doing it step by step, frugally and with a small footprint. You have a conscious and I admire you beyond words.
@ Lori .. thanks for stopping by and reading my rant. You have the most balanced Christian blog I've read in a long time :)
@ Geno ~ Learning and applying the lost arts takes more skill and effort than most 'zombie-preppers' have the time or desire to follow through with .. it's a slow process. Keep practicing away so these skills can be passed on to your family and not be 'lost' forever :)
Lynda ~ You, I admire! Living on your own little farm within your hubby's large farm. Spinning wool on a cold winter day is on my to-do list.
@ Kim ~ Darning socks is a noble skill to have .. extremely frugal and it's a good way to unwind after a stressful day. My hubby's grandma passed on her 'darning egg' and taught my daughter and me how to darn socks. She had eleven children and darned away .. remade new clothes from old ones .. was a farmers wife .. and lived to almost 101. I'm excited that you are going to start your first garden :)
Cathy, your hubby's grandma sounds like she was quite a lady! Hmmm...maybe I should learn to darn. I wonder if I could find find an instructional video on YouTube. (Somehow, that seems wrong.) Or maybe I should just train my teenage sons to pick up their socks so the dog doesn't chew on them.
@ Kim .. Here's a post about darning and some links.
http://this-newhouse.blogspot.com/2009/04/oh-darn-running-thrifty-home-means.html
Thanks, Cathy. I guess I have no excuses not to learn this thrifty skill now. Darn!
Hi Mrs. Mac! Words to the wise, well said, your blogs are inspiring to me as well.
I'm beginning my 4th year gardening and I still don't know "beans" about what I'm doing, but having a wonderful time learning the slow and patient as I go way.
Balance, balance, balance, as I always tell my children, but don't always achieve. :D
I just read a comment on a 'survival' blog from a 71 year old man that wants the S2HTF soon so he'd be able to use all the gear he's spent a fortune on before he dies. 'greed and contagious excitement' for sure. ;(
Thank you so much for a balanced view on prepping for contingency. I'm from the UK and frequent a site moneysavingexpert. If you could see the ridiculous way some on a shtf thread on there have gone....well you'd scarcely believe it. Zombie apocalypse? they're prepared for so much more. Like your old gent, they seem to want "the end of the world" just so they can be smug with their stores. God bless you for some common sense.
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