Homesteading, living outside of the box

 Chances are if you are a homesteader or are thinking of becoming one you are a person who thinks "outside of the box". Don't expect most people around you, like friends and family to even begin to understand where you are coming from.  It's just that far outside the realm of "normal" and most people have no frame of reference to be able to relate to you or your idea's and interests. 

I have found it easier to tell people we are "hobby farmers". At least that is a term that a lot of people are somewhat familiar with.  Although a "farmer" is really something I never wanted to be. When I was a boy I was fascinated by the stories of the old folks around me who grew up in the "horse and buggy days" and how they provided for many of their own needs by raising their own food and so forth.  My Grandma on my mothers side upon seeing my keen interest in how she grew up asked me on occasion if I might be a farmer some day.  Too me growing up in the 1960's and 70's a farmer meant someone who needed a college degree and a lot of money to buy expensive tractors and equipment.  I positively did not want to be a farmer as the times defined it even back then.  

Finally, after Kelli and I were married, my cousin Bob gave me a few Countryside magazines to read and I finally knew what I wanted to do.  The kind of "farming" defined as "homesteading" resonated with both of us and we immediately started taking steps in our life together to move towards that goal.

As of 2020 a lot more people can relate to what we do and what we are about with the advent of the internet and television programs featuring all sorts of folks who live off the land to one degree or another.  But there are still plenty of people that look at it as being pretty far out there and kind of quirky.  

What they don't understand is that it goes far beyond just an interest or a hobby, it's way deeper than that, it's more like a "calling".  A calling is something that is kind of hard to explain to the average person who never had one or if they did have one they worked hard to suppress it.  Those people are the ones who will never really "get you" and what you are about.  At best they may pat you on the back and say "oh that's cute" then behind your back shake their heads at how "weird" they think you and your interests are.  And maybe even have contempt and loathing for how irresponsible and negligent you appear to them to be for following after such strange things. 

I see myself not only as a homesteader but I am also something of a "prepper" as well. Though I really did not like the term "prepper" when I first heard it.  I first heard of it when a friend of mine used to tell me about a TV show called "Doomsday Preppers". He liked to tell me about it because a lot of the people featured on there reminded him of me and what we were doing here. I did not like that term at all! I thought it made people like me seem a little "out there" and kind of "half cocked" maybe even somewhat crazy.  You know, a "conspiracy theorist"! That too is a term I'm turned off by.  

One reason I'm driven to prepare is that I don't trust the system.  It is a machine that works very well when it is up and moving but there are MANY weak links that could bring the whole apparatus to a grinding halt in very short order.  I grew up with people who lived during the "Great Depression" and I heard their stories and took it all to heart.  

Ever since I was a boy I always felt in my heart that America would be judged one day.  And I have wanted for myself and my loved ones to be prepared.  As bad as the "Great Depression" was back in the 1930's there were way more farmers than there are now.  There were way more people that knew how to live off the land than there are now.  That is something that is almost always in the back of my mind.  I imagine what would happen in America if the "just in time" delivery service ever got cut off. I imagine what would happen if the trucks stopped rolling or the power got turned off and super markets ran out of food and necessities.  Some believe that millions would die!   

So I'm kind of a hoarder.  By Gods providence He allowed me to be a garbage man for the past 20 years. And I keep stuff, anything that seems like it has any kind of intrinsic value I can't stand to see thrown into the landfill.  I have a couple small junk yards out back which I frequently raid during my many projects finding just the right thing more often than not.  Another thing I keep in mind is that all that stuff would make good bartering tools in the event that the money system ever goes down.  Plus I give a lot away as well.  Some things have been sitting there for decades and if I talk to someone who needs it I usually just give it to them. Does my heart good to see someone use it!     

Another reason I love living where we do is that building codes are way more relaxed here which is wonderful for anyone who is wired to think outside the box.  Before we starting building the log cabin I tried to get a building permit and to my pleasant surprise we didn't need one.  Things have changed since then but that's how it was back in the late 90's.  We didn't have blue prints or plans and simply built it using good old common sense and a stack of library books.  We were able to use our own God given ingenuity and creativity.  

I've always been drawn to natural buildings. I have a repulsion for cookie cutter subdivisions where all the houses look sterile and exactly the same.  I have an attraction to all sorts of alternative and natural building methods such as log, straw bale, cob, rammed earth, under ground or earth sheltered, post and beam or any combination of them all.  Again some of these idea's are so far out of the norm for people that many simply can't comprehend where you are coming from if you try to describe such things.  I don't know how many times I've been met with a blank stare when I try to relate such things.  

For me, my interests in these kinds of things go deeper than just being nice little hobbies and such. It's a calling. The land calls me, the woods and the streams and ponds, working with my hands and creating things is something I need to do.  Also earlier today I was telling Kelli that writing is something I need to do as well.  It helps me collect my thoughts.  I guess that too is something that's a little outside the box that not a lot of people can relate to.  

So I guess the bottom line for me in today's post is that if you have a dream or a calling just go for it! And don't expect very many people to be on board with it.  That doesn't really come until after the fact, until after you've been doing it for awhile then people can say "oh that's what you meant".   In 1998 just before we came here we heard that one of the family members said "they'll be back in 10 months with their tails between their legs". That was 1998 and we are still here.  They didn't understand that it was a calling.  

Until Next Time