Old Fashioned Lifestyle

Did you ever have one of those “romantic” ideas that sounded like pure heaven in your head?  Of course, we know that the practical implication won’t play out like the fantasy does… but we ignore those little practical voices in our head in favor of the fantasy.  As we ignore these sensible voices, we sink into the abyss of life-altering-dreams.  We begin to think that perhaps we should act on the dream!  We may even start planning.  Hopefully at some point, we will stop ignoring the practical implications of these life-altering-dreams and make some contingency plans to address the issues. 

In our family, there are two such dreams.  One hatched in my heart.  The other is my husbands.    My husband is the voice of practicality when it comes to my dream, and I am when it comes to his.  Despite the reservations, the dreams turned into plans and the plans are in motion.   Though the dreams are quite contradictory in nature, we will pursue them each in turn. 

My dream is to homestead.  You know… live like a pioneer….  like Laura Ingalls Wilder.   I will grow all my own veggies and raise chickens for eggs and meat.  We will have a solar home, a composting toilet, and a hybrid vehicle!  I will be the poster child for Mother Earth.  What an amazing family life it can be; hard work, a connection with nature, the health that comes from eating your own organically grown food, wholesome entertainment of games, music, and books rather than TV and video games.  It appeals to the dream that has hatched itself in my soul.  The other benefits sink me deeper into the abyss of my fantasy.  The benefits I refer to are the benefits to the earth.  The mess we leave behind as we consume fuel, eat foods that are produces in unhealthy, inhumane, and non-sustainable ways, the landfills we continue to fill at astonishing rates, the forests we continue to kill without regard have become unacceptable to me.  How much better it will be for the earth if I grow my own food in an organic sustainable way?  How much fuel will I say “no” to as I enter a life on the homestead?   

To my husband, this all seems like a lot of work.  He reminds me that this is a journey – not a destination – and sometimes baby steps are best.  He dreams of a life at sea.  The call of the ocean has always tugged at his heartstrings, and the freedom of exploring the world without limitation sinks him farther into his abyss.  Perhaps we will write of his dream here.    I am the voice of reason here.  The first primary objection I have is that the boat is on water.  This means prolonged periods of time in which the 5 of us are all in a very confined space.  (We are considering a 37 foot Fisher)  We better figure out how to get along, be organized, give each other the illusion of privacy, and sail around the world without leaving land.  Can that be done?  Perhaps we can put the boat on a trailer and drive around America!  Somehow, I don’t think the hubby will go for that one.  The fact that the boat is on water also means the lack of soil for gardening, the lack of grocery stores for food, the presence of waves, and the significant chance of getting lost.   Yes. Getting lost.  That in itself is an objection…  I don’t want to get lost.  I also object dying in a storm.  I’ve set my husband about the task of learning about weather, navigation, and… well…  how to sail! 

Meanwhile, I am happily homesteading away.  We have purchased 15 acres, and are learning that we have oh, so much learning to do.  We are also preparing for some cruising.  While the dates and locations have yet to be set, we are taking steps.  We still have to work out the details about how to maintain the homestead during our periods of horror stricken traveling.  But I know that we will.

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