Homesteading the New Old-Fashioned Way

So, one of my most delightful Christmas presents this year (and this really was a banner season for thoughtfulness) was Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life. I know that may seem a little regressive for someone who already owns a 180-year old farmhouse, had 26 (ill-considered) chickens last year, and regularly bakes bread, pie, and assorted other old-timey goodies. But, after a rather tumultuous year, when many of those tasks were put down in favor of more emotional projects, it was lovely to pick up a beginner's how-to, full of simple, unintimidating steps toward self-sufficiency in a modern world.

The book really got me thinking about what exactly I've been trying to do up here, 600 miles or so from my natural habitat, and a few worlds away from my schooling, training, and previous pursuits. I moved up here, originally, for profoundly political purposes, driven by the desire to live by my hands as an expression of political autonomy. (An expensive and labor-intensive way of saying, "I don't need no stinkin' government.") My political sentiments still hold, but both they and my desire for self-sufficiency have gained a foundation over these last few years, a grounding in the firm belief that living with labor and truly valuing goods and pleasures because you either know or remember what went into them just flat out makes a person happy.

My perspective now, I guess, is libertarianism, objectivism, environmentalism, back-to-the-land-ness, and Buddhism rolled into a weird and apparently uncommon package. So, I'd expect the tone of this blog to shift a little bit as I incorporate more of my viewpoint than just the still-beloved task of repairing this wreck of a house. Expect more along the lines of organic gardening, green building, and the occasional exploration of acceptance and meditation. I guess Dad was right; I'm a free market hippie after all.