I learned so much from this excellent post! Yesterday, I was in a thrift store and saw a copy of "The Worst Hard Time," snagged it up because of this piece. Many thanks for all you do.
Ben, like we said in the 60s, keep the faith, "baby."
You remain a hero to me. You are right up there with my younger brother, who got off the grid in Northern, NY, in about 1980. He sold the family dairy farm at a time where he had built up some equity. He kept 15 acres of our former family dairy farm - mostly maple/beech/pine forest with a few acres for sheep, chickens, and gardens. He and his wife built a 700 sq ft home out of his own lumber, which housed himself, his wife, and two sons. They found ways to earn a very modest living doing jobs that made the world better, culminating with his 20-year career as a high school mathematics teacher. So, he is now retired and has a close group of family and friends as well as a comfortable pension. That puts him in a more stable position than most people who try to improve the planet.
I would love it if you could "strike-it-rich-enough" by publishing your stories of "philosophy meets love of the earth" so that you might be able to have an easier time, no matter how many years go by.
Luckily for me, comforts come pretty simply, though it is important that I'm able to give my kids opportunities-- especially if I can make them a little easier to come by than I've had it. I do also look forward to retirement, physically, at some point, not that I'll ever be able to completely stop myself-- hopefully more nut harvesting and less hog-wrangling.
Rich enough is attainable I think... and I'm pretty grateful for how this whole writing thing has turned out thus far.
Wow, I really appreciate the history laid out here. As somebody who’s never really been super interested in history, because when I was younger and in school, I remember it seeming complicated and not making sense.
Anyway, the way you laid it out just makes me want to know more.
Also, there are more of us than there are of them.
I enjoy doing a history piece now and then, and sometimes I feel a little unsure if it will connect with folks... I'm so glad it did with you. And this is a part 1, so I'll go a little deeper on the subject soon.
So glad there's so many of us, and looking forward to "winning".
I learned so much from this excellent post! Yesterday, I was in a thrift store and saw a copy of "The Worst Hard Time," snagged it up because of this piece. Many thanks for all you do.
I am all for building a community of survivors. This is a beautiful idea.
I just wish fewer people had thrown in their lot with the losers.
Ben, like we said in the 60s, keep the faith, "baby."
You remain a hero to me. You are right up there with my younger brother, who got off the grid in Northern, NY, in about 1980. He sold the family dairy farm at a time where he had built up some equity. He kept 15 acres of our former family dairy farm - mostly maple/beech/pine forest with a few acres for sheep, chickens, and gardens. He and his wife built a 700 sq ft home out of his own lumber, which housed himself, his wife, and two sons. They found ways to earn a very modest living doing jobs that made the world better, culminating with his 20-year career as a high school mathematics teacher. So, he is now retired and has a close group of family and friends as well as a comfortable pension. That puts him in a more stable position than most people who try to improve the planet.
I would love it if you could "strike-it-rich-enough" by publishing your stories of "philosophy meets love of the earth" so that you might be able to have an easier time, no matter how many years go by.
Best wishes. - Gary
Thank you for the words, Gary.
Luckily for me, comforts come pretty simply, though it is important that I'm able to give my kids opportunities-- especially if I can make them a little easier to come by than I've had it. I do also look forward to retirement, physically, at some point, not that I'll ever be able to completely stop myself-- hopefully more nut harvesting and less hog-wrangling.
Rich enough is attainable I think... and I'm pretty grateful for how this whole writing thing has turned out thus far.
Cheers,
B
Wow, I really appreciate the history laid out here. As somebody who’s never really been super interested in history, because when I was younger and in school, I remember it seeming complicated and not making sense.
Anyway, the way you laid it out just makes me want to know more.
Also, there are more of us than there are of them.
Well I appreciate that you appreciate it!
I enjoy doing a history piece now and then, and sometimes I feel a little unsure if it will connect with folks... I'm so glad it did with you. And this is a part 1, so I'll go a little deeper on the subject soon.
So glad there's so many of us, and looking forward to "winning".
B
Love this one. Looking forward to part 2. Feel free to insert politics more often!
Also, I can’t read about the dust bowl without thinking about reading grapes of wrath, which seems to have captured the devastation.