Good Old Days

This weekend at COSI we went through a beautiful exhibit called 'Progress' that took you through several eras in American history, beautifully reproduced with antiques, advertising, etc. My sister in law commented on how wonderful it would be to live that life (1880's) again and I couldn't help but snicker to myself. I love Amy, really I do. I just couldn't help but think how out of place she'd be in that particular era. How unprepared most modern folks would be to live in that time. I don't want to sound like I'm all-knowing and all-prepared, because Lord knows I'm not. But I do know a lot of basics.

I wonder how many of us look back and admire the 'good old days' and just picture the fun aspects of it...riding in a wagon, snuggling up to a wood stove or fireplace, enjoy the farm animals. How many of us don't consider the everyday drudgery...using an outhouse, no running water, no TV, radio or computer, little free time. Certainly I'm guilty of that as much as anyone else. But the farther I go on my path to freedom, the more I yearn for the simple, old ways and the honest, hard work. Yes, it was tiring, but wasn't it more rewarding than the 'Go Go Go' lives we live today? I know from my own experience how rewarding it is to crack the seal on a jar of pears that I labored over this fall...how sweet those pears taste, all the sweeter because I know exactly where they came from and how they were preserved. Same thing goes for homemade bread and handmade quilts...the work that goes into it makes it more worthwhile than something I could buy at Walmart.

My goal in this life is to create a homestead as independent from modern life as possible. I'd like to use solar electricity, wood heat, raise my own livestock, grow my own fruits and veggies, and above all, teach the kids how to do the same thing. I don't know if they'll look back and consider these the good old days or not, but they'll go forward into their lives confident that in a crisis, they can provide for themselves.