The Householder's Grab Bag A Repository of Reflections on These Curious Times: Recent Comments

Comment on Sacrifice Stew

2011-01-09T03:27:01Z

I know the feeling. I keep thinking one of the kids will appreciate the backyard "farm" but who knows. I guess the real point is to leave them with the impression that it is possible to live this way. The way I figure it..."just in case" makes real sense just about now (and for sometime).

Harriet

Comment on Sacrifice Stew

2011-01-09T01:01:44Z

My intention is to leave our kids our Westmoreland "ranch" (an urban back yard with a lot of raised beds and two fruit trees, a well-insulated house and PV panels) to them -- not sure how thrilled they are at the prospect. I think they like it when Mom is the one cooking the soup!

Comment on Sacrifice Stew

2011-01-07T19:22:56Z

Thanks so much for your comments. I think so many of us are reaching for new definitions and some, like yourself, have been on the path for a very long time. How very nice that your daughter appreciates the efforts. Undoubtedly she, and the whole household I assume, will carry on the traditions of carrying for the good (and limited) graces and resources we have been given.

Harriet

Comment on Sacrifice Stew

2011-01-07T18:50:43Z

Thank you for the reminder that we have to make conscious decisions about we are going to live, raise our children, be an example in the world -- and that one of those decisions is to be grateful for the gifts of clean water and abundant food. These are daily choices, and so often I feel the fatigue that comes from constantly trying to ignore the societal drumbeat that says it's never enough, we deserve even more and we're destined for more important things than stewardship.

As a fan of Amy Dacyczyn, Barbara Kingsolver, Carol Flinders, Islandia and yes, Wendell Berry, I've always believed that what many people would call "sacrifice" is actually a very satisfying life that is rooted in reality. Where is it written that we should need, crave, "deserve" daily restaurant meals and pre-made foods, usually high in fats and processed carbohydrates, brought to us at the expense of our groaning planet and the people with whom we share this good earth? Yes, most of us went down that road, and now may be wondering why we still don't feel happy and secure. Can we redefine the concepts of "austerity" and "sacrifice" as "enough" and "contentment?"

I know that my family of four adults, ranging in age from 17 to 54, is grateful to gather around the table each evening and eat home made soup. My daughter thanked me last night for the thought and care I put each day into creating healthy meals for the family, mostly from local ingredients (some from outside our back door).

But there are 30 years of daily living behind this dinner table scene, backed up with my almost constant reading, journaling and ruminating on how to define a life that is "satisfying" and "enough," rather than "exciting" and "overabundant."

Comment on Dear Smarty Pants

2010-12-21T22:14:15Z

Was browsing through this site because I bought and read your book. BTW Love the book. If there was anyway to get up and give you an ovation, I would. I have never thought it through enough to be able to explain politics vs economics. You said it well.

Comment on We Should All Be Peasants Now

2010-11-11T21:27:39Z

I'm hoping that because of the financial challenges, and the disrupted routines that many people have had to suffer during this economy; anything frugal or commonsense that they have used to get through these times, will eventually become new daily habits and transcend into a more meaningful and maintainable lifestyle for the future.

The reason I'm hopeful is because those who lived during the days of the Great Depression, most of them children at the time, have locked into those frugal ways of living already, some from the start. Others have listened to their stories and learned their ways and applied them to their own situations today. I'm glad that there are still those with us who were there at the time. Their life stories are real and told in the first person and carry the integrity of lives well lived regardless of dire circumstances.

I hear stories everyday from the descendents of these survivors who are keeping the "old ways" intact. They are handing down these skills as we speak to anyone who will receive them now to carry on simple-living peasantry as a viable means of living sensibly and reasonably regardless of what goes on in the world around them.

Hopefully we have learned a lesson from this, we are not guaranteed outside rewards, we are not privileged royalty, we have to secure our own ways and means of survival.

Comment on We Should All Be Peasants Now

2010-11-10T15:45:09Z

Thanks much. Seems like the notion of "peasant hood" is resonating with folks. It's hard to manifest here in the states but important to consider.

Comment on We Should All Be Peasants Now

2010-11-10T15:45:09Z

Thanks much. Seems like the notion of "peasant hood" is resonating with folks. It's hard to manifest here in the states but important to consider.

Comment on We Should All Be Peasants Now

2010-11-10T15:14:08Z

Took me some time to read most of the comments, but I definitely loved the post. It proved to be quite helpful to me and I am sure to all of the commenters here! It's constantly awesome when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! I'm confident you had fun writing this post.

Comment on We Should All Be Peasants Now

2010-11-08T10:23:52Z

Good posting, you might want to read the interesting book, The New Peasantries
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=3921

And thanks for this blog and the other stuff Harriet. Your Householding concepts and my Garden Eearth are more or less the same I note.

http://gardenearth.blogspot.com/2010/05/finally.html

I look forward to reading more...