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nicalisa
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# Posted: 3 Jan 2013 10:46pm
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off the grid was how I lived when I was in the peace corps as we had no grid to be on Our cabin is off the grid as there also is no grid available, however it was a choice to purchase there. Does it make things harder....not quite sure really, I guess it is all a question of perspective. sure is not harder to be there than the many hours that we work to pay for the grid at home....and it is quiet....I think that cooking is cooking and laundry is laundry. It takes a bit more time at the cabin, but one of my fav. memories in peace corps was doing my laundry, on an island at the waters edge, on a black sand volcanic beach on a washing rock wearing my bra and undies that I was passing off as a bathing suit with a volcano in the distance lazily smoking away, and chatting with the kids who came down to see the foreign woman doing the laundry at the local washing rock. Now the view is an ocean, not a lake, the water is from a mountain spring not a beach, There is a rock for scrubbing from the mountain side and the kids I talk to are my own....and the bathing suit....well, it is a bit more conservative 15 years and 2 kids later. The feeling of peace however is the same so while the tasks take more time to be sure, there is also more time to give, to read, to appreciate the beauty around you, and realize that the task itself is a vehicle for appreciating what surrounds you while you are doing it.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 4 Feb 2013 10:15pm
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nicalisa.i loved reading what u wrote here.so true.so good. a matter of perspective.ty
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rayyy
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2013 03:10pm
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Lol,all good points,folks.But,Owen,theres more to life than just beauty.I think I learned that the hard way.I know now that beauty is not everything.Striving to be happy and healthy in life is.
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Alaskaman
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# Posted: 5 Apr 2013 07:35pm
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Wrote this some years back. It pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter.
A Childs Spring
Can you remember lying in the spring grass as a child, looking up at the clouds drifting by? The feeling of wonder that took hold, a friend by your side, small talk about the creation above, " That cloud looks like..." I just came in from the snow-covered fields, where the air was brisk. Here in our Alaskan winters the cold becomes a part of you, along with the winter wind and the brittle crisp snow. As I stood there by our door, before returning to the warmth of our wood cook stove, I looked up. After 30 years I saw that sky again.
Why did it take so long to look up? I'm not sure. As I got older I stopped looking up and started looking forward, forward to school, jobs, wife, and kids. That focus took me away from the view of sky, and the feel of the wet spring grass on my back. It took me to the cities and asphalt, the gray sky sub-divisions and growing populations. I planted the seeds to harvest: job, career, city goods, and acclaim. I reaped most of my crop, but the harvest was not what I thought it would be. Cultivating that crop left me detached, stressed, and hungry. The more I grew the more I needed. So I changed my seed. I left the success of the city and moved to the interior of Alaska. I bought some true agricultural ground and started to plant a new crop.
From my friends I heard "The ground is to cold, to remote, not cleared, your to old, what about your children?" "Farmers can not make it in the Lower 48, what makes you think you can farm, snuggled up to the Arctic Circle?" I heard it all. So many thought I was insane, well I believe all true farmers are a little touched. Touched by the almighty and the sense of spirituality that comes with stewarding God's Creation.
We all have a vision, a sense of God's purpose, to grow, to nourish, and connect with nature. In all my getting I never got satisfaction or peace. Now coming in from the cold, with an arm load of fire wood, watching the sky move across this snow covered land. In my mind seeing the land cleared, worked, cared for. I felt like I was eight years old again. A feeling of wonder, a sense of peace has returned. Looking up is something I hope I never forget to do again.
So many will tell you not to look at that vision, but it is in you. Do not listen to those that get in your way. Listen to that still small voice, that never goes away. That calling at 2:00 am, when everything is still and quiet, it's only then that you find the time to listen. Too soon we are gone from this place. Lookup and listen to the voice in your heart. Do not let fear and doubt limit your life. You will not die if you change seed, but you will reap a different harvest, you will look up and see that warm spring sky again. Even in an Alaskan winter.
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Grandma Off Grid
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2013 08:57am
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these are all such good thoughts..
for me, living in the city, i was always working all the time, to pay bills and line others pockets. i wanted to be on my own place, where i could reasonably do what i wanted, live within my humble means, and my hard work went towards my place, not someone else.
if i lived at my place that is paid for, and doing as much off grid as possible, i reduced what it took to live, which is what i wanted, not just to survive. not to worry about more bills and how to pay, growing my own food, doing what i want to do.
spending my time doing just that.
my hatchlings are all now full grown, and after struggling in the city, all they want is to get out to the country and do what Grandma is doing..
when they come out to visit, one thing they dearly enjoy is the campfire. and they look up at the sky at night and can't believe all the stars they see.
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Grandma Off Grid
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2013 09:00am
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ps: i am a girl. and i don't need a dishwasher, beauty shops or nail salons. i like the feel of fresh soil and the smells of the country life and enjoy doing as much as i can on my own. i did this with a houseful of young uns too.
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melloway
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# Posted: 13 Mar 2017 05:37am
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I love being out in the wild and having a quiet time with nature. It makes me more relaxed and a much better human being.
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hootnholler
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# Posted: 3 Apr 2017 06:39pm
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Our land and cabin in progress is essential to our sanity and escape from from the rat race of Memphis. Can't wait for the day when we can move there permanently!
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