Was going through old pictures this evening and found one of the first Cabin I built here and lived in. I built right off the saw mill. Life sure was a lot more simple after I said screw civilization and people. Only electric was a little generator, heat was the box stove, light was from oil lamps, and no asshole neighbors a mile up the road back then. Then I got married again and my little cabin was just not good enough and well just had to have grid electric and a rural water line. Then "YOU" should start raising more hogs, chickens and cattle again. ANd then "YOU" Should use more of the land for a market farm again. Then "YOU" Should open yer own Farmers Markets. And NOW "I" am completely sick of and disgusted with people once again after another 12 years of dealing with the whinny moaning self centered and fully believing they are entitled to anything and everything. Damn Picture reminded me just how nice and peaceful life was living in the little cabin with a couple of good dogs and no "YOU" Shoulds. I do believe we have settled the "YOU" Should stuff to, what I should do and what I am going to do are two very different critters
I have never figured out if civilization is a curse or a blessing. Most people seem to start out working and saving to buy a few things to make life a little easier and more fun and then a few years later the things they wanted own them. We come into this world naked and when we leave it we will take nothing with us. No one "needs" a multi million dollar penthouse overlooking the park in New York, it just happens to at this time be the biggest symbol of I made it in our society, been biggest head dress and most eagle feathers, or biggest stone coin, or most serfs in other societies. Although I am also guilty of having too many toys, in my personal experience it seems about 900 sq ft house is optimal for a couple, a little more if you have kids. Easy to heat and cool if designed right, separate areas for sleeping and non sleeping, etc. Good basement for food storage, utilities, some shelter area, and a small workshop area. As we get older, the dog and I both found out we need a quiet space out of the major traffic thru the house and out of every ones way to rest a few hours a day, prefer to have good sun light and about 70 degrees. Not really a necessity, but as I age, it becomes ever more God blessing to be able to just sit by the fire and let the world go by. In the past in multi generational families it was the norm for this to be provided, the kids and grand kids took care of the elderly, now they move to "their" house, have their families, and the elderly either live alone or move into an institutional setting, condo in Fla, "assisted living", or a nursing home, and when they die, have left nothing to leave to their children, the money and memories being long gone by the time they pass on to the next world. I have also lived in a shack in the woods, had little money, worked in a factory making vinegar, was healthy and looking back, it was perhaps the happiest and most stress free period in my life, but as Thomas Wolfe said so well, you can't go back, you have to just with help of God, make tomorrow as pleasant as you can. That said, its 2 am, I had a bite to eat, a couple pain pills, going to sleep in the recliner as my back will not let me sleep in the bed any more tonight, and it is quiet, I am well, have an excellent wife who understands me and who I can talk to and joke with, as far as I know virus free, got food, water, firewood, and toilet paper to last a while, am at peace with man and the Lord, have the worlds best dog, and when you get right down to life is really good. Tomorrow may bring a lot of changes, but today was in many respects as pleasant of a day as I have ever enjoyed in the 82 years of my life. To the rest of the world it may seem that the old fool read, ate, slept, and wasted the day, but I enjoyed good health, talked to some friends, reread some old stories, puttered around with my reloading bench, and live off of the things I put away 20 years ago, both money and memories. As the good Book puts it ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 3 KJV works for me, YMMV That being said, for those of us who study the Word, the non poetry version from which the KJV was derived was this Ecclesiastes 3 Commentary - Geneva Study Bible Didn't mean to hijack your thread, just hit me at a time when I am thinking about the same things, just a little farther down the road of life.
Nothing wrong with that little shack T5R ,, and man , I sure know what you mean by those "you shoulds" . I don't miss those at all. My last steady lady of 5 or so years ,, when we split up ,,, I moped around the house for a few weeks,, came home from work one day ,, grabbed a beer , sat back in the recliner,,, and then it hit me ,,, man this is really peaceful ,, no screaming , whiny kids , ( hers ) ,, no " you shoulds " ,, just me , the dog , and beer ,,, If they've got beer in heaven ,, then that day , I was there.
What I traded down from Was 1860 SQ ' Upstairs, another 1700 Sq Feet in the fully finished basement 30 acres and the 2007 tax bill was $8500. Sold the place for $650,000 but only paid $140,000 for it and got nailed pretty hard back then with capital gains then bought the first 40 acres here for $70,000 and a tax bill of $68.00 taxes here now are hair over $1200 12 years later and go up by about $250 per year now days. LOL YOU PUT A MESH COVER OVER THE CHICKEN PEN THAT IS $50 more in taxes!!!! OMG a 30x40 pole barn that is another $500 per year!!! in 3 more years I will have paid more taxes on the pole barn than it cost to build the pole barn. I have just about decided to lease the place in MO. out an keep living here. Hard to just walk away from the years of blood sweat and tears I put into building a $70,000 piece of raw land into my little farm and home. Pic is from 2001 and my Truck was brand new off the lot then and I am still driving the same truck I am NOT rich but I am not poor either, I won't be getting a stimulus check from Trump. But everyone around believes I am dirt floor poor. I like it that way I spend 90% of my waking time outside so a nice house just is not a must have thing for me. That small cabin 12x20 provided everything I needed dry, warm in the winter, cool in the summer, a bed, desk and wood stove to cook on. Any More than that was just wasted space from my perspective. LOL I did have a outhouse out back complete with running water from the old well with a 10 gallon water heater that the generator warmed up fast for a shower and a hand sink. Inthe cabin had a small kitchen sink and a old hand pump to pull water from the well. Friends initially thought I was crazy for selling the place in the pic and moving to the middle of nowhere to live in that little cabin that cost less than $150 to build. Guess I just like the simple life and the absolute lack of the stress most of the world likes to pile on itself.
Hijack away It has been my experience that thread drift is a wonderful thing that leads to interesting places and topics
