I was talking to a frend the other day. The topic of community came up... as in, "why isn't there one up here?"
It wouldn't have struck me so, but I had heard the same comment several times before. Why?
Seems people are too busy just scraping by to spend the time building a community.
I think that's a crying shame... kinda goes with all the 'neighboring' posts (there one here on Sustainable Reality and one over on Laffing Horse) I've been writing lately. But it's true, and it's so easy to slip into that rut...
- Get up
- Do chores
- Check email over coffee
- Assemble daily to do list
- For me that usually means a couple small TriLooms, one large TriLoom or a dozen crochet hooks or knitting needles
- for Jen that means shipping everything I made the day before - usually not enough, but I'm catching up - and listing things in the store
- For Lena that means helping Jen ship - or taking over when Jen has to work in town or run errands and spinning and crocheting
- Pick bacground noise - here, that's likely to be a wide variety of music or a movie, we don't have TV - and get to work...
- Maybe break for lunch
- Maybe break for dinner
- If the weather's nice enough and we're caught up in the shop, or close to caught up, or just need a break from it, go work on the farm for 2 to 4 hours
- Do chores
- Research and write a blog post or three, catch up on email
- Go to bed
This was brought home to me, again, when, following some advice I read over at ProBlogger, my research included reading some other homesteading bloggers.
In the first couple pages of a google search for the words 'homestead, blog,' I found only four that:
- had to do with homesteading, the practice and not the website company
- weren't politically slanted (not that I don't have my views, but as a homesteader I'm more interested in soup and cement mixes (not in the same bowl, please) than I am in this candidates views or that court ruling's effect on the availability of nosehair clippers on commercial airplanes - but I digress... and exaggerate a little)
- had been updated recently. By recently, I mean sometime this year.
I guess I should also be fair and take my own knocks... I haven't exactly been writing about soup and cement mixes either. I've been writing about networking and neighboring and community. I think I've explained why I've done that though. I could also say it's because writing about cutting cordwood everyday might make for a boring blog and that's what I've been doing when not in the woodshop.
Besides, I split the blogs up so if you want to read routine farm stuff, you go to Foxbriar Farmstead. If you want to read about my trials and tribulationsin the woodshop, you go to Laffing Horse Diary. If you want to read Jeanette's take on any or all of it, you go to Spinning Dreams. Want to find out what the dogs think? Read their Doad Dog Blog. Oh, yeah, and Sis takes pictures.
If you know of other homesteading blogs I should be reading, by all mens, drop me a line or post a comment...
So, without further ado, i give you some other Homesteaders to read about... enjoy!
Just a wee li'l rant this morning.
There's an interesting article over at PC World: Is Rural America Doomed to Dial-up or some such.
I read it and the article has some valid points. I could refute and assist and debate and agree and I live way rural, so I wanted to comment. In order to comment they want you to "sign in." What? an email address and your name... sure, to prevent spammers, right? Maybe they'd drop me a line later asking me to opt-in or somesuch. OK.
No. A full page questionnaire that might take 15 minutes to complete unless you use autofill... and even then it's a one shot response to an intriguing article.
PC World, you've just lost a reader!
Oh, yeah, my comment:
There's so much to do, it's often easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day and forget to 'Neighbor.'
But neighboring is really what communities are all about. You help them and visit, they'll help you and visit. No one can do it all, but through 'neighboring,' it can all be done... eventually.
Yesterday, I went to assist Gus and Cynthia in putting up scaffolding. It's time to side the second story of their house and the scaffolding has to be up between 10 and 12 feet in the air to do this.
While I was over there, Jeanette was helping shear a sheep and trim some hooves for the county fair.
Neighboring is also an opportunity to learn without the pain... sorry, Gus and Cynthia, but we're not building a cordwood house and our house will only be one-story.
Imagine a car that charges in 5 minutes and travels about 100 miles.
Hobbits live! Here's their house... or at least their architect...
Can't move to the country, but want to 'homestead?' Start on your patio.