Trying to live a life being self-sufficient in the world we have today is very difficult. It is not the world our great grandparents lived in. In those days, it was easier to live that way because that was how everyone lived. So you were just one of the many families living on a farm and raising their children to be independent. It isn't something they just decided to do one day. They were already doing it.
My own grandmother was raised in a large family, and the children were expected to do chores and help on the family farm. In fact, when they got jobs off the farm, as soon as they were old enough (back then they got jobs in their early teens), they still did their chores at home. In the early morning hours they got up to milk cows or feed horses and bring in firewood before leaving for work. Leaving for work, meant walking a long distance one way before it was even light out or in cold weather conditions. They knew that after work and the long walk back home, they would have their chores waiting for them. And for the girls, preparing the evening meal was part of their every day chores. So it was not easy for them either, but they were conditioned to that lifestyle. And everyone they knew lived the same way.
Now I have many people remark about my lifestyle being hard. It is not meant to be hard. The hard part is trying to survive in this economy without having a lot of money. Yes, money is the hard part. My grandmother's family raised their own food and did not have to spend very much if any, at the local stores. They used horses or their feet for transportation. I have to buy more food at the store than I can raise. I have horses but they are not the type that would be able to be ridden to a store and tied up outside.
Our house needed much work on it when we bought it. It has been an ongoing project for the whole twelve years we have lived here. Needed insulation, still needs new windows, needed the foundation reworked, walls needed taking down and new ones put back up, new doors, plumbing and the electrical installed, etc. etc, etc. As I said, an on going project. It all cost so much money though.
Would it have been easier if we had purchased a house on the grid in a regular neighborhood? Yes, but then we wouldn't have been living this lifestyle at all. Maybe we would have planned to change over at some time in the future. But then we would have kept living that way and probably never did it. Never achieved our dream of living off-the-grid. Especially since we have gotten older. It would have been easy to just let the dream die. Sometimes easy is not easy. Not easy to let your dreams and hopes to just go because it is easier to forget about them. Then you get to a point in your life and regret not achieving that dream. Nope, it is easier for us to struggle, holding on..........at least we are living our dream.......every day, even if it isn't easy. What about you?
Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
5 comments:
I admire how determined you are to live an off-grid lifestyle. I don't know if I could ever live like that. It would definitely be a blessing not to have to pay utilities every month, though. We used a generator for back-up power when the tornadoes come through and were without power for several days, so I got a little taste of it then. Who know? We may go off grid one day and I can turn to you for advise.
It's inspiring to see you live your dream.
Bella Vida by Letty
Wishing you a great day.
I find it interesting that when people find someone "living their dream" and it requires some hard work, they ask why they are doing it that way. As if the word "work" and "dreams" cannot occupy the same sentence.
Great post.
No one ever said living ones dream is easy! You show everyday it can be done, easy or not! You can be very proud of yourself!
You've got a 12 year headstart on us! We look at it as hard work directly benefitting our family. It was scary being spit out of the rat race but now we're not spending a portion of our energy making somebody else money. I thank god every day that I get to learn something new to make us more self sufficient instead of punching a time clock. In the end, it may be a few more dollars...but is it really that much more expensive?
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