Homesteading

I tend to be a bit of a lecturer. And I am a bit of a geek.

So if you know me, there's a good chance you've heard me give a bit of a lecture. And there's an even better chance that whatever topic I was expounding upon was geeky.

For example, every time I have occasion to look west across open prairie, or see an old wagon or homestead, or even hear someone discuss not having enough space, my mind wanders to the same place. Every time.

I think, just imagine what it was like for the original settlers of this land! You have to change a few words to fit if you consider "this land" the East Coast, the Midwest, the West, or another country altogether. And if you think of Native Americans as the original settlers you'll have to change a few more words, but it still rings true.

For me, today, I am thinking of the white settlers to Nebraska and Iowa. I am thinking of whole families traveling west in a covered wagon. I am recognizing that, having SEEN those wagons in museums time and again, that they were often no bigger then the closets showcased on "House Hunters" (you know the ones, where the wife says "I suppose this is enough. You can use the hall closet.")

Into that wagon went every item that FAMILY owned. Family. Often three generations. Not just clothing and entertainment, but furniture, tools, cookware, bedding, medicine, food. Guns and ammunition. Any supplies they might need. They would not be able to stop at Home Depot when they got to the new homestead, they had to have every nail they needed in that wagon.

When I see women needing entire closets for just their shoes, or I see men needing a five-car garage (no cars allowed), I think about the families packing those wagons. As I stand in our kitchen and count the "convenience" appliances, I think about the women who cooked every meal at home, with one pot, one pan and no refrigerator. Even as I try to deplete my book collection to an amount that will fit in just one bookcase, I imagine how many books would have been priority enough to squeeze into that wagon.

I look at my desk. You know, I haven't bought a pen, a pencil or a bit of notepaper in over 5 years, but I still have an overflowing pen and pencil cup on my desk, and a large bin of notepads (and I really do try to waste them). I have five calculators and three staplers, and two boxes of staples I bought when the office supply store in Westfield was going out of business in 1995. (You'd be surprised how little the average household uses staples.) Probably wouldn't bring this in the wagon. . . wonder why I can't part with it now?

I don't know if the social gluttony we see today came because we wanted more, more more, and that's led to the debt, or if the debt came first and led to the gluttony.

After all, your wagon breaks a wheel, and you go into debt to buy one, then you need to have more land to grow more crops to pay off the debt, then when they come out with the "automatic" corn planter you need that for all your land, and then you need an extra horse to pull the larger equipment and then, and then, and then.

I see that happening today, still.

You want the cell phone because its so much more convenient then just a house phone, especially on your long commute. Once you have a cell phone, you think a "smart phone" sounds pretty neat, what with its ability to check your email for you, so you can keep on top of work even when you're in the elevator on your way from the office to your board meeting. And since you have the smart phone already, you might as well enable the GPS option. That will be handy if you ever take that vacation you've been dreaming of. Next thing you know, you really need more text messages, because that's really the only way you communicate with friends and family anymore (it is so rude to talk on your phone in the elevator. Texting is more polite). And since you're now using apps on your phone to keep track of your to-do list, your grocery list, your upcoming doctors appointments, to track your calorie intake and your spending and even your mood and sleep patterns, well, clearly you need more bandwidth. Your phone takes a lot of abuse, so you head out to get the brand new phone, and you could get the free one but this $300 phone will be much more convenient, and your $200 a month plan seems totally worth it.
Until you remember that it used to be a $20 month bill and you used to actually talk into it.

BUT the new phone is also an MP3 player, so you need a docking station with speakers. Just like you really need the GPS dock for your car so you can display it on your dashboard. Not to mention the bluetooth headset. And since you're already paying for that much bandwidth, it only made sense to buy the netbook that would connect to your phone to connect to the Internet that way. And the colored carrying case defines who you are and makes you stand out in a crowd.

And, and and.

I wonder sometimes if I could survive if my next move was done, along with seven of my closest family members, in a wagon.