Back to Basics

I love technology.  Internet, cell phones, my computer--even my calculator and adding machines.  I love swallowing a pill and knowing that within the hour, the pain in my head will subside for a while. But as much as I love it all, I do know how to live without it.  My own child has never known life with a television that you have to get up to turn the channels on, or what a busy signal on a telephone sounds like (unless there is a malfunction).  In some ways, for many years, I felt as though I had failed him--that if he were dropped in the middle of the forest, he'd die from cell phone withdrawal the first night.  Exposure be damned, you know?  But as he grew, he became a little more intrigued with being more in line with his father's and my own roots--the kind of roots that teach you to survive in the forest, or be able to feed your family when there is no money, no transportation, no way to get to the nearest convenience store.  He embraced the way of life which has enabled us to survive; generation after generation.  I pray that he keeps that close to him, and teaches his own children the ways of his family before him.
I haven't been able to get to the cabin in a long time--between work and the Boy's collegiate hockey schedule (I was team mom--go me!), there just hasn't been time.  And, once again, my health took a plunge.  A year ago at this time, I was down 40 pounds, off my cholesterol meds, and feeling better than I ever had in my life.  And then my new prescription company refused to cover a medication that my doctor had prescribed for me a few years earlier for preventative measures--it brought my A1C down and also enabled me to lose pounds.  I was headed down a great path--then the rug was pulled out from under me.  So, needless to say, I've been in a downward spiral ever since.  I have hypothyroidism.  When you mess with the one thing that works to help keep me healthy and losing weight, it all goes right back on. But I'm back on track now, and this isn't about that--it's about the cabin/country life.  Since the last post (years ago!), we've done quite a bit of work.  The old rotten room between the living quarters and the kitchen was torn out.  We replaced the front porch (for now).  And the best part?  We paid it off.  We own it.  So now, we work at our leisure--and at the mercy of our dollars.  And it's going to take a lot.  The next big job will be leveling the floors--and that is going to take some professionals.  We're collecting materials a little at a time to move forward when the time comes to start repairing pieces, but for now, we're still in a "maintain, and then move forward, one step at a time" mode.  I have a week long trip planned for October, when hopefully it won't be so hot.  The last time I was in, I spent the day just cleaning up the yard and putting plastic back on the windows.  Someone broke in and pried my Coke bottle opener off the wall and stole it.  Gotta love a thief.  They've stolen a lot from us...may not have amounted to much monetarily, but the bottom line is that if it doesn't belong to you, leave it alone.
While many memories have been made there, and I love that there are claims of love for many generations there, for the past 5 years, this has been my place for memories and love to be created.  While being referred to as "the  David Henderson cabin" and "the Locker cabin", the reality is that it is now "the White's".  I share blood with the Hendersons, and thru marriage, kinship with the Lockers. When you walk in the cabin now, you won't find technology, other than rudimentary electrical wiring.  We plan to take the cabin back to it's origins, although we will have modern convenience--but it won't be via normal means.  We plan to go back to basics--and use the survival skills that were instilled in us for many generations.  We will be attempting solar & wind power (although wind isn't a huge commodity in the Holler--it's kind of sheltered there).  We plan to dig a well--which we will hand pump or use solar power to operate.  We want to be off the grid as much as possible.  We plan to have a large garden, and fruit trees. I have learned how to can food.  I have already begun steps to learn about keeping bees, and chickens.  I have also begun to study spinning yarn from wool.  We are hunters, and fisherman.  We are learning to provide for ourselves again, because the world we live in now is not the same world we were born into.  I do love technology, but there comes a point in our lives where we have to stop belittling a way of life that has enabled the majority of us to thrive in modern times.  It's pretty simple: Do unto others. I want to live, and I want to let you live, in peace.  If you need food, I want to feed you.  If you need a place to sleep, I will give you a blanket and a pillow.  You get as good as you give, every time, and when you  don't allow mercy into your heart, how does that define your character?
I know people who, on a regular basis, say "I know" in response to statements made--because they believe they are so smart that they know the answer to everything.  I know people who, on a regular basis, pull articles off of the internet to make their points, but they only use one article they found that backs up their own opinions.  I know people who, on a regular basis, share stories or articles on Facebook that they read and believe to be truth that they never, ever do one iota of research on before they share it...which leads to more people sharing it, which leads to 8 million people thinking there was a bull shark found in Tims Ford Lake.  Technology. As much as I love it, it's time for us to take a step back, I think.  I'm not saying it's evil--I'm not even saying we need to do away with it (I like Tylenol, people!).  But what I am saying is that we need to remember that we are part of the circle of life--not above it, not below it.  We are biological.  We are part of this earth.  And until we get back to those roots--to remembering who we are and where we are from, we are destined to death in the jaws of a Tims Ford bull shark.