I get a little high-flown and abstract at times, but freedom practicalities still remain … Here, courtesy of friend JW, is a thoughtful (and not what you might expect) piece on permaculture from John Mosby at Mountain Guerrilla. And via Greg Ellifritz, here’s a variety of advice on what to do about those negligent relatives who “joke” that they don’t have to prep because they’ll just show up at your house when TSHTF. Finally, Vox takes on EDC. Of course, Vox being Vox, they’re more interested in their suspicion that “the EDC community” is sexist than they are in the…
4 CommentsCategory: Rural and small-town living
Life far from freeways, Starbucks, malls, and other benefits/distractions
For anybody who wonders why I live here … … that’s 12 feet from my back door. Of course, sometimes the vegetation does get carried away. Between morning glory, ivy, alder saplings, and the omnipresent blackberry vines, you can almost watch the grow-y things growing. Summer may not be sunny, but it’s one long struggle to keep plants from taking over plants. This is what that big fern in the right foreground looked like 10 minutes before I took the above shot, being strangled and consumed by morning glory tendrils: Beautiful, cannibalistic vegetation. We have everything a rain forest has.…
6 CommentsOne day last week, I couldn’t bear being inside my house or inside my own skin. Normally, solitude is joy, but there are certain days — and I’ve had a lot of them, this gloomy spring and summer. I wish I could tell you I get through such times by meditating or some other spiritual practice worthy of a true hermit. Ha. Truth is, at the itchiest of those moments the only cure is to escape from the hermitage. And usually to shop. Oh, not for designer shoes or fancy clothes, unless I can get them from a thrift store.…
10 CommentsI’m a few days late with the news, but Justin Raimondo has died — and that’s one heck of an obituary for one heck of an activist life. Today’s most unsurprising news: NYPD joins the ranks of police outfits planting evidence to meet arrest quotas. Humboldt County, California, issues peremptory fines to people who might be growing pot — even if they’re actually growing peaches or tomatoes. “The Boomers Ruined Everything.” The title is inflammatory. The article has a point — and a damned good one — but most of the problems it cites preceded us boomers. Our generation only…
6 CommentsNo, I haven’t died and gone wherever you hope dead people of my sort go. I’ve just been playing host to out-of-town company for four days (3-1/2 more ahead). We’ve been out doing stuff and I haven’t had time to blog. This will just be a quick check-in, but I’ll make up for my absence next week. —– My company is very polite and a good guest, but having someone else in the house is a serious adjustment for this hermit — especially since I’ve been diving more deeply into solitude and silence lately. (Solitude, of course, is much more…
2 CommentsNo, not a commercial announcement on my behalf; I have NFI in any of the following. I just think they’re all worthy causes and items you might be interested in. 1. Liberty Under Attack Publications, aka the very young men who are reviving Rayo’s old freedom strategy of VONU, now have more books online. In addition to books on the vonulife, they’ve got volumes on bitcoin investing, subversion, strategy, and sedition. Who could ask for more? 2. A brief reminder that friend-of-liberty Elias Alias has expanded his Silver Seeds of Liberty line. When he’s not agitating for freedom, Elias is…
3 CommentsThe note and donation came from strangers who could almost be called neighbors. Friendly neighbors. I didn’t know them, but they were close enough to exult in the same wonderful library system, close enough that we may have bumped shoulders in the same Big City stores. They’d also renovated an old repo house on a hill. In short, we had a lot in common. And they said they were, like me, choosing to stay put in their town — not moving to any inland redoubt as quite a few other freedomistas have done. They put it interestingly; not only that…
13 CommentsYou know I’m a dedicated thrift store and garage sale shopper. My habit has saved thousands of dollars over the years while also giving me the thrill of the hunt and the occasional Big Score. Must confess, though. Thrift stores can also be places to blow money on impulses. To wit: A few readers may recognize those as knitting machines. (Technically the white one is a knitting machine and the other a ribber.) I knit. Sometimes. But until earlier this week I only dimly realized that such things as kitting machines existed. Then the manager’s son spotted me pulling bags…
17 CommentsRealizing my readership is mostly male, I hesitate to post the following. But don’t tune out on me, guys. Or at least not instantly. Don’t assume from the topic that this post is too girly for your macho selves. Think of this like finding a box of old gun or car parts or fishing tackle, all from one guy’s garage. —– Behind one of the local thrift stores are boxes of freebies — loaded up every morning, then tossed out at the end of every day. These are newly donated items that are almost trash, but Chris the manager hopes…
28 Comments