Realization

One of the things that has always stuck with me throughout life: the night my mom told me that, if everyone was like me, nothing revolutionary would ever happen in this world. I've always played it safe. Followed the rules. Compromised.

I really felt that homesteading fell into that category. You know, don't depend on others, take care of yourself. Do what's right for the earth. Isn't it trendy to be "green"? And then yesterday, as I showed a complete stranger around our "homestead" and told him my hopes and dreams for what it one day will be, a strange thing happened. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "This is really rather revolutionary."

Really?

Yeah, it is.

We don't have much. Our path to sustainability or evironmentally-friendly living or the simple life or whatever you want to call it has only just begun. It was apparent though, in my conversation with this gentleman, that he hadn't seen a vegetable garden in somebody's backyard since he was a little boy (and he was much older than I am, I might add!). I mentioned our rain barrel project for next year, and his eyes grew wide. "Rain barrels!? I haven't seen anyone set up rain barrels in... well, more than 20 years! What made you think of doing that? Why would you need to in Ohio?" And so, the meeting that should have lasted no more than 40 minutes took about 3 hours, and I realized that maybe-- just maybe-- I have a little of mom's revolutionary spirit in me after all.