Quite often I see people trying to define what homesteading really is all about. We've also tried in the past to define what really is a homestead. After more reflection and of course life experience, I'm going to suggest that homesteading is about removing the child proofing from our adult lives.
All around us in today's modern world we have protections to keep us and our loved ones safe. And anytime a new danger is identified, a call for additional protection is made and demanded. I think finally we can say that real homesteading is more about self reliance and sustainability. In short,
IT'S REMOVING THE CHILD PROOFING FROM YOUR LIFE
A recent example made this obviously clear to us in a most extreme way. This past week, two houses burned down within our county and one of those was near our very small town. The town we live in is very small. You sometimes hear about towns so small that if you blink driving by, you will miss it. Well, our town is so small that if you drive by with your eyes completely peeled and paying attention, you still might miss it! It's a tiny town called Witter and there is not even a stop sign to my knowledge.
After the news of the recent home fires, our local county paper and county officials made a desperate plea for more volunteer firefighters for our tiny town.
You see, when we moved here, there was a very small volunteer fire department. I got to know some of them and talk with them. Most of the calls they answered were not fire related at all. Usually they would get a call when an obese woman fell out of bed and needed help again or that someone got their tractor or truck stuck in a field. When they did get a call about a fire. They had to stop what they were doing, get to the fire station truck in our little town and then drive the distance over all dirt roads, many times single lane and get to the fire to put it out. 99% of the time, the house or whatever was burning was already gone when they got there and they had to just maybe help keep the fire from spreading to any larger areas.
The point is that they wanted to help but they kinda got burned out (pun intended) because their hard efforts never really mattered. Nothing is more disheartening then showing up at a fire to "save the day" and seeing that you got there not just late, but REALLY LATE. And it wasn't the fault of the fire fighters, it's because that we live in a very very low populated area separated by great distances and bad roads. Even a 24 hour manned fire station with the latest equipment wouldn't have gotten to a house in time to save it.
Now the whining and complaining comes. "...without a fire department, we can't get housing insurance!" That is the child proofing you have been conditioned with. As if people couldn't or can't exist without an insurance company or a fire department to save them.
The older locals around here tell me that this area was much more populated 100-150 years ago than it is today. "So, there were more people?" "Yup".
How on earth did they ever live without home owners insurance and a modern fire department? 100 years ago, many people in these poor parts of the Ozarks were still using horses and wagons to do much of the traveling
So this brings us back to the paper and county officials who this week made a call for more volunteers stepping up to be trained. Sure the job pays nothing and takes you away from your regular job that pays the bills and feeds your family, but hey, It's for the common good! Yes, these people are liberals.
Again, we used to have a volunteer fire department and they were used and abused. That's why most of the volunteers...well, they stopped volunteering. But no mention was given about potential reasons why most of these volunteers gave up the job.
And MORE GLARINGLY, there was no list of what homesteaders in our area could do to lessen the chance of the fire department needing to be called in the first place. Self sustainability. Self Reliance. Phrases long forgotten in a world so quick to just call on a government agency bureaucrat or journalist to solve their problems for them.
How about:
- Making sure smoke detectors are operational and new batteries installed.
- Keeping wood stove pipes cleaned at least once a year.
- Having on hand at least one large serviceable fire extinguisher.
- Installing a couple 275 gallon water totes on a downspout on your home.
- Investing in one or even two large self priming 200 gpm water pumps at Tractor Supply.
When we first moved out here, the insurance company basically laughed at us when asking about insurance. First off, we have wood stoves and second, the homestead is just too far off the paved road system. Any insurance would be astronomical in price!
So instead of complaining or whining to the local politicians or "journalist", we decided we would do the things needed to safeguard our own homes. Of course we had our smoke detectors and we keep our wood stoves clean, but we also have set aside a 250 gallon water tote that fits into the back of an old Toyota Hilux pickup. We have hoses that will attach to a 200 gallon per minute pump that fits into the back of that pickup. And then, we practiced using it to move water and are VERY familiar with what is required to get water to fire if ever it is needed.
There is no way in the world that any fire department would ever get to us in time. So we became our own fire department. Self sustainability. Self Reliance.
The last time we timed ourselves, we had water on scene in just over 6 minutes with this easy setup.
100 years ago, homesteads knew of the danger of fires. They had kerosene lanterns in their homes and wood stoves and fire places. They burned candles to be used for reading after the sun went down. Fire was an ever present danger. So, they had rain barrels outside on their down spouts or they kept a bucket of water inside near the stove. Self sustainability. Self Reliance.
My heart and sympathy, thoughts and prayers go out to the two families who lost their home recently in our county. It's one of the most devastating things that can happen at any point in your life. It ruins you economically and it takes away memories of your past that can never be replaced. And we as neighbors should reach out as a community and help them rebuild if we are able. However, I think we should caution ourselves to always letting the first response to an incident be more government or government intervention.
I'm often reminded of what Ronald Reagan called the Nine Most Terrifying Words In The English Language:
"I'm From The Government And I'm Here To Help"
398 years ago the Pilgrims landed on this continent. Their new world was not child proofed for them ahead of time. Self sustainability. Self Reliance.
Two phrases they didn't need reminding of.
Below is a video we did when testing our the homestead Fire Truck! ENJOY!
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