Change In Perception

There was a day back in the early 90s when I really thought living off the grid in some very isolated place, being as fully self-reliant as possible. This was before I knew what a libertarian was. Two things have changed since then: Turns out that I like living near people and interacting with them. Also, this notion has gone from being thought of as kook stuff, to being thought of as environmentally responsible.

It came to mind as I encountered a copy of 'Backwoods Home' magazine at the barber yesterday. There were tips on composting, small family farming and canning, cloth diapers, solar energy, survival and weaponry.

An interesting mix of crunchy granola and the militia frontier, oddly, happily coexisting- some 80 or more acres or so apart.

It was interesting to see how many of these things we've been doing on our suburban property: composting, raising an organic vegetable garden, and looking into alternative energy like solar panels. We did cloth diapers, stopped buying paper towels and napkins, and went to the flourescent bulbs long before there was a law about it. These things aren't merely more environment-friendly. They're cheaper!