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Just some random thoughts over the weekend

When I first started this blog some three years ago I didn't have an audience.  I wasn't even sure who or what I was writing for.  Did I want to write a personal blog about life in the country?   I was playing around with the idea of homesteading and self sufficiency...did I want to write about that?

In some ways over the last several months I think that I finally found a focus and an audience for this blog.  In a way I finally felt like I had found its purpose and focus.  My readership has slowly been improving over the last few months and I appreciate that.

Thank you.

However I published something that I knew would not go over well with the particular readership that I had been reaching.  I published it anyway because I know in my heart of hearts that I was correct in my conclusions.  The backlash I received I was not prepared for.  I did however attack a central tenet of the belief system of my intended audience.  

Frankly the backlash that I received through me for a loop and this, being the internet, the comments were nasty, brutish and often just wrong.   You could also tell that many of the commenters didn't even bother to read the piece in question.

In some ways I began to question the direction of, and justification for, this blog.

I don't receive any money for this blog.  I write it simply because I love to write.  I love to teach.  There is no money being exchanged.  I've not receiving free crap to write good reviews.  

I just want to teach something and have my voice heard.   I've often said that if I get one person to think about something differently then I've made a positive difference in this world.  I could be doing so much more with the time I spend here...but I don't.   This makes me happy.

Writing is both a release and a hobby for me.

Writing about anything however has become more and more difficult as our political differences seem to define everything now.   When I am writing about the environmental movement I'm crossing into politics.  I'm trying very hard not to be blatant about it.

Yes, I am a leftist.  Personally I have issues with Capitalism but I believe it can be reformed.  I believe in something called Social Democracy, or sometimes referred to as the Nordic model.   The choices that I make to help save the planet are based on my personal and political beliefs.  


For example, my desire to eat more of a vegan/vegetarian diet is based on the science of climate change, and was influenced by my political beliefs.  I am willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good.  That does not mean that I can't treat myself to something however, for example last night I enjoyed a hamburger and that was the first burger I've eaten in sometime.  That's because I wanted a hamburger. I may be encouraging you to cut back on the amount of beef and other meat you eat, but that choice is ultimately yours to make. 

I can encourage you to ride a bike to work, or take a bus even though I don't have a choice in either matter.  Where I live there is simply no bus to ride.  Sometimes we have no choice in the matter.  However we all have to do something.

That's what this blog is designed to do to some extent.  It's a call to action.


Speaking of calls to action, I feel that I've wandered a bit away from the homesteading that I originally wanted to do.   I am more in love with the idea than the actual practice but I am starting to feel that I should put a little more effort into the land that I own.

In fact, my lovely wife Sue and I have discussed buying the acre land next to us.  It's mostly wooded and would need a lot of cleanup...but also has potential for a variety of projects.  I still have trees that I want to plant and want to work on a few other little things.  

While I doubt that we will ever be to a point of self sufficiency - we would have to be much more serious than either of us are currently - I still like the idea of edible lawns.   

 

I can't encourage others if I'm not leading by example myself.   So I'm not sure if this blog will be changing or not in the future.   

I do now that we accomplished little over the last winter and this year has been a combination of different issues that have made us question some things.   So we honestly don't know what the future holds for ourselves and this blog.   All we know is that it's going to be interesting.


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