What's the Point?

      I was watching the idiot box the other night, scrolling though the on-screen guide, fuming over the fact that I pay so much for so little, when I happened upon a show called Off Grid Living. Or it was called something like that. I don't truly remember. But my interest was piqued, and I thought it was good timing that I should see a show like that. I've watched a show before called Homestead Rescue and I like that one, chances are I'd like this too.

     Ha! What a joke this show was. The episode that I stumbled on was some guy that runs a business building off the grid homes for apparently very wealthy people. This latest build of his was out in the wilds (supposedly) of South Dakota. He was building a very upscale home constructed from 4 shipping containers. After getting all of the concrete footers poured, steel containers welded to the plates and footers, steel girders added for support and all of the luxury off-grid accoutrements, the final price tag was somewhere around $300,000. Don't get me wrong here, the home was GORGEOUS as well as all of the very trendy and chic furnishings. I don't know, it kind of missed the mark for me. I mean, technically it was off grid because it wasn't hooked up to any town utilities but come on....

     I know I'm not alone in this, but to me, the point of being off grid, or as near to it as possible, is to learn how to be as self-sufficient as possible. Being off grid means learning how to generate your own electricity, water, and food. It means growing gardens for preserving. For some, but not all, it means growing livestock for meat. It means teaching yourself the skills to live totally on your own should the need arise. This show was really just about wealthy people paying someone to build them a beautiful home with state-of-the-art solar, well and heating/cooling technology. They sure as hell didn't look as though they were getting ready to till a garden or muck out some stalls. 

     I think, as with other things, there's now a trend to have the appearance of being "cool" and independent with your off-grid home without actually having to do anything. You're blessed to have enough money to pay someone else to come and do all the work while you reap the comfort. And you know, good for you, I guess. But when the shit hits the fan, you're going to find yourself in a bind if you haven't learned anything about the lifestyle. It's the same way with people who love the style of farmhouse country but would absolutely lose their minds if they had to clean up some chicken poop. 

     Rural lifestyles are more than just a trendy decorating style to me. They are a way of life that requires grit, determination, flexibility and faith. Faith in whatever god you choose to believe in, but faith in yourself and your abilities to take care of yourself and your family. They're lifestyles that require intelligence because if you can't learn things both by doing and by reading, then you're up the proverbial creek without a paddle. I'm not against technology. Far from it. I think the new technologies we have available to us now for solar and geothermal and wind are making an off-grid lifestyle more accessible to more people. Those technologies though still need to be maintained and repaired and if you don't know how to do it, then you're still dependent on some outside entity. My goal is to have whatever newer technologies that I can, but I also want the solid foundation of tried and true "old-fashioned" and "primitive" methods. And I want to know the ins and outs of it all. Whatever winds up on our little patch of earth, I want our hands and minds and hearts to have had a part in putting it there. 

     There will come a time when we are all we have to rely on. You can be among the people who will be throwing their shoulders into the challenge, taking it on with confidence, or you can be among the people in their beautiful, dark, cold, off-grid home looking for someone to help them get the lights back on.