Faith Farm

Books and wisdom

I "dropped in" on a friend of mine yesterday (sorry Jan!) and she gave me a couple of books to read this weekend.....wow-what a treasure!  The first one is Back to Basics Reader's Digest and the other is Handbook of Rural Skills and Technology.  Both books are out of print( I believe) but you can still get them if you look hard enough.  Now I realize I am a bit of a resource nut--but I just love these two books.  Everything from building - to weaving wheels are in these two books.  Well worth the time to find and add to your collection of how-to books. 

There is an entry in the front of the Back to Basics book I would like to share with you-

Americans are a contradictory people.  No nation has ever moved father from the harsh realities of wilderness existence.  Yet, paradoxically, no nation has clung more tenaciously to its earlier ideals--to the concept of personal independence, to the mystique of the frontier, to the early pioneers' sense of rugged self-reliance.  It is as if somewhere, deep in the American spirit, there has always lurked a distrust of the very technology that we, more than any other people, have spawned.  Perhaps this distrust was an accident, but perhaps it was fate; for in the light of recent events that have called into question our easy dependence on modern technology, it seems to have been prophetic.  Americans have yearned for a return to basics; now, suddenly, it has become a necessity.

Now-I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me that returning to the ways of our grandparents is just wisdom.  Plain and simple.  Call it what you may--but living simple--within our means, providing for our families, having peace in a world of conflict, striving for independence and not dependence is what we are supposed to do.  I don't know where we took a wrong turn.....but I do know that there are many out there that are trying to direct it in the right direction again.  In balance and peace.  So to all of you out there--thank you for sharing your stories-thank you for letting others know that they are not alone in this great desire....you are a comfort to many.

Back To Basics

{ 10:32, Sunday, December 2, 2007 } { Posted by Linda }

Hi, I have that very book to , for many years now, I love to go through it . Dated pictures but thats ok, : ).

Now I have never read that part before and it was great, makes this book an enough bigger treasure then I thought. Thanks for sharing.

I added you to my freinds list , I like your blog material and info so I'll be back for more visits

I'm interested in solar to, we built an earthcontact home under 20 years ago and use passive solar for much of our heating, along w/ fireplace , but we do have propane for backup which I don't really care to use.

Thanks for sharing your interest in homesteading.

tc , linda