t-?

This is where, as I kind of expected they would, things got tricky.

We have already moved the project up a few days because adequate preparations were not made in time.

Most important delays: 

1. GOAT?

2. operating the solar panel

3. somewhere to... um... live?

With due credit to my mom for pestering me about getting the tent set up long before I thought necessary... The fact is, today, it is not even complete.

It is VERY close, all we need to do is secure the tent bottom to the platform and tie the rain fly to the frame along the tent walls. But it is hoisted! And it looks beautiful! But it took ALL DAY yesterday, and a considerable amount of energy out of each of us (me, Karen, and Patricia), and also out of Kenny, the carpenter my mom hired to help us figure out the platform. About a week ago, Kenny first came over to help build the girders and joists for the tent platform, and then ended up coming back every day since to make amendments and bring materials we'd overlooked initially, until he became effectively the tentmaster. 

Let me say, there is absolutely NO WAY we would have been able to build our tent by ourselves. 

The whole process was enough to be its own senior project. And the tent company's website says "2 people necessary, 4 makes it easier." We had 8 PEOPLE working hard supporting the poles, tying the tent to the rails, paring down 2"x4"'s, hammering in stakes, etc., and we were STILL afraid the tent was going to collapse on us. 

To make matters worse, we really tried to start the project yesterday, but we were hit pretty hard with the realization that we had very little substantial food available to us. (e.g., we were pretty f-ing hungry.) Especially without the goat (which would provide 1-2 GALLONS OF MILK A DAY, or a lot more than we could use), we realized that we were basically relying on (if we're lucky) 7 or 8 eggs a day, the dried provisions, whatever we can procure from our garden, and good weather to bike in to make produce from local farms available to us, or allow us to go fishing. 

This last is a steep requirement, as the weather has been iffy at best throughout the whole summer. This could make biking difficult, and has already made an impact on the productivity of our garden. 

I'm not saying that the circumstances I've just mentioned are enough to foil the whole project. 

Not at all.

I'm saying that at this point, we really haven't thought out some important aspects of our off-the-grid lifestyle. Yesterday was kind of a test day that really put things into perspective. 

Honestly, for the past week, I've been thinking, if I eat enough now, maybe I'll put on a few pounds and I won't be so hungry when we're off the grid and have very little "food security."

(This was a stupid idea, eating more has just made me hungrier.)

But it was a stupid idea for several reasons.

1.    Why am I isolating this month from the rest of my life like it's a one month intensive that will be dropped on September 1st? Shouldn't I be thinking about it as an integrative experience that I can carry on into "regular" life later on? Shouldn't the people I meet have a sense that they can adopt some of our practices to make a positive change in their lifestyle? Is that not the point of the project in the first place?

2.   What is the benefit of living with next to nothing for the whole month, other than learning to appreciate the value of food and shelter when there is a dearth of it? If there's anything I learned in health class, crash dieting does not work. We were essentially preparing to "crash" into sustainability, which is itself almost a contradiction in terms. If the case made is that one must live without in order to appreciate the value of the essentials, a crash course could be enlightening. But trying to create a microcosm of the shift society must make to reach sustainability will only work if we drop our already eco-conscious mentality and think practically. People will respond to community engagement, and the importance of global connectivity is non-negotiable to most people today. Indeed, addressing our serious environmental problems depends on international cooperation. This is why I'm keeping a BLOG! Believe me, I would be JUST as happy to retreat into the woods and forget the world for a month. There would be no greater freedom. (Plus, we wouldn't have had to deal with the damned solar panel and 12v battery and the mean guy at Radio Shack.) But what difference would that make? People become hermits every day! And you know what? No one ever hears from them again!

 

3. Naturally, things tend to evolve towards efficiency. Consider the race for an affordable car that exceeds 100 MPG. 10 million bucks and the Automotive X-Prize, anyone? Or imagine you are going on a monthlong mountain climbing trip or backpacking through Europe. Imagine also that you have taken great pains to make sure you are completely well-equipped for your venture, almost excessively so; you've got every state-of-the-art piece of equipment and gear to take you up the mountain, or an outfit for every destination on your list. Chances are, after a month or so, you will start to shed things you thought, at the outset, would be crucial. This is the same sort of way for a family who is trying to green their lifestyle. Considerations like "Maybe we don't need this TV," or "Maybe we could bike to work in the morning," come into play to affect a simpler, more efficient way of living. 

As my mom said yesterday, it's better to start with more than you need, so you can reach sustainability through elimination than to start out with nothing, and worry constantly about survival. In the latter case, the only way to go is to make concession after concession until you have found a system that sustains you. Where's the joy in that!? In terms of morale, at least, every concession will impart failure, will make the entire idea of harmonious, environmentally sound, "sustainable" living seem like a pipe dream.

SO! 

What do we need but a day or two to get ourselves together! 

Now that the tent is done (or almost, I'm about to run out with Kenny to finish it up), we will have a home base, which we can furnish, and finally feel a sense of security that has been completely absent until now.

(So that's pretty much where we're at...

Next post will contain more thorough and episodic descriptions, 

video of us erecting the tent, 

some more pictures of us in the field, 

plus a diagram of our solar panel/battery arrangement.)