tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post8475853195825217638..comments2024-01-10T11:19:56.456-08:00Comments on What Is Sustainable: SavagesWhat Is Sustainablehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-61805998653317742612017-04-12T14:57:24.066-07:002017-04-12T14:57:24.066-07:00Thanks for sharing John! I once tried something l...Thanks for sharing John! I once tried something like that on a shoestring budget. Instead of successfully creating a cool organic mini-farm, I had a mind-blowing nine year experience in the bosom of nature. It was tremendous!What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-73824831967783407302017-04-11T15:50:38.776-07:002017-04-11T15:50:38.776-07:00From 1974 to 2004, I lived off the grid in Central...From 1974 to 2004, I lived off the grid in Central Minnesota. The first ten without electricity in my home. I cooked and heated with wood and pumped my water into a retaining tank in the ceiling for gravity feed. I got my psychology degree using kerosene lamps. The last 20 I had both solar and wind energy collecting devices with my home wired 12 volt DC and a small inverter for my computer and vacumm cleaner. Many tales here.<br /><br />During the 1970s, I manufactured a solar hot air panel and was chairperson for one of the state solar organizations for three years.<br /><br />In February of 2003, I was diagnosed with a huge cancerous tumor growing out of my right lung. I was given weeks to live without treatment and minimal odds with treatment.<br />My wood-cooking stove heated my home as well as that was how I cooked my food. I had lived this way, off-the-grid, for 30 years. In Minnesota, in March and April during treatment, it was cold so I need wood for heating as well as cooking. My kindly neighbor Dan came over and split some of my wood for me. (I love splitting wood so left it to be split each day.) However, I still needed to split some myself. <br /> <br />Had a serious run in the end November of 2015, when I spent a month on my back in the hospital with two long tubes in my back and draining my lungs (Pleurodesis). Then another two months (December and January of this year) barely about to move. Finally, I am coming back. <br /><br />I am on the mend again. My partner and I are building a place that can be run without fossil fuels if necessary. We started back in 2007. Our greenhouse is with glass not plastic. All our buildings are passive solar. We have a root cellar that keeps last year’s potatoes viable. We have started a living fence around the orchard. Our wells can be run manually and I am setting up a catchment system from our roofs. <br /><br />We have 400 blueberry bushes, delivered potatoes to a local customer (we give many pounds to the food shelf). I finished the electricity in our new garage. Did this with an oxygen tank hanging from my shoulder.<br /><br />I have done all this in spite of my illnesses. This all to give the next generation a leg up.<br />If it all goes to “hell in a hand basket”, we are having a ball growing and playing creatively.<br />One caveat - living off grid was an incredible learning experience in so many ways; however, it was an illusion that took time to become evident. I was always connected to the fossil fuel supply system and the global industrial infrastructure. As I am now.<br />John Weber https://www.blogger.com/profile/18104568019314685460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-26521494861495923442017-04-10T15:31:59.371-07:002017-04-10T15:31:59.371-07:00Matt, good! The transition from Herd City to real...Matt, good! The transition from Herd City to reality is very exciting, lots of long-held illusions to throw overboard. For some folks, it’s a stormy trip, a heart-ripping trauma. Reality isn’t toxic. You just have to adapt to a world that operates in full stupidity mode — ongoing bad craziness that cannot be wished away, or cured by miracles.What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-79143566440993241472017-04-10T05:22:55.350-07:002017-04-10T05:22:55.350-07:00Richard - thanks for the encouragement and words o...Richard - thanks for the encouragement and words of caution. I've got a ways to go before I go nuts! John - thanks also for the reminder! I've read John's blog before...I enjoy his analysis of 'renewable' energies. It's all too logical for broad acceptance! Matt Colombohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00362723804794789171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-12702023909147646002017-04-06T16:29:21.287-07:002017-04-06T16:29:21.287-07:00Matt, John is an interesting lad. His blog is HER...Matt, John is an interesting lad. His blog is <a href="http://sunweber.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-56657372406988061882017-04-06T15:48:12.435-07:002017-04-06T15:48:12.435-07:00Matt - I agree with Richard. Most of us with acce...Matt - I agree with Richard. Most of us with access were born into these circumstances. I have grieved the harm off and on for decades. It is important to be gentle and kind to yourself and others. John Weber https://www.blogger.com/profile/18104568019314685460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-50240547369657910742017-04-06T15:17:57.206-07:002017-04-06T15:17:57.206-07:00Hi Matt! Good! You’re never going to live harmle...Hi Matt! Good! You’re never going to live harmlessly. Do your best. Pay attention. Be careful not to whip yourself bloody and drive yourself nuts. What Is Sustainablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10227382786082159733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-10549636191635199562017-04-06T05:41:19.487-07:002017-04-06T05:41:19.487-07:00These stories continue to give me the strength to ...These stories continue to give me the strength to change my ways. These tragedies are unacceptable and avoidable. I am complicit in them because I use industrial society's equipment. A song you might enjoy, that is always stuck in my head:<br /><br />"I Will Not Celebrate Columbus" by Jim Page<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHpMxmn9ggAMatt Colombohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00362723804794789171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-89713483024558321242017-04-04T05:00:45.352-07:002017-04-04T05:00:45.352-07:00The powerful have the world viewThe powerful have the world viewuuubigdummyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05434908385580354354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4136626590097801169.post-14438732761732737512017-04-02T07:58:35.662-07:002017-04-02T07:58:35.662-07:00Very sad, but an echo of so many times.
More goo...Very sad, but an echo of so many times. <br />More good work Richard. I left face book, please email to be connected.John Weber https://www.blogger.com/profile/18104568019314685460noreply@blogger.com