Holding Patterns and More Plans

We are still in a holding pattern, waiting for the closing on our new home with the growing season slipping away one warm day at a time. I'm disappointed, but there's no point in dwelling on my frustration. So I've turned my attention to reading books, blogs, magazines, and anything else I can get my hands on and working my plans down to finer and finer details.

In place of the progress reports I had hoped to have to share by now, I've decided to share my thoughts on some of the things I'm reading and how they are shaping my path even before I take the first step. So a few times a week, I'll be posting about something I've read that has given me pause, added a new idea to my homesteading plans, or brought my attention to a previously unnoticed facet of the issues that set me on this path.

One thing that has been taking shape in my mind even longer than the idea of personal self-sufficiency is shopping locally. The economy in Michigan has been struggling well before the recent housing and credit crises pushed the issue into the national spotlight, and I've long felt that buying from local business whenever I can is one way to show support for the people around me and the community I am a part of. It is extremely gratifying to see more and more people latching on to the idea of supporting local business, and in keeping with that I'm also going to be sharing some of the baby steps we've taken and some of the businesses we're supporting as we shift a growing percentage of our money away from the "big boxes" in favor of spending locally.

In this vein, I'd like to link a flyer I came across on another Michigan locavore blog, One Acre Farm, highlighting businesses and products made in our great state and the impact buying local can have on our troubled economy. It is far from all inclusive, but it is an excellent starting point and illustrates the remarkable diversity that can be found right here at home.

Reflections

I've been remiss in posting updates here, mainly because our closing got postponed once again and I've been throwing myself a bit of a pity party over getting such a late start with my gardens and my home, but the news today has my mulling over the reasons I've started on a path of greater personal self-sufficiency.

Here in Michigan, the news about Chrysler and now GM is nothing short of terrifying. It doesn't matter that neither DH nor I work for an automaker or automotive supplier. This hurts us all.

Our old house is quickly becoming an oasis in a sea of darkness. There are now 4 homes still occupied on our block, and another 5 vacant in some stage of the foreclosure process. Every time I open the door, I get a reminder of the stakes in this little gamble we're taking - if not for buying the new home outright, we'd be one bad season away from joining the ranks of those families who have moved on, often in with relatives, selling what they can and leaving so much behind because they have no place for it to go.

We're hopeful that we can find a tenant for the old house, but if that fails, the home we worked so hard to buy will go dark as well. We've already spoken with the mortgage company about short sale and deed in lieu of foreclosure options, just in case.

I'm eternally grateful that we have the ability to buy this new home. It is a dream in so many ways, not just because it is the type of home I've always wanted, but also because it is a home that is ours, that no one can take from us no matter how bad things get. It is a giant step towards true security for my family, the security of knowing that we'll never have to worry over providing a roof over our children's heads, something few blue collar families can attain these days.

But the house alone isn't enough.

There is so much more we need to do.

It isn't just the economy. The energy crisis may have taken a back burner as economic chaos dominates the headlines, but it is still there, looming on the horizon, threatening so much of what we take for granted.

I'm only one person, acting on behalf of one family, and I don't kid myself that what I do has any measurable impact in the big picture. Still, I have to try. What is the alternative? Burying my head in the sand and going about life as usual, or obsessing over CNN and allowing myself to be paralyzed in the face of issues bigger than any one person can solve?

Our house is our own, once we close. Now it is time to turn my efforts to other ways to make my family more financially and practically self-sufficient.

I've always been drawn to a different way of life, the life my grandmother lived in her childhood on the family farm. At her side, I learned to grow the foods I loved, and can the harvest for the winter. I'm really excited to start applying those skills to providing for my family and adding to them as we walk this path.

I want to sleep easy at night knowing that I've done all I can to reduce my family's dependence on volatile economic conditions for survival.

I want to know that I have food stored to get us through tough times.

I want to reduce our essential expenses in any way possible, through insulating and upgrading to energy efficient appliances, putting natural resources like collected rainwater to practical use, and using energy more conservatively.

I want to know that my energy and my money are being spent in environmentally and economically responsible ways, reducing food miles, growing food without the aid of chemicals that further damage our precious environment, supporting local producers and small business.

It is sure to be a long road with many bumps and course corrections, but it is a journey well worth taking. Maybe time will prove me to be a pessimist, in which case my only reward will be sleeping a little easier at night now and having the money saved to spend later. That is the beauty of responsible, self-sufficient living. There is no downside - if the S hits the fan, we'll be more prepared than we would have otherwise. If it doesn't, we have lower routine expenses and more of our money can be spent on things we truly enjoy.