I've thought long and hard about what to resolve for self improvement, health and psychological well-being in 2012, and I've hit on a tantalizing solution.
I really can't take full credit, as my sister Catherine absolutely inspired me when she indicated she and her husband were considering civil war reenactments and tent camping as near-future activities for their little family. I agree completely that 6 months really isn't too young for a little one to start learning to survive as in Olden Tymes, without the benefit of an exersaucer.
I can just imagine baby Clara in a cute antebellum gown, playing on a neatly swept patch of dirt outside a tent while Catherine does a home arts presentation on the use of a bucket and washboard. The tent will be handy for discrete feedings in between public demonstrations of "how to get those whites really white again." This will lead naturally to a hand-dyeing demonstration -- "when all else fails, gather pecan shells and turn everything brown!"
I'm not sure how you babyproof an open fire and enormous iron dyepot, but that's just part of the reality aspect, right? Remember, authenticity is key. And when that gets boring, there's always cavorting through cornfields to the sound of rifle fire and cannon boom. Getting buff takes on a whole new meaning when wearing full-on-antebellum while running cross-country, carrying a baby.
So back to me -- I was pondering what to do with my family that will be equally health-minded, self sufficient, buff-making, and meaningful. I want something that will both benefit us now, and produce deeply cherished memories for future reflection and nostalgia.
And I think I have finally settled on it: we will migrate to those woods nearby and begin living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. We can always pop over to the house for a quick change of clothes, but the rest will all take place in the great outdoors on the shores of Lake Tuscaloosa.
I hope there are some pecan trees. Everyone likes pecans. And after four or five days of living outside, drinking Lake T and eating nothing but pecans, I don't think we will feel the least compunction about bringing down one of those deer and having that for dinner instead, roasted on an open fire.
Not to mention fishing. We will totally do some fishing. The tree climbing, deer chasing, frigid lake bathing, wood gathering and so on will have us all fit as fiddles in no time flat. Whatever misery we endure will only make us appreciate spring all the more, when we can add young grass to our diet. In May we'll be able to find blackberries. And until then, we will gather lots and lots of pecans. I had better sort out how to weave baskets from local vegetation.
We will walk the kids to school and then continue to work... So will need to leave at about 5 every morning. But the sun's down by 5 in the evening so we will still get plenty of sleep.
Just imagine! No more electricity = no more screens, or phone, or anything. In fact, we could really just quit our jobs and enroll the children in our own Wisdom of Nature Church School. The dogs are going to love this. The cats will need more time to adjust. Want to come see us? You know where to look --- just drive to the end of our street, and start walking. You might have to holler.
