Better Off_ Flipping the Switch on Technology - Eric Brende [96]
The result: during the second growing season I expected to add peppers to my cash crops.
The occurrence was not atypical. As if participation in mutual aid were not enough—here a house raising, there a harvest bee—each get-together seemed to provide the hinge to another economic opportunity. Connecting the dots by cloppity-clop. As the pieces came together, our livelihood almost seemed to be generating itself.
I was clearheaded enough to realize that, as a form of travel, the horse was not universally appropriate. For farmers, or others living in rural areas, the horse made sense. Besides shrinking the distance among farms, a work animal provided manure for the fields and power for the implements. But city dwellers might view their situation differently. For them, the human leg makes sense as a primary mode of propulsion.
We, however, weren’t sure we’d be returning to the city.
News reached us of a farm that had come up for sale in the area. One of the Minimites was relocating to another part of the county, and he needed to unload his place. It was outfitted for Minimite use and conveniently situated on one edge of the community, not too far from the county seat.
On one of our excursions, we stopped by for a look-see. It had a working well with good drinking water. It had a large cistern that collected rainwater from the metal roof and fed it directly to a pitcher pump at the kitchen sink. The house was ample in size, solidly built, and well laid out. Several outbuildings surrounded it: a barn, chicken coop, equipment shelter, and large workshop.
The view was nice. The property was not too big, not too small. It had enough pasture for a horse and a cow, enough tillable land for a few acres of pumpkins and sorghum, enough woods to cull for firewood. There was even a small guest house in case we had visitors or wanted to attract future neighbors. Nothing was electrified, and the toilets were outdoors. The price was affordable.
After the success of our crops, we were in a solid financial position. Our costs had gone down while our income grew. Mary had enough savings from her old accounting job for a down payment, and the price was low enough that we didn’t think we would have any trouble reselling it if we needed to. It would be a simple matter of signing a few papers and handing over a check. Even if we weren’t sure we wanted to stay, we could hold the property temporarily until things became clearer. Properties like this didn’t come up very often; it could serve as a hedge against future uncertainty.
After looking at a few more farms, we realized the place was a steal. We signed the papers. It provided a hedge.
As our time to make a decision approached, so did the community’s. The population was bursting at the seams, a second schoolhouse was being built, and fresh leadership was needed. Much was at stake. Candidates’ personalities and inclinations were by now pretty well understood, and everyone silently considered the choices they represented. I wasn’t sure what the choices meant to them, but to me they might well frame the identity and character of their whole venture. What, then, were they about? Mastery, in the subtly yielding sense in which I understood it? Or servitude, blind conformity, mechanoid motion? True wholeness, leisure, freedom? Or compulsion, extremism, penance?
The day at last came. Members assembled in the meetinghouse. Prayers were invoked; words chanted. Ancient tradition had determined the method. By biblical precedent, nominees were officially designated