Good morning everyone,
I’ve had this article for a while. I pulled it up yesterday and reread it and found it applies so much now in dealing with chronic illness, isolation, aging and pandemics. I’m happy to share it and hope it helps some in coping with change. All the best/fm
Actually I think those of us who have always lived in a rural environment- albeit with some forays into a slightly more urban environment - although not big conurbations (apart from the odd day or week) probably are coping better with the current crisis.
We do understand that in the main Mother Nature is in control, we try and manipulate her sometimes, but she eventually gets her own way. We see her in her good and bad times on a daily basis, we learn to live with her not against her. Maybe not as successfully as the Navajo, but certainly better than those in a truly urban society.
We may have water, electricity, broadband on tap, but we don’t have 24 hour shops, bars, coffee shop etc. We actually have to wait for things.......it’s not all at hand 24/7. We don’t live our lives at 100 miles an hour.
For youngsters that may be boring, but surprisingly, or maybe not, once they’ve had their time in the hedonistic days of the city’s bright lights they invariably return to a calmer life!
We will get through this, but some better than others.
I agree! I have lived all over including a remote wilderness ranger station in the southwest US. I live semi urban now and sometimes float back to those remote times. I would pick country any day. You are blessed.
I am used to living in more rural areas and tbh I am finding this isolation quite enjoyable. Some of it may be because I am anti social normally. My only complaint is I didnt get compost for my garden before lock down and old pallets for husband to recycle into planters. I am relatively easy to please.🤣😇
My husband is obsessed with old pallets!
I originally saw garden furniture made from pallets in pinterest and suggested OHn made me some. Luckily youngest daughter boyfriend can get them free. X YBB
Oh yes..tell me about the compost....was going to get some the day before lockdown came into force..and blithely thought ‘oh I’ll leave that ‘til tomorrow!’
Have some on order online.
I liked this:
"Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.
The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice."
We had a practice here last November when we had a massive dump of snow that cut electricity for some for up to a week, roads were blocked again and again by fallen trees and shops ran out of diesel for generators and deepfreezers thawed out.
That frozen water caused a massive effect.
A week without electricity would not be much fun!!
The part of the village that had that was unreachable by road because of trees but most of the people up there have wood burning stoves that both heat and cook. Lighting must have been interesting. We were only off for a total of 30 hours and had a few hours respite, long enough to charge the computers! Phones were off because the network was overloaded and landlines down. But I had candles to hand - had them for about 20+ years but they still worked 
And we had heating from the wood burner - mine doesn't really do for cooking except jacket potatoes in a tiny oven.
Our electric outages are sporadic and don’t usually last long, but the best thing for lighting for me is an ancient kerosene lamp. It’s from the farm where I spent my teen years. 😁 🤗
If you can get some garden solar lights and some sunshine, you can bring them in the house at night, stand in a jar and voila! there is light.
That's a great tip.
If you use small lights you can cluster them. They also make a nice soft light
Do solar lights work through a window? Bit thick concerning things like that.🤭
Yes they would charge in principle I think.
