Last Evening and the Library

Last night we attended the VFW awards banquet in Camden, SC. As reported here last month, our two oldest boys won first place in their district for the Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen scholarship contests respectively.

We met some very nice people. There is a hall of honor (in the American Legion Hall where the banquet was) where there are pictures of all the men from that AL post who were killed in action. We spent some time with looking through the pictures. The boys were amazed at how young most of them were-"They don't look any older than me." commented oldest son-an upsetting remark for Mrs. Curley.

Unfortunately it was another late night-so my resolution for getting to Mass at least on Fridays was broken this morning.

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Before the banquet, we got to Camden way early. So we went to the library. I could spend all day there. As a kid we would go every week or every other week. We would take our limit of books and be finished long before our next trip. However, as an adult in the lucrative 80's and 90's, I seldom went to the library. If there was a book I wanted to read, I simply bought it. Those days are over.

Now the library is once again a treasure-trove. We spent over an hour there yesterday, and I didn't even get to the history or the fiction section. What did I come away with? 2 books by John Seymour on traditional crafts; a book on tanning and curing hides, 2 books on composting (something we need to be more successful with here); a book on pricing woodworking pieces; and a book called "Living the Good Life" by Scott and Helen Nearing.

This latter I think will be interesting. Scott Nearing was a pacifist, vegetarian, and possibly and anarchist and maybe a Communist. Scott and Helen moved from a small apartment in NY city to a broken down farm in Vermont and made a life whose goal was practical self-sufficiency which left 1/2 their time for intellectual and leisure pursuits. This book is their story. Their move was actually precipitated by Scott's inability to keep a teaching job (economics) due to his radical views. (This probably won't be the case today). Their book is credited with being an impetus for the American "back to the land movement".

So far, (in the book) there has been no mention of God-I assume they are atheists, but I expect some of their practical experiences will be interesting-I can't believe they will be as humorous as some of ours.

In researching this post, I looked up the back-to-the-land movement on Wikipedia. Here is an interesting comment:

Generally, the back-to-the-landers who stayed on the land had three attributes in common:

1. Source of regular cash income from external sources
2. Married or in a relationship with someone with a comparable level of commitment
3. Previous exposure to rural living

Those who succeeded were realistic about their financial needs. Many had flexible occupations—like writing and other creative work, or a trade—that they could engage in from their home. Others had steady, if less glamorous, jobs in a nearby town. Those who succeeded were people who could readily acquire skills in gardening or crop farming, the construction and maintenance of buildings, machinery maintenance, water-system development and maintenance, and the like. Also, they had chosen a homestead that was comfortable and practical.

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Finally, I hope to have two big and exciting (at least for us) surprises next week. Stay tuned....

Oremus pro invicem!