Lesson From Grandma About The Great Recession

Do you know this famous Grandma?

Grandma: "Hello?"

Me: "Hi Grandma! Its me, your best Grandson in Arizona!"

Grandma: "Well hi there! How are you sweetie?"

Me: "Just fine Grandma. Just calling to check in with you."

I try to call Grandma at least a few times a year.  She's getting "up there" in her years and I need to get my "Grandma fix" every now and then.  She's so motivating with her kindness and wisdom.  She's the quintessential arms-open, give Grandma a big hug, gray haired Grandmother.

Born in 1927, she seen her share of life's experiences.  She was raised on a farm in Hennessey, Oklahoma with both parents and three siblings.  She married my Grandfather and had four children of her own.  She insisted on taking care of her husband for over a decade after he came down with Alzheimer's inside their own home.  She bathed him, fed and clothed him every day until he passed.  That was almost 17 years ago.  She has helped raise three Grandkids and even took meals to an elderly woman on her street for several years.

I don't know what it was about her generation but they sure seemed to have learned something.  Something that I'm not sure was passed down to the Baby Boomers.  Both my folks are on their third marriage.  Finances are a struggle and I wonder If I might be taking care of them someday.  But not Granny.  She has worked herself into owning 400 acres of farmland.  She rents it out to other farmers and lets them put cattle on her land.  She has oil wells and crops that still go to harvest and produce an income.  She doesn't rely on food stamps or government hand outs...and she's 84 years old.

Did the Great Depression affect YOUR family?

I harvest every bit of knowledge from her I can get.  In our recent conversation, I boasted that we were learning the old skills: gardening, sewing, knitting, canning, etc.  She was pleased and I could feel the joy in the tone of her voice.  I wanted to learn a little more during this conversation...so I asked her some questions.

Me: "Grandma, do you remember The Great Depression?"

I wanted to see how she would compare The Great Depression to what our American society is going through today.  Was it worse, was it easier today?  I expected stories of soup lines and hard times.

Grandma said: "No. I don't really remember much about it."

Huh? Is Grandma starting to lose her memory? How could anyone of that time period NOT know the Great Depression?

That's when she said: "You see, we were farmers.  So it didn't affect us.  We always grew our own food and took care of ourselves.  I knew it was going on but it didn't really affect our family."

And there it was...the plain obvious truth that so many "sheeple" can't see or understand.  Self sufficiency breeds self reliance.  Use it up, wear it out...make it do, or do without.  Much of America has forgotten this old saying.  In today's world where "it's cheaper just to buy a new one that to fix the old one" is a common phrase, but we've forgotten the main point.  It's cheaper to buy a new one than to PAY SOMEONE ELSE to fix it.  But why not fix it yourself?  Or just do without?  Or trade with a neighbor that knows how to fix it?

Take care of your land and it will take care of you.

I ask same question, the one I asked my Grandma, to anyone patient I get in my department at the hospital who was alive during the Great Depression.  The last time I asked a 90+ year old patient, they said "It didn't affect us, my Daddy owned the grocery store...so we always had what we needed."  I'm sure the grocery store didn't sell tires, or clothes, or kitchen sinks.  The only thing we NEED is food and if you control your own food supply (ie., farming/gardening) then you are going to be okay in rough times.  Is owning a grocery store really that much different that just being prepared and having a years' worth of food in storage? Don't we kind of become our own grocer when we prep sufficiently?

I just intended on sharing Grandma's wisdom and I went off on a little detour.  I'll end it here.  I think you know what I'm saying.  And if you don't by now...I'll be praying for you...and all the other sheeple out there.

~OJD

OJD's Hero of the Month: Richard (Dick) Proenneke

Dick lived in this handmade cabin in Alaska for 30 years.

Survivalism, preparedness, self sufficiency...it's all over the internet today. There are scores of survival podcasts, youtube channels and blogs available at your fingertips 24 hours a day.

You wanna talk about self sufficiency and survival? Let me introduce you to Dick Proenneke. He was born in 1916 in Lee County Iowa. He served in the United States Navy as a carpenter during World War II and worked as a diesel mechanic most of his first 50 years.

What makes him a hero from my point of view?  Around age 52, he moved to a remote part of Alaska, Twin Lakes, and with only a handful of tools, built everything he needed to survive...for the next 30 years. He built a cabin by hand from local trees. He built his food storage on 20 foot stilts so animals couldn't get to it and used a removeable ladder for access. He either grew or caught everything he ate with  few exceptions. Alaskan winters came and went, but he handled it all by himself.

The unique dutch door on his cabin.

The best part of Dick's adventure is that he captured it all on his little 8mm video camera. He documented the whole experience in his personal journal. He took thousands upon thousands of photographs. You can read his writings from 1974-1980 thanks to a link from the National Park Service. He and a brother ended up donating over 90 pounds of journals to the Park Service for posterity. The cabin he lived in is now a popular tourist attraction and kept up by the National Park Service.

At the age of 82, he returned to California to live with his brother. The cold winter months in Alaska had been getting harder and harder for him to endure. He lived four more years and died of a stroke in 2003 at age 86.

A video documentary of his story can be read at IMDB and a copy shows up on youtube from time to time. I'd post a direct link but I'm sure it wouldn't last long due to copyright. I recommend you search youtube for Dick Proenneke and watch some of his life's work. If you like it, order a copy from Bob Swerer.  I recommend Alone in the Wilderness and Alaska, Silence and Solitude.

If you enjoy the outdoors, being self sufficient and prepared, or want to see how one man survived 30 years in the worst weather conditions with only a small amount of hand tools...do yourself a favor and watch Alone in the Wilderness.

Going Off Grid: Lessons from Survivorman

I am always looking for more ways to educate myself on self sufficiency. Seems like the more time I spend at work, the more I think about how to stop working. Is that weird?

I was pleasantly shocked tonight to stumble across a mini-series of videos made by Les Stroud from Survivorman fame. The first series called Survivorman Off The Grid Movie documents how Les took his time scouting out wilderness in Canada and ended up claiming his own 150 acres of paradise for "half the price" of a house in the suburbs.

Episode by episode he shows how he uses solar and wind for his hydro (Canadian term for power?). He renovates an old cabin and builds a new one next to it. From what looks to be an almost two year project, he finally ends up with a cozy cabin in the woods where he will live with his wife and two children. They homeschool and are completely free from the grid. Les earns income from his tv work and a music band.

I can't believe I didn't find this 2009 series until today. While he does talk about building a paradise on little money, he does seem to have a little more than the average Joe...considering he used a helicopter in one clip to fly his cabin wood into his remote area. To each his own. At least he's not dependent on anyone else for his electricity, food or childrens' education.

Note: I also found an older series called Snowshoes and Solitude where he and his wife lived "primatively" immediately after being married. They spent one full year in a remote area with primative hand tools.