In Mole Creek, today’s the fifth day of Spring. At this time of the year, day-by-day the sun climbs higher in the sky. And more hours between sunrise and sunset means more sunshine on our solar panels. In our eight years here, we’ve never run our backup generator after August. So yesterday I rolled up the extension cord (pictured) that connects it to the battery charger.
I love living off the grid. So I was intrigued to read a recent Salon article titled ‘Off the Grid: The growing appeal of going off the grid’ [1]. It tells of people who are unconnected to all services. Here in Mole Creek, our only external utilities are the telephone and internet.
As a subtotal offgridder, I agree with lots of what the Salon piece says about offgridding: It counts even if you’re not completely pure in the way you do it. It’s a lifestyle choice that also has a metaphorical significance. It’s about moving away from the corporate system, physically and metaphorically, i.e. it’s a way of sticking your finger up at that establishment. You gain more than you give up. You’re far more aware of nature. It makes you responsible. You can live very comfortably off the grid.
In summary I live off the grid for environmental reasons, and also for independence. I wouldn’t have it any other way. And I feel oh so smug whenever massive electricity price rises are announced, as they were in Tasmania last week [2, 3]. Ho hum.
P.S. Happy Father’s Day to me. And to you if you're a father.
4 comments:
Happy Fathers' Day again FD! We hope you've had a great day. Love and kisses, us 5. XXXXX
I did have a great day. But I have a Father's Day every day of the year.
Love and kisses back to you five. xxxxx
Happy Fathers' Day to you; that gave me a momentary pause as I realised I had not missed it, but that you guys have a different date for FD. We are moving into fall here, the days are getting shorter and leaves beginning to turn, some parts of the province have had frost already. Our summer is so short, spring and fall brief and winter is very long and tedious.
Today (Monday 6 September) I picked up a small flat package from the Mole Creek Post Office. Addressed to "Meg Ulman's Dad', it contained a note declaring 'Out of all the dads in the world, I'm glad you're mine. Happy father's day!!'
Who said I'm not the luckiest dad, and the luckiest person, in the world.
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