One Woman's Perspective
Last Week's Column

Back to the Land? Not me!
by Kira Sampson

or the past few months, my son James and I have been reading the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. That is, I read and James listens. Every night at bedtime, we both enjoy another chapter in the saga of Laura and her family and their attempts to "tame" the West.

I first read Laura’s books when I was only a little older than James, and I think that early exposure to the romance of pioneer life, combined with the "back-to-the-land" movement in the late Sixties and early Seventies, contributed to my desire to live close to, and in harmony with, nature. Also around that time, I read a number of books and articles written by people who were part of the "deep ecology" movement. Their goal was to return most of the Earth to its primeval, untouched-by-man state. This would involve reducing Earth’s population to about 10 percent of its current level, dismantling cities, and generally causing the end of civilization as we know it. At the time (and even still, to some degree), I believed that if we could do that, then Earth would indeed be a paradise.

I envisioned myself (of course, I would be one of the fortunate 10 percent) living on a farm, using solar and wind power to generate electricity and heat, growing everything I needed to eat, and in general being at one with Mother Nature, Gaia, the Earth...whatever. Between my farmhouse and the nearest neighbor would be acres and acres of pristine woodlands. There would be no machinery, no rude and unnecessary sounds to break the stillness. No cars, no trucks, no buses -- in fact, no roads, just dirt paths from one farm to the next.

Even as I grew older, I still felt some wistful longing for that peaceful, pastoral life, and made a few half-hearted attempts to achieve some small degree of self-sufficiency. At one point, I attempted to turn part of our back yard into a garden, but, like most of my projects (from sewing to learning to crochet to trying origami), once the initial excitement wore off, it simply became another chore to occupy time better used for a newer, more exciting endeavor. Forgiving, fast-growing Bermuda grass quickly hid all signs of my "farming" endeavors.

After that and similar experiences, reading the Little House books as an adult has been a revelation of no small proportions to me. The Ingalls family spent every waking moment working just to survive. Washing clothes was an all-day affair and ironing required another full day. About the only thing the family wore that was "store-bought" was shoes. Everything else had to be handmade. One setback, like a few days without rain or a grasshopper invasion, and there went a whole year’s harvest. They had no cars, no trucks, no buses, and it took them days instead of minutes to "go to town". People traveling between towns caught in sudden, unexpected blizzards simply froze to death. No EMTs, no calling 911. Just a slow and lonely death in the middle of the wilderness.

So I’ve been asking myself, "Do I really want to live like that? Do I really want to spend the majority of my time just making sure that my family and I can survive?" Not surprisingly, the answer is "No". Although some may decry our modern way of living as isolating us from Mother Nature, it, like everything else, is a trade-off. Yes, in many ways we are living in an artificial, human-created environment. But there was a reason that environment was created. Nature is not always benevolent. Living close to nature can be downright dangerous. Tornadoes, blizzards, and locusts spare no one.

Don’t get me wrong -- I appreciate nature. And the next house I buy will be out in the country, with plenty of land. I want to be able to observe nature first-hand. I want to be able to walk in the woods and see the first tiny leaves of spring, and watch the birds building their nests. I want to see the baby birds as they learn to fly and leave the nest to start families of their own. I’d love to have a small lake or pond with some ducks and geese in residence. If rabbits and deer decided that my little piece of nature suited them for their habitat, I would be thrilled.

But I don’t want to have to wrest my living from Mother Nature. I like being able to go to the grocery store or the farmer’s market and partake of the fruits of others’ labor. I like having a computer and being connected to the whole world via the internet. I like being able to drive wherever I want to go. Yes, I try to conserve gasoline and reduce pollution, clustering errands according to location and avoiding unnecessary trips, and if I had the opportunity to buy a non-polluting car that cost a little (or even a lot) more, I would do so. But I don’t want to give up my "instant" transportation. And I’m perfectly willing to pay for all these conveniences by doing work that suits my abilities much better than trying to "live off the land".

I don’t think we will ever return the Earth to the state of "deep ecology" that some would advocate. If that isn’t possible, though, then I think we should each try to do all we can, within the limits of practicality, to ensure that we walk lightly upon the Earth. No, it isn’t a perfect world, and it may never be paradise -- but we can make it better if we try.

Kira Sampson is a writer, homeschool mother, news editor, and editor/publisher of two newsletters, one for her local homeschool group and the other for a local writer's group.

She is also one of the Founders of VegSource. Her column, One Woman's Perspective, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.