No One Lives in a Perfect World

I heard the following story the other day:

A couple was out with some friends and met a man who was missing part of his finger. When he was asked what had happened, his story went something like this:

When he was growing up, his family had a well on their farm that had a pump. The pump had two pieces of metal that moved when the pump was used, and each piece had a round hole. At a very precise moment, those two holes would line up, and he and his brother would wait for that moment so that they could quickly stick a finger all the way through both holes and then pull it out before the pump continued on its way. The brothers played this game, and one day the man telling the story miscalculated his timing, and his finger was snapped off.

When the people listening commented on how stupid a practice that was, the man replied, "You think that was stupid? My brother has lost three fingers!"

The story is almost funny (mostly only if you are not one of the people in the story) because of the shock value of someone continuing to do something dangerous and painful even after knowing firsthand of the consequences. Then I started thinking about this story in the context of emergency preparedness, and I thought of a couple of issues:

A) I never want to snap my finger off in a well pump. Pretty elementary, but true nonetheless. I don’t have to practice putting my finger in the holes or have one snapped off in order to learn from these boys’ experience.

The same holds true when it comes to being prepared. I know that I don’t want to go without water/food/other emergency supplies if I don’t have to. I know that it is better to have something on hand than to join a last-minute stampede for limited supplies at a grocery store. I know that I don’t want to have to depend on help from others that may or may not come in time, when I would have been in a lot better shape if I had only prepared ahead of time. It is true that sometimes you have no choice in the matter, depending on the situation. Unfortunately, in some emergencies you may lose your supplies altogether. But in many, many situations where you would find yourself in need of food storage or emergency supplies, you would be in a situation to use them if you had them in place. Learning from other peoples’ experience is a lot less painful than having to go through it yourself, and if you are prepared you may be able to help those who are suffering as well. Look at any disaster that has happened, and learn what helped people survive, and what they wish they would have had, and it could help you learn how to avoid problems that they had.

B) Failing to put aside any emergency supplies when you have the means to do so is pretty much like expecting those holes on the pump to always be lined up perfectly. Perhaps your job is secure. Perhaps you live in a hurricane/tornado/earthquake/other natural disaster-free zone. Perhaps you have a lot of money put aside that you could use to buy supplies.

Those holes might line up if there were never a trucking strike, and there was always food on the shelves. They might line up if your area is truly never hit with any kind of disaster, and there isn’t a run on the stores so that there are no supplies available, no matter how much money you are able to wave around. They might line up if there is no quarantine due to a pandemic, where no one would be allowed to go out and buy supplies of any kind from grocery store shelves that remain full but untouchable. They might line up if there is no illness or other personal emergency that empties out your bank account and keeps drawing on your paycheck, making it hard to afford even the most basic necessities. In other words, there are a lot of "ifs" to be covered for those holes to line up, and if you are caught without emergency supplies in an emergency situation, the consequences could be a lot more dire than snapping off a finger.

Gathering supplies when you are already in a tough situation financially can be difficult, and for those who find themselves in such a situation, I hope that things improve for you soon. If you can, add a can of food or bag of basics (flour, sugar, etc.) as often as possible, and if that truly is beyond your means, at least gather information while you save up. The library is full of information, as is the internet. Do what you can to prepare while you can---no one lives in a perfect world, and the chances of the holes always lining up so that you won’t ever need your emergency supplies are pretty slim.....

Another Prepper

Special thanks to Another Prepper for a great post!

Riverwalker

APN Free Giveaway!

Stop in at APN for a free survival seeds giveaway courtesy of Hometown Seeds. Go here for your chance to win

Survival and Blogs

I was reading today on SurvivalBlog.com (http://www.survivalblog.com/) It’s always nice to read Rawles and his information. He is like us a prepper and a survivalist but he is also a Pioneer.

Today I read about a man: Minnesota man arrested for trespassing on his own land and just can understand it.

People: You need to prep and get ready for hard times. This is why we have this blog and the American Preppers Network as well as Pioneer Living (http://pioneerliving.net)

I hope all is safe and well for the holidays and I hope America will return to the once great nation it was.

John Milandred

Last Post by: Pioneer Living. Net

Our Homestead
at 03:18 PM on July 26, 2009


After our first week on the property in March, we have come to realize that we are truly living the pioneer life. A little about our property. The gentleman who purchased the property sometime in the 1930?s, and his wife raised 11 children on their 80 acres of land.

The Mrs. passed away around 1990, and the Mr. passed away in 2003.



The property was then divided up into eight 10 acre tracts. We were fortunate enough that one of the daughters was selling her 10 acres that just happens to be the original homestead. There is a house and a small barn on the property. The house has not been attended to for the last 6 years, ceiling falling down, floors are falling through, windows broken, not to mention the rodents that have since made this home their new residence. It is in really bad shape. Once we get rid of the rodents and possible snakes we will gut the home and turn it into our small animal barn to house our chickens, rabbits and goats at night.

There is approximately 5 acres of prime farm land with rich sandy loam soil and 5 acres of forest. The primary cash crops that were grown on this property consisted of strawberries, cucumbers, peanuts and corn. The family garden plot consists of a ½ acre completely fenced to keep the critters out with trees planted on the perimeter of the garden plot.

There is an 80? hand dug well, that has the cleanest, freshest water we haveever tasted. After two days of John working on re-installing the pump that was provided to us for the well, we attempted to prime and start it up just to find out it was shot. Thank goodness the hardware store in town had a pump, as we were in need of water. We both worked on installing the new pump the next day and jumped for joy when the pump started pumping out water that evening.

You never realize how important water is until you don?t have it for three or four days. Water is the most important element for human survival. We tested the water with a water test kit and every single test came back perfect. The water is crystal clear, cold, tastes and smells clean.

There is an old barn on the property that is in pretty good condition. You can tell that the owner built this himself, even down to sawing his own lumber as there is still some bark on some of the lumber as well as all the 2x4?s in the building are true 2 inches by 4 inches! It took 2 days just to clean out two sections of the barn. One section that was used as a pantry/storage will take a little longer as there are still jars and jars of canned blackberries, potatoes, beans and who knows what else. Now mind you none of this food is going to be any good, but it does show us that this family lived off this land for the last 70 years and we intend to do the same. There are dozens, and dozens of mason jars that we will be able to use once they are cleaned and sterilized. Carrie was thrilled to see that as we will only have to purchase new lids and rings.

We are going to see what we can salvage from the house before it is torn down. We are then going to turn the barn into our living quarters. One of the boys who grew up on this property stopped by to pay us a visit. We learned that the original home had burned down and they had to live in the small barn for a while until they could afford to build another house. I can?t imagine trying to raise babies in the barn, but back then, you do what you have to do to survive. It is kind of ironic that we are going to take advantage of this same shelter as our living quarters on our homestead (See Photo page).

During our visit, we were told that there are two pecan trees, several black walnut trees and 4 hickory nut tree. There is also bing cherry trees,2 persimmon trees, and wild blackberries. We were shown where the deer trails were and informed us that there are wild turkey as well. We thought that this was a great start for our new homestead with already established nut and fruit trees as well as an abundance of wild game.

The grass in the fields and the family garden plot are about three feet high, so it will have to be cut and we will need to turn the soil in the garden plot as we have been told that it is time to get your garden in. The days have been warm and sunny. Cabbage and broccoli can be planted now. We were told that potatoes need to be in by March 17th,then everything else right after that. Yes, we have a lot to do. All this work to do, just as the pioneers before us, as we have no modern day farm/garden equipment so it will have to be done by hand.



Thanks to all our readers,



John & Carrie

Co-editors, Pioneer Living
www.pioneerliving.net

Change

What is happening in the world today has not changed. It is our beliefs that humans all over the world still need to educated themselves. Educate yourselves on what is happening around the world.

Educate yourselves to be able to provide for your family whatever the future may be.

We live in a society of people who depend on other people to take care of them. We rely on our jobs to pay us to be able to feed our families. We rely on the grocery stores to provide us food for us to buy for our families to eat.

Almost every day, well it seems like it, we hear reports of contaminated food being sold to us. Our family has had these items in our cupboards, freezers, pantry’s in the past. We had to throw these items out for fear of our children getting sick or possibly dying from these contaminated foods.

We do believe again that everyone should educate themselves and find out what does GM seeds mean? What does GM foods mean?

Why are we genetically modifying our foods. Foods that the good earth provides us that is nutritional and healthy. Why are we modifying these foods. What is wrong with the foods that our ancestors ate?

I ask myself these questions almost every day. Why have we become a society of being taken care of by others. What happened to taking care of ourselves. What happened to the lost art of basic human survival.

I also ask myself, “What has happened to the human spirit of standing up for what is right?”

I was taught by my parents, grandparents that you are always free to voice your opinion no mater what it was. You are always free to stand up for what is morally right.

We are looking in the face of a changed America. A changed World.

We come across so many people who are afraid today. We are not sure why they are afraid. We assume it is because they do not know how they will survive should they loose their job, or should the grocery store shelves go empty. They do not even know where the food comes from that they eat.

It is really sad. We are only here to help those who have been wronged by not having the information passed on by their ancestors what it takes for basic human survival.

Sorry I was in a ranting and raving mood tonight. Thank you all for your support in our efforts to give people the resources to be able to take care of themselves and their families no matter what happens in the days to come.

Interview with a Pioneer

My name is George Smith ( known as Texas George to my friends) and I thought this might be a good post for a way to find honey in the wild. I have been living in the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas all my life and have been an Instructor in desert survival for many years as well. I was shown a good technique for getting honey in the wild and this is how it works:

Take a glass jar and collect about 15 honey bee’s and put holes in the top for the bee‘s to breathe, cover the jar with a cloth and let the bee’s settle down. Once this has been done take the cloth off and all of the bee’s should be collected on one side of the jar. Now just travel in the direction that the bee’s have gathered in the jar. This will take you to their hive where you can collect the honey from the wild hive.

Remember to go at night and hopefully when it is cold out so you don’t get stung. In the desert when it is at night and cold I have found many bee hives and have collected honey. This will work anywhere and in the woods I have found hives that I have gathered and transplanted into new hives so that I don’t have to look for them anymore.

Thanks,

Texas George



Quote:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.

Henry David Thoreau

Re-posted by: www.pioneerliving.net

Water Cure

A little history of water cure

The Greek, Hippocrates, who lived about five hundred years before Christ, was the first man who wrote much on the healing of disease with water. At a very early period the Egyptians practiced bathing considerable. The ancient Persians and Greeks erected stately and magnificent public buildings. In Constantinople the Turkish baths were used extensively in the 15th century. In the year 1600 public vapor baths were numerous in Paris. From the very earliest part of the 18th century water was used for cures. Floyer published a history of bathing where remarkable cures were made by means of bathing, and he recommended them for numerous diseases. A Mr. Hancock, who was a minister, published in 1723 a book called Common Water the Best Cure for Fevers. Another book, published by someone else, was called Curiosities of Common Water and was published in 1723, in which it was said to be an “excellent remedy which will perform cures with very little trouble, and without charge,” may be truly styled a universal remedy. In 1840 to 1850 Victor Priesnitz, of Germany, led in the use of water as a curative.

The water cure spread to America about 1850 and until about 1854 prospered greatly, but the doctors would not stand for this, as they did not want the people to get hold of any remedy which was practical and non-expensive, that could be used in any home. About 1870 they had successfully prevented the water-cure practitioners from practicing in New York by medical law.

Even our North American Indians use baths for many diseases. They have original ways of giving both water and vapor baths, the vapor bathing being the most commonly used, followed by plunging into a stream.

You can read more on Back to Eden by going to our Mercantile page and buying Jethro Kloss book.

Quote: Man’s intelligence has made it possible for him to become grossly perverted in almost everything-food, appetite, bathing, etc. Man does not go astray from nature because he lacks intelligence or instinct, but because he wishes to gratify his own desires.

By: Jethro Kloss book