Increasingly I find myself sitting here in Bedford Stuyvesant, wondering when I'll next go fishing, or hunting, or plant a garden, or drink moonshine. The thought process always lands on when or if I'll ever move out of this concrete jungle. Buy myself a plot of land that is only accessible on foot or potentially by cable car, and retreat into my thoughts and hobbies.
But no. No! I like it here in New York. I like museums, I like the nightlife, I like the friends I have made, and the opportunities it has given me. I like it as a jumping off point to travel the world, and I'll never get over walking these city streets in a cold spring drizzling rain just to feel invisible.
But, alas, we are at an impasse, neh? Too many of those things I value are inherent to living full time at a place or at least half a year at a stretch. I can envision things like time shares or having a vacation home, but to be honest, that attitude doesn't sit well with me. I don't want this life here and that life there. I want both lives in both places. Yes, I'm greedy.
And so began the slow shift to being an Urban Redneck. I'll have to leave being a Metropolitan Hick for another blog post and stage in my life.
And what is involved in that you may ask. Well, I don't know. I started with slow food in increments.
I make my own bread, and pasta. I'm taking the New York State hunting course in May. I've made an in-apartment compost bin - complete with worms. This spring I'll be planting cucmbers, tomatoes, yellow squash, red peppers, green peppers, garlic, and various herbs.
I hae a food dehydrator and snack on dried apples and bannanas most times. This past season I've canned my own pickles and chili beans. Soon will come my own marinara sauce (to go with the pasta). My homebrew kit just came via UPS.
The point of all this? There is value in being self-sufficient. There is value in knowing how things work - even more so in the natural processes.
Next steps:
Off the grid in NYC - one appliance at a time.
Turning the back room into an entire garden.
Weekend camping trips within train ride of the city.
What do you do once you've shot the deer?
and much much more!
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