A new year arrives without disruptive fanfare.

Although a one-week disaster would bare been nice...

I had hoped we would all be forced to leap across some chasm before landing safely in the new century. I wanted a rite of passage, a graduation, a signal or stamp of approval stating we were ready to move onward with our lives. In my mind a worldwide blackout for one week would have provided the perfect initiation. It would have been an experience shared by everyone, a unifying event providing stories to be regaled over and over, down through the generations. The question Where were you when the lights went out in 1999? -- would hold the same weight as the questions -- Where were you the day Kennedy was shot, or Lennon assassinated, or when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon?

Instead I heard the cry of "wolf" echo, providing another reason for closing my ears to the howls of the media.

It is easy for me to imagine a worldwide blackout for a week as it would only be a small inconvenience to our family. I imagine it would be only slightly troublesome for homesteaders and country people all over the world. I wanted to see homesteading lifestyle skills triumph through this "disaster." I wanted to see homesteading perceived with the same value as the lust for money is given. I wanted to see the world plunged into darkness so a lust for life could be established. I wanted to see life come to a full stop so people had time to think about their lives. People would discover how wasteful their lives are, how dependent on electricity and water they are and how independent they could become. I wanted to see everyone develop a new commitment to the planet in that one week so the world would be a more conscientious place once it started back up again.

I thought people would change if they were forced to deal with all the waste they produce in one week, both figuratively and literally.

Well, you can't always get what you want (that saying is true enough). Not that I really expected anything to happen or to change, it was just hope. As the new year crept closer it came with an anti-climatic wave. It became apparent the party was not going to crash, that there would be no moment of silence when the lights went out and people drew in their breaths before the exhale of confusion came. Time was going to shift with no disruptive fanfare.

At midnight on New Year's Eve our valley was peaceful under the starry sky. Time was just a series of numbers the trees take no notice of.

A walk on New Year's Day felt like a muddy March stroll. The sun was shining, it was so warm the urge to start working in the garden was tingling my fingertips. This is winter in Wisconsin. We should be sledding or skating. What is Mother Nature up to? France is frozen. Mudslides, earthquakes, hurricanes. We put so much fear into-a computer disaster but give little thought to the power of nature, who is savage when she strikes. She will be the one who unplugs us and disrupts our systems of living.

We had prepared for Y2K in the same manner we prepare for every winter. The pantry is stocked, the wood stacked, some water jugged, and a good supply of candles, lamp oil and batteries on hand. This is not disaster preparation, this is our lifestyle.

We greeted this new century in the most perfect way I can imagine -- our family together, cozy in our little niche in nature, the beauty of the hills shining in the crisp night air. The New Year is a time to contemplate life and we found we are rewarded with our lifestyle choice. We have happiness, good health and two great kids who are growing up with an understanding of the homesteading concept.

The world may not have changed into what I wanted to see, but it is wonderful to know there are homesteaders scattered around the globe all taking care of their piece of it with the same type of satisfaction we have found.

K. O'BRIEN
RR 1 Box 129
GAYS MILLS, WI 54631