Do computers "desecrate" a homestead?

I have never written to the community (yes, community) before because I always felt that I have more to learn from everyone else than I have to contribute. However, I am now compelled to speak out.

I am not a purebred homesteader, but I have a lot of respect for all of you who earn solely by the sweat of your brow and knowledge of the land that has been passed down to you. This is, I believe, part of the reason I find myself so intrigued by such things as making soap and raising chickens. I find it very distressing that much useful knowledge our grandparents had was lost in the leap of one or two generations.

I note Mary who married the yuppie. As entrenched in city life as Dan is, I'll bet his grandmother baked her own bread and maybe even went to the street market to pick up her live (but not for long) chicken for Sunday dinner.

My grandmother had chickens and a huge garden, made the grape juice and canned for winter, saved everything that ever came into her house and never burned anything that hadn't been used at least twice. I learned it as being frugal, but now you tell me it's the new lifestyle of recycling. I don't really reuse my grocery bags because it's good for the planet, but because I cannot be wasteful of resources or finances. That is the inner homesteader of me. I do what I can in the homesteading realm that is productive and worthwhile so that I can have the finances to have and do in a lifestyle I may not be able to afford otherwise.

Like I said, I live only on the cusp of homesteading. I consider myself to live not beyond the sidewalks, but to more like straddle the sidewalk. I am part of a small rural town with a sprawling sophisticated hospital for which I work.

At work I must be competent in the most up-to-date medical and surgical treatment of the critically ill or injured patient. My co-workers can't grasp why, at home, I have chickens and ducks (although many of them garden). I want to be able to pass on to my children some of where they came from so they can know and appreciate where they are going.

This brings me to the full swing of the pendulum and the reason I was compelled to write.

I am writing on my IBM compatible 486 computer. Yes, I have desecrated my miniature homestead with a computer. I enjoy going out and collecting my seeds for next year instead of buying them and I enjoy coming into my office and linking up to the information superhighway.

So why have you been disappointed with your experiences on AOL? Yes, most of the computer community is one that has little understanding of homesteading and can even be weird, I agree. But for those of us who would find a homestead bulletin board a great benefit, resource, and enjoyment ... I can't find you! The directions given by someone were reasonably descriptive, but only if you have the same version of software.

Please give us a holler and tell us if you have a key word with which we can find you or if there is a specific name of news group on the Internet.

One more thing: How about publishing an e-mail address along with your fax # and snail mall address. - Jeanette A. Rowello, 907 Mt. Zion Dr., Danville PA 17821 <JRowello AOL.com>

Perhaps this issue will convince you that your homestead isn't "desecrated" by your computer.

However, this letter is one of many that questioned my "disappointment" with the homestead information on America Online (AOL). Several of those writers criticized me for coming down so hard on computer users, and some totally mis-read my statement.

One reader wrote, "If the homesteaders on America Online have not quite arrived yet, as you complain, are we to turn our backs on them?" She goes on to defend people who are new to homesteading, and praises those with experience who help them via computer network services.

That is not what I said! I did not say that homesteaders on AOL have not quite arrived yet: I said the possibilities of the Information Highway have not quite arrived yet for most people.

(Actually, some of the people participating in this network know as much about homesteading as I do, or more.)

My disappointment referred to the Sunday night chats (see box).

Imagine trying to hold a conversation with 23 people at once, on half a dozen different topics. And anyone who writes more than a few lines is cut off in mid-sentence... the rest of the sentence sometimes following three or four other half-sentences! It takes some getting used to.

Some people do get their questions answered. But for most, I think it's a social occasion. I've been corresponding with homesteaders in one way or another eight hours a day for 26 years. Maybe I don't need the socializing as much as other people do. Or the long distance telephone bill.

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