J and Mitsy --- Sorry to use up valuable how-to space with book club stuff. I got lazy --- I really should be posting these at lunchtime and giving you happy farm photos on Monday mornings. Now that the biggest planting push is over, I should be able to do that.

Roland --- I know what you mean about his writing style. The conclusion I've finally come to is that Thoreau wanted to be quotable. And Walden is very quotable, as you can see from my series of posts on the topic. The problem is that if you're reading straight through, his method of writing is very wearing.

I think that Thoreau was getting to the same point you were in your second comment with the third quote I included in this post.

Sheila --- Good luck with your newborn!

Walking our own woods with the dog and a glass of wine in hand at dusk in the summertime. Bliss!

I'm not reading along because I just haven't had a chance to crack it open again after those first four pages, but I am enjoying your summaries. That being said, I would rather read about the hands-on homesteading stuff than philosophical musings. I'm impatient like that, though.

I have to admit, I fell behind and gave up on trying to catch up. I have a newborn, so that's my excuse. I am really enjoying the discussion, though, so I hope you stick with it even if I haven't. Is that cheating?

It is perfectly possible to live a solitary lifestyle when living in a city. It's just a matter of choice and personal preference.

You can count me as one of the introverts. I rather enjoy a solitary lifestyle. It gives me time to read and think. But this is a highly personal thing. I know people who'd go absolutely crazy if they had to live alone.

As for friends, my best friend lives about 100 miles away. I have siblings living literally across the globe. But physical distance doesn't matter in those cases. It is the distance in the mind and the hart that counts.

There are however situations when living alone is risky. And a remote homestead is one of them. If there is nobody around in case of a serious injury or illness, you might end up dead before your time. This is of course a matter of choice. Living alone in those circumstances implies accepting the risks.

Although I must admit that I'm really starting to dislike Thoreau's extremely verbose stile. I feel like searching for a needle of meaning in a haystack of verbiage in every paragraph.

There are more authors who do not write really concise, but I find e.g. the works of Alexandre Dumas (père) much more palatable.

I haven't read the book but I like the topic and am enjoying learning vicariously. The bit above on being solitary and what it really means to be alone vs being lonely ... yep, very homestead-relevent.

I hope you'll continue but, truth be told, it dilutes from the garden and DIY stuff, which is my primary reason for checking in nearly everyday.

I'd rather read on bees, soil critters, water, hardware, tools, kinds of cover crops, etc.

When it comes to Thoreau, I haven't read him because he and I sing in the same choir, so to speak.

It's the HOW, not the why that I come to your blog for...

_/_

J

Glad to see three votes in favor of continuing on! I'll wait to make a decision, though, until I see what everyone else thinks.

(Mom --- you can definitely keep commenting on the blog even if we change our book club read.)

houligan19 --- Some of our friends grew those two years ago. They were pretty, but I didn't think as tasty as our favorite varieties.

Yellow crookneck also has a reputation for being borer resistant and we grew that last year. We really liked the taste, but the borers still got them. (Maybe it took longer for the vines to succumb, though? I'm not sure....)

Sheila --- They do make computerized sun-trackers, but they're pretty pricey. I don't think that it would be cost-effective to buy one for a cheap system like this --- probably better to just get another solar panel kit.

I'm still enjoying reading everyone's favorite forms of entertainment, but found Olan's especially good!

I am raising my hand!

Yes yes yes Keep on keeping on!

I know this is an older post, but I've had the same problem in my garden. I am told that zuchetta rampicante (I think that's how it's spelled) is borer resistant. I'm growing it this year, we'll see if it really is. Apparently it is also an all around awesome squash.

Actually, I got into commenting thru this Thoreau series. Before that, I was more of an on-line isolationist. The point of being alone in the woods (with Nature) is to be less distracted by people, so more focused--while at the same time, able to drift--to be more meditative. But people are also part of Nature, esp. for those who have to live in inner cities. Some books are companionship, some projects can be a type of companionship. For some older women who live alone, to be alone is actually a luxury...

I remember watching my grandparents farm for entertainment. It is in the genes.

One of my favorite things from summers when I lived with my parents was the lazy, sunny day walks out to the mailbox with a stop at the garden on the way. After a few weeks my mother was wondering out loud why there weren't many tomatoes ripening in the garden. I had to fess up that I usually ate two or three of the ripest every morning.

watering the garden and chasing my 5 year old with the hose...

Watching the projects that have been worked on in action and actually working.

I know of a cottage in Maine that has a solar panel on its roof and it moves with the sun. As you sit on the deck in the evening as the sun goes down, it automatically moves all the way back east to be ready for the morning sun. This was part of the whole system when they had it installed. Good luck!

I am among the yarn obsessed so, knitting, crochet, and other forms of fiber art make a showing almost every day.

Darren --- Glad to see you joining the club!

I've been much happier since I stopped tuning in to day to day news as well...

Roland --- Yes, please, talk him out of it! I think it sounds awfully complex too....

Everybody --- I love reading all of your home entertainment options. Clearly you're all people after my own heart, as my mom would say.

I enjoyed this chapter. Much of it resonated with the modern minimalist movement for me - for example The Minimalists.

I have very similar thoughts on The News as Thoreau expressed. My only New Year's Resolution this year was not to read the newspapers or watch the news on TV for a whole year. As a result, I'm less stressed and more positive about society and our future - my outlook is now based on what I actually experience, rather than what some sensationalistic journalist thinks will titillate the most people.

On the topic of being trapped by inheriting a farm - a guy I used to play hockey with committed suicide because he felt trapped by the expectation that he'd take over the family farm. It can indeed be worse than any jail. Others I know have left the family farm to pursue a career, only to enthusiastically return and take it over. Probably the worst part of that kind of inheritance is the way it robs the beneficiary of choice.

Coincidentally, I came across this Thoreau t-shirt today: Disobey. Great for those who've read his Civil Disobedience!