Oh, I DO Want To!

I took the day off today, in honor of not having done so for months and feeling a little run-down in the run-up to my thesis defense on Wednesday. I dropped Roman off at the daycare and ran several errands and have just spent a good hour surfing the web without interruption (such a luxury once you have a toddler).

Here is a link to a post by a blogger I don't read frequently but enjoy when I do. Many of the blogs I most enjoy contain similar themes - self-sufficiency, food security, outdoor lifestyles. It's the fantasy of many city people: buy an acreage, plant dozens of raised beds, raise chickens and bunnies for eggs and meat, goats for milk and cheese. Not too many actually do it - many find reasonable compromises that don't require them to live an hour away from work that they love and have spent years training to do. The post ends with the line, "You can do it, I know you can. And: I think you want to." Well, I sure do.

But do I have to kill the bunnies myself? Will I be bitten by snakes and have to bury some of my best friends in my yard? (Sorry, there was supposed to be another link to a terrible tale of woe here, but I can't find it yet.) Will my kids have negative health consequences from living in heavily agricultural areas? Farm life is hard, it is something I am completely untrained for, and I am not wealthy enough to get away with failing the way I did this summer on a much grander scale. Furthermore, it is just not very ecologically responsible unless you can do it for a living.

But my son could have so much fun and learn so much.

What do you think?