Hermit status

Douglas has an interesting trapline thread.  It started to post to it again, and I realized I was somewhere else.    I checked the calendar and realized that except for trips to the mailbox, I have not been off the property in three weeks.  My wife and I had a strategy session and figured there was no need to go anywhere until mid Sept.  

Are there others out there approaching hermit status?

Approach? I embrace it!
My one trip off property (well OK wilderness neighbourhood) has been a 7 day canoe trip down a river.
I did buy greasy Fish'n'Chips from a highway motel at the end of said trip, so I interacted publicly with the fry cook.

I have to go back to $$$ work in October. sigh.

This conjures up an old quote:

“Bypasses are devices that allow some people to dash from point A to point B very fast while other people dash from point B to point A very fast. People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people from point B are so keen to get there, and what's so great about point B that so many people from point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Hi Douglas,

Great quote.  My only problem with my lifestyle is that I am in a philosophical quandry....Is it possible to be married and be a hermit?

Hi Chris,

Even though I am in the lower midwest , I still own my canoe from my Minnesota days.  You brought up the junk food contact. I confess, I waved at the mailman as he drove by.  My nearest neighbor is a farmer who is starting to put in his 12 to 16 hour days. I won't speak to him until late November.

John F Dean wrote:
Are there others out there approaching hermit status?

Yup! Since moving to our new farmstead last year, I am spending more time at home and less time going into a city, and I love it. I grew up in "the city" but as I have grown as a person cities no longer have any appeal to me and I instead now begin to lament when I do have to go. I seem to have been going for a few groceries and a couple other stops about once a week, though two or three weeks may pass between trips. While I've also been consciously less of a consumer, it's affected my shopping habits if I do need something, and much prefer to buy online and have the friendly guy in the big brown truck bring things to me in a box so I don't have to go anywhere. I would love to get to the point of maybe only having to go out the end of my driveway a few times a year.

Hi James,

Our online shopping increased as well.  It is  interesting to me that over the past 60 days,  all of our shopping has reduced.  I think that reflects the fact that we have just about everything we could want on hand. My primary driving force, shopping wise, is livestock feed. During warm weather. I like a 3 month supply on hand.  Once  November  comes, I will move that to 6 months. That way we can shut down for the winter and not be in a position where we must go out.

We went to the grocery store on 3/6/2020 to stock up on staple items like flour, sugar salt, etc.

Our next planned trip was to be a farmers market on 6/22 though dear hubby decided to not risk the crowds that might be there so we went to the grocery store on 6/23 instead. Filled up with diesel in the truck and gas cans for my car, the mule and tractor.

I drive 7 miles to our lonely mailbox on the ranch road about every two weeks, mainly to keep my car running.  I never see anyone so dear hubby times my trip to make sure I don't get stranded if the car breaks down.

Having fresh tomatoes and other veggies sure was a treat.

We have deer friends, 3 baby raccoons, two squirrels, a roadrunner, and lots of colorful birds that drop by every morning and afternoon to visit with us.

If it wasn't for my day job I would completely be a hermit, as it is I only go to a small country store once every 2 weeks to fill up with fuel. I try to get to the lake once every week or two to go fishing but other than that I rarely leave.

I retired a year ago, and having moved here just a year before. I set out to make some friends, and I found a few good ones.

This year since March, of course, staying home had taken some getting used to. What an incredible blessing to have this land, this rural neighborhood, and a big garden to stay in. I still love seeing my friends, and I get out 2 or 3 times a week (mostly to physical therapy, and the post office). I no longer feel it’s necessary to go to the post office daily, or really, more than twice a week.

I can’t pretend to be approaching hermit status, but the pandemic has forced me into a quieter, more slow-moving life, and I’m grateful for that.

Hi Anne,

My wife and I had been trying to reduce our trips for a couple of years.  Like trying to loose weight, it would work for a while and then creep back.  Since the end of March, we have probably made a dozen trips off property excluding the mail box.  The interesting part is both that the trips are getting fewer and this is normal to us. In fact, we now look for reasons not to go out.

Hi Marc,

Of course, having a day job changes the entire dynamic.  

Of course, my driveway isn't the most inviting.

I keep trying to add a picture, and it ends up every way butbrihht side up.  Of course, I can't figure out how to remove this post either.

John F Dean wrote:My wife and I had been trying to reduce our trips for a couple of years.  Like trying to loose weight, it would work for a while and then creep back.  Since the end of March, we have probably made a dozen trips off property excluding the mail box.  The interesting part is both that the trips are getting fewer and this is normal to us. In fact, we now look for reasons not to go out.

John, like you we started reducing our trips, too.  We are a long way to the nearest gas station so over the last seven years we have made it a habit to always fill the truck with diesel when we are in town.  For many years we only shopped once a week, then that changed to every two weeks, then monthly.  It takes time to make this a habit.

Covid really made this work for us.

Here are some threads that explain how we do this:

https://permies.com/t/93304/kitchen/Stocked-Food-Storage-Pantry

https://permies.com/t/139164/kitchen/Ground-Meat-Recipes

https://permies.com/t/141474/kitchen/Save-Money-Groceries

The issue has seldom been if we have food in the house. It is the odds and ends. We have finally gotten to where we have back up supplies in place ... such as having an extra bottle of vanilla. By having the back up supplies, we do not find ourselves in the position of wanting to run to town because we are low on anything.  

You pointed out another thing. We seldom use our vehicles. I was getting close to needing an oil change in late May. I have just crossed the line near the end of August. This is remarkable because I used to put 50,000 miles a year on our vehicles.  I have 2012 Chevy truck with less than 30,000 miles on it. I now make sure I use the vehicles at least a little to discourage the mice and squirrels from nesting in them.

Many years ago, I used to joke and tell people: "I want to be a hermit when I grow up!".  Well, it was not really a joke and I think we managed it pretty well when we lived in the Pyrenees.

At the beginning of this year, we moved to a new property in central France and the challenge has been to grow food in earnest from a non existent vegetable garden (a far cry from our well established permaculture site!).  So for me, the lock down was such a blessing in disguise. Seeing no one and going nowhere, gave us that extra time to concentrate on fixing the house and clearing the land, growing, planting, fencing and building.

I hate shopping and going out so I always made sure I had enough supplies so as not to go too often.  I admit to have seen the writing on the wall before lockdown and stored as much staple food as I could. No. Not toilet paper, I always thought that if Indians can wash their arses with water, so can we!!.

I think it has worked rather well since we've only been out 5 times since the beginning of March! There were a few deliveries, but mostly wood and materials.

I, of course, feel infinitely grateful that I live on a large piece of land in the middle of nowhere, and that it allowed me to weather the shit storm of covid and lockdown.  Still. it was my dream and I pursued it.  Now. let's see what establishing a new permacuture site from scratch at age 70 will be like!  Watch this space!!

Regarding checking the mailbox:

I signed up for the informed delivery email service from the post office. I get an email with a picture of the front of the piece of mail when it's about a day from delivery. (It used to be the day off, but it's a little less predictable now. )  Magazines and no name junk mail will say you have a piece of mail that they don't have an image for.

This has been so lovely because now I know if it's worth stopping at my mailbox or leaving my property just to check my mail or not. I know when something unexpected is on its way, like a random letter or card from my best friend or family. Plus, twice now I didn't get something that was on its way (a bill in one case) so I was able to call about it.

It's a serious boon to us (wannabe) hermits. ;)

Hi Sonya

Thanks. I didn't know that existed.  I suspect, I will continue to make the trip to the mailbox,  but,  as I get older, this could become an important option. NO, it will be an important option.

Hi Olga,

I am 70 and maintaining is tough enough.  I would not want to be starting new at this point.

Hey John!  I know it's rather crazy, but what the hell, I'd rather die doing what I enjoy doing.  And in some way, it has given me a new purpose.  Someone asked me recently why I'd left such a paradise (my old place) to come to this degraded piece of land, and it just came out of my mouth without thinking:"to create another one".

I've taken a lot of cuttings, plants and seeds from my old place so I just plant, water, mulch and start again! Every day is an adventure and a wonder.  I don't stress too much and do what I can, when I can and let mother nature do what mother nature does best.  Of course there are days when it's a bit harder than others, but I've got a young 66 years old husband to help me!