How about an easy first step to being self sufficient?

How about a true story from my life? You’ll see how easy it can be to get started down the road to being a self-sufficient family.

Last weekend, I was staring at my brush pile at the top of the driveway. A pile of brush I’ve been meaning to haul away for quite some time. Only, I don’t have any way to haul it.

It happens that my neighbors, two doors down, have been clearing some of their landscaping for the last few months. The lady of the house also happened to be out working on the landscaping that afternoon.

What I was thinking was, maybe I could give them a few dollars to take some of my brush the next time they hauled a load off. So, I went down and we started talking.

Now, you should know that I had met her about 6 months ago when she and her husband moved into the house. She seemed nice at the time. As things happen, so often, we never ran into each other, again, until today.

They live two driveways down the road and I had talked with her a total of 5 minutes in 6 months.

Our second conversation was quite pleasant. We talked about gardening, the lake, the deer and how lovely it was to live here. Must have been a good 20 minute conversation. 20 minutes that took me back to my childhood. When everyone knew each other and helped each other out. Just because that was what you did.

And, it turns out, that they would be happy to help the next time they were hauling a load of brush off. More importantly, she would like to get to know the rest of the family and have dinner soon.

As a followup, yesterday she knocked on the door. They could give me a hand. Unfortunately, I was doubled up with the flu! Maybe next time.

Like I said, when I was growing up this kind of neighbor interaction was an everyday occurrence. Today? What’s happened?

One of the primary survival strategies of humans is the small social group. In my opinion, one of the primary tools for self sufficiency is to be a contributing part of your local, small social group. In modern America, your neighborhood.

Don’t feel bad if you’re not quite there. Most of us have a lot to learn about getting to know our neighbors, again. As with most self-sufficiency things, I’m working on it, too.

So, say hi to your neighbor for me! Let me know how it goes.