This is one of the more amazing experiences I had when living in the Bush and wilds 10 miles east of McCloud, California and 3 miles north of Hiway 89.
It was the early 1980s when my wife and 3 children (because of 10% unemployment then) decided to put some of our savings cash into land, sell one of our vehicles and build an A-Frame to live "Mt. Shasta Wilderness Style" which was one of the best things I ever did in my life. Because during that time since we used savings and a paid for vehicle to finance everything all we paid to live out there after that was food, clothes, and property taxes and gas to drive to and from town. So, even though we didn't have electricity we had wood heat (from a wood stove my Dad made for us by welding up a water pressure tank he had), we also bought a Clawfoot old antique tub(the biggest and longest one made then) and we also bought a wood cook stove for baking bread and cakes and other stuff. Then for lighting we used candles or Aladdin Kerosene lamps for reading and for the kids home schooling through Oak Meadow School (they were 5, 6 and 8 when we moved there and the oldest was 12 when we bought a business in the SF Bay area and moved away. But, we were never really happy again, (my wife and I) after we left this idyllic life and eventually divorced in 1994 partly because of "empty nest syndrome" when our oldest kids left home one by one around age 18. Now all the kids have college degrees, are married and have great jobs (the oldest is now 43 almost 44 and the youngest will be 41 soon. So, one of the reasons I'm still alive now is how happy we were then from 1980 to 1985 living in the wilds of Mt. Shasta and home schooling our kids and teaching our kids about the wilds.
Though I'm happily remarried these last 20 years I often think about how happy we were then from 1980 to 1985 home schooling our kids in the wilds where life made complete sense to us and where we were completely happy for a time in our lives.
The Laughing Fairydiddle
No comments:
Post a Comment