‘One thing I encourage a lot of people to realize and do is to just have an adventure.’ – Eustace Conway
Eustace Conway is featured on a regular basis on a TV show called Mountain Men.
I couldn’t tell you how much of a script is followed, but it does give the viewer a good idea of what living off grid is all about. Living in the wilderness isn’t for the faint hearted as stores and services plus medical aid are often miles away. One must become self-sufficient as a result. Learning to trap, fish, hunt, growing food, taking care of livestock and machine repairs is essential.
I was able to get a book on Eustace Conway, The Last American Man written by Elizabeth Gilbert, from the public library where I live. I was so impressed by what I read that I bought a copy of it for my personal collection. For Eustace it started at an early age when his Dad took him to the forest to identify the different animals, plants and shapes of leaves in the trees. His Mom taught Eustace the skills of camping, baiting a hook, starting a fire among other things.
Despite what real estate developers think, the wilderness will never be tamed. Once you consider leaving what’s laughingly called civilization, you’ll find out that nature is the one really in charge. So you’ll be dealing with weather, natural ‘disasters’ and wildlife. Nature isn’t a commodity to make a profit from but is a vital part of education and the circle of life.
Living Off The Grid
Can you imagine drinking water straight from the spring rather than from a faucet? Or eating meat that you hunted for yourself and fish that you caught. I never did trust what has been put into meat at a processing plant before it gets to the supermarket counter. Another plus to living off the grid is that you have direct control over what you grow in your garden.
I admire Eustace Conway for the goals he sets. He’s not out to hide or disappear. He lives in the woods because he belongs there. He wants others to feel nature, to become part of it. People need to stretch out, leave their various boxes behind along with conventional time. Not very many of us have experienced a sunrise or sunset.We live in a world of instant gratification as in fast food and clothes off the rack. Too many don’t want to cook properly, make their own clothes or wait for a deep quality relationship. We rush from one activity to the next without stopping.
Most of us no longer know what hard physical labour is or have learned how to think. Life has gotten so much easier in so many ways over the years. We forage for food at a supermarket, buy clothes off a rack and go inside to get away from the weather. In the process of getting civilized how much of our humanity have we lost? We’ve cut ourselves away from the natural cycle of life. Eustace is bang on the money when he says we are becoming sleep walkers that are blind, deaf and senseless to the environment we’re so much a part of.
Eustace Conway Mountain Men: Lifestyle, Bio, Wiki House| Hidden facts
Ron Murdock has lived and worked in Western Canada all his life, and will continue to do so until his last day on Planet Earth. He has a good number of interests and hobbies which include dogs, freight trains, baseball and astronomy. Ron wants to know what the truth is, and nothing but the truth, and will do what research it takes to find it. The best compliment he can get is when a person says his writing, or what he says, gets them seeking.
