not a question lol

i meant to write this a few days ago, but have been busy. last sunday i had the boobtube on and one of the local tv stations had a news story about a local family who is homesteading here in the OKC metro area.

the reporter was absolutely amazed that they did not have any utility bills. in this day of rising natural gas and electric prices, these folks have solar cells, passive solar home, gas lights, wood heat and cooking, etc etc etc. the reporter was slack-jawed that they even had a composting toilet. their homestead was paid for and their bills are virtually non-existent.

later that morning as i perused the morning newspaper, there was a big front page article complete with photo about a man just outside of town who was not on the electric grid. he had 4 windmills each generating 3,000 watts of power. the article went to tell that he was born in europe of a poor family in approximately 1920. they were too poor to afford land, or even much food to live well. he came to america years ago, got some land and farmed. with no formal education, just the common sense knowledge he had learned from farming over a lifetime, he learned to repair all sorts of farm equipment, including windmills. this led to his own windmill electric generators. these 4 windmills provide more than enough energy to completely power his homestead, including central air conditioning, refrigerators and freezers and all that other stuff.

everyone have a nice day and take care

gene

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), February 17, 2001

Answers

That's cool, Gene. Looks like with the energy problems some other states have been having, the media is starting to take notice of the people who can do just fine without the power companies. Yay, for Oklahoma! We live on a hill and get a steady breeze up here and sometimes a "better hold on to a tree" strong winds. I would love to have some windmills and would love to have that old man you talked of, for a neighbor. That way I could get some first hand knowledge on how to set one up right, from someone who really knew what he was doing. Enjoyed reading the article. Thanks.

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), February 18, 2001.

I live in the part of OK that got hit with that bad ice storm Christmas Day. I was without power for 13 days and thought I would die. Well anyway, whenever I at a gathering I mention how did you survive the ice storm. It amazes me how many people didn't even notice it much. Oh well, "I was warm and we could eat off our wood burning cook stove". "Just carried water from the well", Plenty of canned Meat". They actually live the homestead life I dream and read about all the time. We do alot of homesteady things but the older people in OK seem to still live it as a way of life and haven't the foggest idea that some of us dream of it.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), February 21, 2001.