As we begin the process of leaving Lusenet and Countryside behind, I think it is meet and right that we all should comment. I had in mind a sort of "joys and regrets" hour that I could hang onto along with all my memories. The Silver Threads that we poured our souls into and the Golden People that we encountered along the way.

What was the single most important thing you learned as you interacted with people of "like minds" ?

There were many unforgettable people through the two and a half years. Who impressed you the most and who do you miss ? What made that impression on you ?

Are you richer, wiser or more confused than when you first met other homesteaders ?

I'm sure we all regret the forum moving and that is a given, but do you have any other regrets about the effect of the forum on your life ?

It is my hope that many of the original people of the forum return to comment and if any of you know them than please ask them to write at least one last time for my own selfishness. However, everyone is welcome and I wouldn't feel it was complete if Ken didn't add his impressions also. Please be civil and if you are able leave the wars out of this. So, Steve the creator, Greenbeanman, Vicki@ lonesomedoe and the other vicki's too, sheepish, leslie, Craig Miller, John's of every state, Don Armstrong and the Aussies, the Canadians, Colleen, Little Bit Farm, Doreen, mary's, Patty's, Polly's, Abigail and everyone that ever struck a key in the name of Homesteading: come join me as we walk this last mile !

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), March 16, 2002

Answers

Well Joel, you were one of my favorite people. Not that I always agreed with you, but if there was a post I'd always hurry to see what Joel wrote this time! Lol.

This forum has changed me as a person; I can say with sincerity that I would not be the same had I not encountered it. By myself, I could have holed up in the cabin and kept my own opinions to myself, thinking all along that they were right. When I came on to this site, and encountered others who has vastly different viewpoints, it made me rethink a lot of stuff. Sometimes I changed my position or viewpoint. Other times, I still felt the same, but have a clearer idea of why, having discussed it. I certainly learned to be more tolerant, and that people are more easily hurt and offended than they would let on to in public. It also gave me more confidence; in person, I don't look like much and have a hard time putting things into words. Here I can take my time and looks really don't matter.

Unforgettable people- who could forget Vicki? Or Sheepish? Or Doreen? Jim Roberts always impressed me, not for being an expert, but for his incredible tact and kind nature, even when anyone else would have been extremely provoked. I also miss Rachel, she hasn't been here for so long, and Gerbil. It's hard to pick out a single person though, when one vital person leaves it can really change everything, an example would be Cindy (Atilrthehony). This forum is truly a melting pot, and even though I also frequent the Freedom forum, part of what makes this one so great is it's diversity.

Regrets- well, I probably should spend less time on the computer and more time with the kids and garden and cleaning the house. But if I can help someone who's having a goat problem or needs advice, somehow it seems worth it. I think that's what this forum is really about- sharing ourselves with each other.

By the way Joel, it sounds like this is an obituary- I hope that the forum is only moving to a better place and not dying! :-)

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 16, 2002.

I've been coming here for about 18 months, although I didn't post for awhile after the religious cleansing that took place a few months ago. I can't put a price on encouragement, and that's what I got from so many here. DH and I live a hybrid life, working in a tiny village for modest wages, tending 7 hilly, rocky acres in our free hours. To hear someone else say it is possible to go on, to become more self-sufficient, to get that cycle of life going on your own place, that's kept me going. There's so much more to do, but I know that's all part of the process. We came to the realization that this isn't just a project, it's a life we are building. The fact that others are doing it, succeeding at it, and passing their knowledge and experience along--that's GOLD. As for individuals, well, Hoot was the first to e-mail me privately and say "Welcome, little sister!" and that meant all the world to me.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

The forum is my reality check on ME. There is no one at work like minded...okay, they probably think I'm crazy. The COOLEST thing off this forum is this beautiful "Friendship Quilt" that Sissy started about a year ago. Twelve people swapped quilt squares. Dorothy

-- DW in CO (djwallace@ctos.com), March 16, 2002.

The most valuable thing to me is that there are people out there who love what I love and value what I value. There really ARE people who love forests and mountains and deserts and oceans and green rolling hills more than Porshes and Gucci and who said what about who.....There really ARE.........!!! A persons chosen lifestyle has absolutely nothing to do with their character or their value as a human being, but NONE of my friends have ever shared my interests, and it is a relief to be able to come here and visit, especially when the weather is nasty for weeks on end.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 16, 2002.

For me, This forum has been friends when I was sad, Friends when I was happy, and friends when I was in the middle of those. I have learned alot about some things I never knew. I have made friends here That I converse with daily. I have made a few people mad. But mostly I have made friends. Very hard to come by, Hoping to never loose................

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002.

Ummmm....I'm afraid I missed something. Are we leaving? Could someone point me in the direction of that information?

-- Mona in OK (modoc@ipa.net), March 16, 2002.

It's funny Joel, but the threads I remember most are not the helpful tips, although they're great, but the ones that made me laugh, think and feel closer to the members on the forum. How do we adorn ourselves by Sheepish. I could almost get a mental picture of all that posted. Polly's writings of the "goings on" at the farm. I can still recall the one she wrote of making a bed with sheets that were hung out on the line or teaching her friend to can. We had alot of gifted writers on here. George and Chuck would have fit right in. The political and religious discussions. You, Doreen, Little Bit, John and Craig all made me see things with a different perspective on political matters. And Sheepish, Colleen, Cindy, John and many more on a religious plane. Tom's quote of the day, I always check it out first. Over the fence chat, and Hoot's stories for a little down home and diversity. Shannon, Annie and Earthmama for a little bit of spice to the threads. Made me stop and think. Brad and his sense of humor. And I still marvel at how Vickie, Bernice, Rebekah and others can nicely answer the same goat questions over and over. They have been invaluable to this forum and with such patience to the new goat owners. Ed Copp, Stan, JOJ and Mitch, were so ornary sometimes, but I always got a smile from reading their posts because it was them. John from NZ and Don from Australia, always gave me a different perspective other than American.

I know there are many, many more that I'm leaving out, but everyone who has contributed to this forum, made it what is is. A big thank you.

Great question, thanks Joel for the trip down memory lane.

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), March 16, 2002.

My answer would have to be almost exactly like Rebekahs.Gerbil told me of a great book which I enjoy which I would never have found with out her.Its funny Joel but recently on your other post some one asked if you were diabetice and I got to thinking about it latter and just burst out laughing.I still remember us going head to head about diabetes.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), March 16, 2002.

I've been coming here since pretty much the beginning -- it has been a place where any question could be answered, and in such a way as to make sense (and not humiliate the person doing the asking!). Sometimes the information in books lacks the years of experience that make it make sense.

The people -- wow! Sheepish, Greenbeanman, LittleBitFarm, Vicki, Earthmama (even though we didn't always agree), Don Armstrong, Hoot, Joel and his commentaries that this Canadian couldn't leave alone! And, of course, Brad. The wit and intelligence of these people has made a huge impact on me -- and while we don't always agree (actually, we SELDOM agree!) it's always interesting.

-- Tracy (trimmer31@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Hi folks! The most surprising thing about this for me was finding so many others who shared an idea/dream/vision of what I had in my mind. I had a vague idea that where I was and what I wanted to be, were not included in the "norm" of mainstream American culture. You all have helped in my defining what it is I want to see for my family.

So many talented people w/ different ideas and ideals, but who shared a commonality on small farming/homesteading. Diverse opinions and for the most most part, the ability to share them w/o an excess of rancor. It's been an up and down road for many of us, but I believe, as a whole, we share much more in common than some of the "lively debates and discussions" would indicate to those who didn't know us.

For fear of omitting someone I will refrain from listing anyone who "made an impression on me". I hope you understand.

Thanks for asking us to share Joel.

-- John in S. IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Confidence, friends and knowledge. I've gained all three in great amounts. I can't tell how much more confidence I have in my homestead skills as well in speaking my opnions and life in general. While I was on Countryside, I discovered I wasn't alone in my ideas of homesteading, there are actually people who do what I do and for the same reasons.

I think this forum helped the majority of us find a common ground. One that homesteaders share that the rest of the world just doesn't get. A yearning and a caring for 'realness' and a deep abiding faith that there's a better way.

I even started continuing threads-over-the-fence chat. I found out I knew more than I thought and I found out I didn't know enough. I asked a lot of questions I already knew something about, figuring there could be a better way of doing something and another way of looking at things.-except getting rid of those awful squash bugs:~}

Through this forum I met Irving and Cora Vee Caswell and Jack and Mildred Bunyard, What wonderful caring people they are. One of my favorite people is Barb in Ky. We have become close e-mail buddies. I wrote a tribute to many of the early forum people, don't know if it's still in the archives. God used me to help a couple people too. (what a blessing)

Little Bit, Rebekkah(thanx), Doreen, Eric in Tn, John and Sindy in S In. Brad-Homefixer, Hoot, Joel Cathy in NY, Jay in Al, and Bobco left deep impressions. (that's the short list)

I noticed that even though we disagreed on political or religious matters, we still answered each other's questions. Also, I could often tell who was writing just by reading the first line of a post.

Thanks Joel for this thread. God Bless

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002.

Well I have to say that when I discovered homesteading it came out of a time that was really rough for me. I had two babies in a row that were very premature and died and then I finally carried a third and went through a doozy of a postpartum depression. Then through a LOT of prayer and bible study, one day it was like a light turned on and the sun shone through. Part of that sunshine was homesteading which I accidentally discovered upon feeling that God needed to make me a better Mom. I had been looking around for that something I was supposed to do with my life(Every girl was told in my day that she had to do something. Being a wife and mother was no longer good enough.), when God laid it on my heart that I was already was doing the absolute most important thing I could do. I was being a wife and mother.

At this point I began casting about for what I could do better in my role as wife and mother. How could I serve my family better. It was then that I really looked at what my family was being given to eat an where they were living. When I realized that living on a lot in SoCal and eating grocery store food was inadiquate, I found homesteading. At first I found it through books. Most of the books were from the nineteen seventies. Then I found it through magazines and I suddenly realized that there were still homesteaders just like me. I began reading every mag I could get my hands on, and my favorite was Countryside and Small Stock Journal. It was there I first began to read the words of other homesteaders. It was there that I first heard the wonderful stories of people seeking just what I was.

Eventually I found this forum through the mag and suddenly I could ask all the questions I wanted. Not only that, but I could actually get answers. Even then I didn't realize just what I'd come upon. When I found this forum I was already on several e-mail lists. But the more I came here, the more I began to realize that as homesteaders we have so much more to say than could ever begin to be communicated in a magazine. I began to spend more time here than I ever spent with e- mail.

Honestly, I don't think that Countryside mag ever knew what they had grabbed the tail of. This forum became what no magazine could ever hope to achieve. This forum became a living, breathing, community with all the beautiful variation that any community has. JD was always trying to talk about what the world could look like because of homesteading, but I don't think he ever knew that the world he was talking about was achieved right here. This is the sadness that I hold in my heart. Now we are going to all go on and carry this achievement into our own communities and families. We are going to use the benefits of this and other forums to truly carry the hope of a future into the rest of the world. But what makes me so sad is that the man who made it all happen probably still doesn't know what he did when he allowed this forum to be created. I truly regret the fact that the reality of our community was overwhelming for the mag.

Nevertheless such is the beginning of all great things. Most of the time when something great happens it is the inheritors of the promise of greatness that truly realize the value of what they have been given. After all most great artist, musicians, politicians, ministers etc... were never known in their own day and didn't recognize their own talent themselves. I believe that if the movement of homesteading is ever going to be significant movement during our time, it will be because of places like this where people can come to sort out the issues of their hearts. I believe that we all need one another. I also believe that we all need to understand one anothers differences. Not to resolve them, but to form a cohesive movement in spite of them. Great changes happen to society, not because everyone who is motivated believes exactly alike, but because everyone can look beyond their differences and grab ahold of their similarities anyway. This does not happen because we ignore differences. It happens because we express them, understand them, debate them, but continue to pursue the cause in spite of them.

This forum is the embodiment of what homesteading means. We all think independently. We all stand for our beliefs. We all live outside the box in thought and in deed. This forum is not only about being self-sufficient in meeting our physical needs. It has been and should be about being self-sufficient not only physically, but also being self-sufficient in our thoughts and hearts as well. For the strength of the body is only as strong as the strenth of the mind and the heart. That is our commonality. That is our unity. That is what JD hoped to achieve in the real world. Countryside forum is as real world as it gets. Here you either lay your cards on the table and open yourself to the world or you gat scared and run away. In my time here we've had some card laying, some running away, some strategic retreating, and some acceptance. But most of all we have had great fun sharing our lives with people seeking common goals. We have made great friendships. We have tested the bonds of humanity. We have strengthened our minds and our beliefs. The greatest times for this forum have been when we threw ourselves into every printed letter, and when we shared more of oursleves than we really had to. The worst times are when we failed to do that, or when others failed to let us. People who I've found to phenominal are JOJ, Joel, Wendy, John Maughan, John Natlivent, Doreen, Sheepish, Vicki, Greenbeanman, and a host of others whose names escape me at the moment. Some of these people I often agree with. Some I rarely agree with. But everyone of them are exceptional irregardless.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), March 16, 2002.

Thank You to you all ! I really miss the old debates. I really miss the old nic names and,--- yes ! ---it was like we all lived just down the road and we counted heavily on one another. We were a family and the house just wouldn't hold us.

The single most important thng I learned was--how diverse we really were. How different we were yet how alike we had all chosen to be. Like birds of a feather ?--no---Like a flock thrown together ! We had it all ! Experts, novices, success's, failures, spiritually rich and despicably poor. From the corners of the country(and world) the cities and the farms--with years and years of living tucked up underneath their arms--they walked away from everything, just to watch a dream come true. God Blessings to those who made the noise on Countryside Avenue !

Many of you left lasting impressions on me. I gave the short list and many are lost to me now. I am a man who lost a great treasure ! No disrespect to Chuck but it will never be the same. Rebekkah said "obituary ? and Yes---I have not come to praise Countryside-- I have come to Bury it !

My most lasting personality has too be Abigail@ treeoflife. She was monument to faith and a poster child for homeschooling. Just 15, She gave me hope for a dying planet and I was blessed to have known of her existence before I leave this world--"For mine eyes have seen the salvation of the coming of the Lord" ! I can state this with certainty--The lucky man that marries that woman will have both strength and substance and though his days on this earth are numbered, he will be blessed all the days of them !

Regrets, Yes--I have a few. By my own edict of Peace in this thread-- I will not express it here. I also regret that we don't live next to each other. I regret that I couldn't meet you all in person. I regret that many times my motives were mistaken and I regret that many times I let you down whn you needed me the most !

Someday, many years from now, when your lying in bed remembering old things. If by some odd chance your thoughts drift to this time and place and you somehow rememmber me---than I would like to be remembered for what I really was. A dirt poor farmer that loved mankind enough to speak out against the powers that be. A man that loved God, family an friends ! A Homesteader by every definition of the word. I want to leave with something, something that no thief can steal from you and no man can remove from your essence. I did not write it but the man that did also wants you to have it.

Once social change begins it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate a person who feels pride; and you cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore !

In the words of Tiny Tim--God Bless you Everyone !

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@ webtv.net), March 17, 2002.

Joel----I got an e-mail the "old gang" was meeting here----- This is the first forum I ever posted on---so I learned a lot about the computer from my neighbors (on this forum) as well as about my livestock & gardening & cooking & just someone to listen to me/ when I was haveing a bad day--- So many became friends--Lesley---Doreen---Kathleen -Gerbil---Little Bit---Hoot ---Greenbeanman---Cindy----soooooo many more who are gone now & a lot I don't even know where they are anymore--- my memory is sooooo bad /I know-- I have left out soooo many that I chated with each day---& were always there for me--- My life is richer for knowing you all---Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda in Ks. (sgbruce@birch.net), March 17, 2002.

WOW! I really do not know when I started coming here. I remember the threads used to go from bottom to top and that used to confuse the heck out of me at first. I do remember one of my first posts was on a political thread and I remember Doreen telling me to go to the archives for what I was looking for. I have learned more then I will ever need to know from this forum, and I hope that by adding my Quotes of the day to this forum I have helped some of you have a more meaningful day.

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), March 17, 2002.

for someone who has been here only a few short months I feel pretty cozy. There have been so many here who have shared their knowledge with not only me but anyone whos question they could answer.

So many goat people have been very helpful, Vicki (I ask myself over and over again how she is able to answer so many questions) she has been just about the most generous person for us goat people. Then there is Bernice, what a great lady she is. Rebeka has always been there, as well as Kathleen.There are so many regulars who are always there with an answer.

It is without a doubt Annie who made me first feel at home here. She is like an unseen friend who is always there with kind words when needed. Then there is Sandi and Sheryl whose responses to my stories encouraged me to post more of them.

There are a few here who I feel a special bond with even though we do not communicate much with each other.

I liked Chuck right from the start. I love his writings, especially the story about shopping for a birthday gift.

Little Bits answers always get my attention. Toms quote of the day is a must read for me. Don from Australia is very interesting, I like to know homesteaders reach across the oceans.

There have been times I did not answer a question when I should have and then there were times I posted and regretted it. I never ever got a mean email though (thanks!) I have received a tremendous amount of very very nice emails and would like to thank everyone for the emails.

I do miss Ken. I didn't know him well but I did like him very much and miss his input.

There are so many who post who I could not skip over no matter what the thread is. Some of you folks are a must read no matter what.

I wish I could remember all the names of everyone who deserves a thanks but to many to remember without making a list, I do thank you all though.

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

I don't have anyone in particular to name. Except maybe Hoot. I've enjoyed the feeling of "come on up here on my porch and sit for a spell" that comes across in his posts.

I've been posting for about 2 1/2 years but for the last year it's been under a different name than at the begining for the sake of privacy.

When I found this forum after reading a Countryside magazine in our local library, I felt like I'd come home. Finally, here were people that I felt were likeminded about the idea of homesteading. And, like family, there have been people that I've felt like throttling one minute and hugging the next.

I look forward to meeting all of you again in the next "forum life".

-- Lav, MD (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.