#149 A Time of Gratitude

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 149

A Time of Gratitude

After the last two episodes where I gave you nothing but good news about our world, I have decided to continue on that trend. I have often said that if everyone in the world could come home to a place of peace and quiet and have the ability to just mentally shut down, the world would be a much happier place and people would be a lot less angry. 

There are a number of things that have been proven to  increase our happiness and well being and one of those things is gratitude. Taking a little time everyday to make a short list of the things that you are grateful for tends to focus your mind on the positive and away from all the negative things going on in our world. And to be true to that, this episode is called A Time of Gratitude. 

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E149 which is called A Time of Gratitude. 

Now before we get started on this weeks content, I am going to keep true to my promise to bring you one bit of good news every single week. And this week’s good news story is about how the Brits crowd sourced a national Ancient Tree Inventory. 

Similar to many other places in the world, much of the woodlands that covered lower Britain had been cleared even from Neolithic times. But waves of immigration, warfare and industrialization speeded this process. But despite this, there are hundreds of thousands of trees on the British isles that are hundreds of years old. 

The Ancient Tree Inventory was organized by a non-profit called the Woodland Trust in order to coordinate conservation, environmental activism and scientific research. Anyone familiar with an ancient tree could record and share its existence with the country. Each tree was measured for its size and it was also noted for the number of species living on or inside it. 

Now what is interesting to note is that ancient trees as fundamental to the health of our worldwide forested ecosystems. Studies have shown that when a forested ecosystem loses too many of the older trees the overall health of that ecosystem rapidly declines.  

So, hats off to the Brits for their love of trees and helping to maintain the health of an ancient ecosystem.  

Now let’s get started on this weeks episode. 

Now as most of you know I have been living off the grid for over 25 years. It all started with finding the kind of land I had always wanted and the fact that it was isolated enough that modern amenities were simply not available. Consequently, I had to get very creative with how I was living. I will be the first to admit that initially my lifestyle was extremely challenging. SO challenging at times that I would leave the property and venture off to work in southern Arizona for the winter and just take a break. 

Obviously I did not get discouraged because 25 plus years later I am still there. We are now at the point where we are in control of a tremendous amount of our own resources. Granted we go about things a bit differently than most people but it is there things we do that creates a certain amount of personal security. 

Despite the fact that it took a tremendous amount of physical labor and financial investment to make the homestead what it is I do forget at times just how fortunate we are to live where and how we do. Occasionally I am reminded of how I should be grateful for the things we have and that is just what happened yesterday. And it is that reminder that was the inspiration for this episode.  

So what I am going to focus on in this episode is a list of the various things in our lifestyle that I am completely grateful for. In other words, I am offering my gratitude for the life we have in the hopes it will inspire others to develop such a lifestyle. 

The Peace and Quiet

By far one of the best things about where we live is the peace and quiet. For the most part when we are home we almost never hear a man-made sound unless a plane flies over. This provides an incredible get-away from the total madness of the Denver area. It provides a way for me to get grounded again and emotionally recharge after an insanely busy work week. Because it is so quiet it is similar to being in a state of meditation. Such conditions are a great way to relieve stress, get focused, and spend time doing the things that I love. 

During the time that I have lived at the cabin, the population in Colorado has increased by more than 2 million people. Most of that growth has been in the area that is referred to as the Front Range. This is simply the geographic area along the eastern margin of the Rocky Mountains, running from the northern state line with Wyoming down to the southern state line with New Mexico. And of course this is where I have to go to work. 

Despite this incredible growth, the area where we live has remained largely unchanged. The biggest change that affects us is that the two larger parcels of land that border the cabin property that were vacant for so many years are now occupied full time.  But typically we only see these new land owners every few weeks. Occasionally we hear generator noise or machine noise but it typically ceases after a short time. However, 90% of the time it is still just as quiet as it has always been.  

The Incredible Scenery 

The next thing that I am so grateful for is the incredible scenery. We of course live in a mountainous region at 10,000 feet elevation, or approximately 3,000 meters..

From the deck we have an unobstructed long-range view to the north and east, which is a mountain range that is all national forest. This means it will never be developed. In the front of the cabin is a very large aspen grove. From the greenhouse we have an unobstructed view to the north west of some large peaks that extend well above timberline. If we hike above the greenhouse we have an unobstructed view directly west of even more peaks. 

I think it is a combination of the quiet environment and the scenery that produces an incredible sense of peace once you are at the cabin. 

The Wildlife

The next thing that I am incredibly grateful for is all the wildlife that we see. I think this is because we back up to thousands and thousands of acres of national forest that will never be developed. Consequently, we see deer, elk, big horn sheep, moose, bear, mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, and coyotes. That doesn’t include all the different kinds of birds. 

Just yesterday morning we had two moose walk up through the aspen groove and hang around for more than an hour. One of them was no more than 30 feet outside the door taking advantage of a big grassy area for grazing. I was watching her with some binoculars so it was truly a great up close and personal experience. You could see every muscle in her body. And because she was so close I learned something about moose that I never knew. Who would have ever guessed that moose have really long eyelashes. 

Earlier in the year we have some woodpeckers nesting in the aspen groove. They had several babies which could be heard relentlessly chirping. One morning I stood on a short ladder and held my phone up to the hole in the aspen tree where the nest was located. I made a two minute video of all the crazy chirping. It was fantastic. 

And this year, for the first time ever, we have baby marmots. There has been a marmot burrow on the side of the road going up to the cabin for about 10 years now. It gets used by various marmots. But this year there is a female with babies. This is the first time I have even seen a baby marmot. 

Now I could truly go on for an hour about wildlife stories. But let it suffice to say it is one of the most enjoyable aspects about living where we do. 

The Trees

The next thing that I am grateful for, just like the Brits, is the trees. We I hike off of the property I commonly find old growth trees that appear ancient. They have deeply rutted crusty bark with moss growing on them. I often think that tree was there long before I was born and will be there long after I am gone. We also have a tree growing in front of the cabin that is at least 75 feet tall and has to be well over 100 years old. Just this morning I was down at the creek pumping water onto the truck to bring up to the cabin and I was admiring these perfectly shaped 60 foot tall blue spruce trees that commonly grow along the creek.  

The Stream

And speaking of pumping water, the next thing I am grateful for is the stream below the cabin. Of course it provides us with clean water. But it is also another source of natural beauty both in summer and winter. During the winter there are some incredible funky ice formations due to the water spray. In the summer I always see trout in the pool where I pump water. 

A couple of weeks ago when I was down at the creek getting water I entertained myself watching this bird called the American Dipper, which is North America’s only truly aquatic songbird. This bird dives underwater for a couple of minutes at a time to forage on the stream bottom using its wings to negotiate the current. Then it would sit on a rock and continuously bob its short little tail. Then I wound watch this bird find a spot to sit in the sun for a few minutes. This was truly my morning entertainment.

My Favorite Crackheads

The next thing I am grateful for is what I call my favorite little crackheads, also know as hummingbirds.  Every year we can’t wait for them to return in the Spring. We put out feeders as soon as we see or hear the first one of the year. Everyday we see the them battle over the feeders performing acrobatic feats at incredible speeds. 

Besides the entertainment, these birds are actually very interesting creatures. They are the smallest migrating creature and typically fly alone. They are capable of flying over 500 miles nonstop.  They actually have no sense of smell but have incredible color vision. When they drink nectar their tongue moves in and out about 13 times per second. They beat their wings at about 70 times per second in regular flight and over 200 times per second when diving. They can achieve speeds of 30 mph with horizontal flight and 60 mph when diving. 

The Edible Plants

Another one of my favorite things about where we live is all of the wild edible plants. Every year we harvest wild raspberries, strawberries, rose hips, currents, as well as several other plants that grow in great abundance. We also have an abundance of wild mushrooms but unfortunately I know little about them. However, we do have some friends that live in southern Colorado that are a wonderful source of knowledge on mushrooms. In fact, last year the collected an abundance of mushrooms, dried, and package them and gave us a tasty sample. 

The Sense of Personal Freedom

Next on my list of favorite things about where we live is the sense of personal freedom that you get from living in such a place. There are very few people around to over see, over look, comment, or question what you are doing. Within reason, you have the freedom to do whatever you want as long as you are not creating a disturbance. It really truly is a great way to live. 

The Sense of Community

And last but certainly not least on my list of things I am grateful for about where we live is the sense of community. Now that community may be very small but it is a wonderful support network. We have a small group of friends that we have know for many years. These are people we love and trust and people that would literally do anything for you. Now we may not always seem them. Sometimes it is weeks or even months before we see some of them. But the point being is that they are always there. I was explaining this to my younger sister a few months ago and she commented on just how hard that was to find in our present day world. 

Summary

Now all of these things may sound rather insignificant too a lot of people. That said, I think it is safe to say that I do not know of many people that live in the environment that we do. 

But I will have to say that when I am having a tough troubling week, the first thing I think about is that I just need to get back to the cabin. It is truly my little refuge of peace in the middle of the forest and how much different the world would be if everyone had a similar place to go. 

And if you really think about it, these things certainly hit some of the highlights of sustainability. Appreciating and caring for the environment around you. Caring about the wildlife, the trees, plants, fish, birds, and even your local community is vital for sustainable living. 

So my challenge for everyone this week is this. Take an inventory of all the things you are grateful for, all the things in your life that truly make a difference, that bring you value and happiness. Then think of a way to get rid of all the rest. Now that more or less sums up simple sustainable living. 

Until next week folks, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.