Suburban Intro to Homesteading

Why do I run? I run to suffer. For thousands of years humans evolved because running was a necessity. Running was the way of life whether to gather food, defend the village, or just to travel. But these days, none of these essential reasons to run are applicable. Our food is gathered into shopping carts, we have police to protect us from small disputes, and a military to protect from larger ones. But even the United States' enormous military force is only comprised of 1.9 million Americans (0.4 percent of the population). So, very little of our population needs to run. Except that we do need to run. We need to suffer. This idea sounds scary and sadistic at first, I know that. But bear with me. As we let more and more technology and creature comforts seep into our lives we see sharp increases in obesity and chronic stress. Our society has a 50 percent divorce rate, while heart disease and diabetes are crippling a huge portion of our population. Our bodies ...

First of all, I know this is supposed to be a Homesteading blog, but I am lucky enough to have a lot of hobbies and interests. Racing is two of them. Both Half Marathons, and in this posts focus, Obstacle Course Racing. I'm up at 5:20 in the morning starting this. If already been up for an hour because I went to bed earlier than usual and am now stuck in dark quiet solitude staring at my phone. This post has been milling around in my head for some time and I've finally decided to talk about it. Well, I ran out of time really. Because in exactly 4 hours I'll be lined up with tons of friends and family getting ready to head out and conquor the Savage Race course. We will run up and down Ohio's version of a Ski resort multiple times, launch ourselves through tons of harrowing obstacles, join in true warrior communion around the water stations together, turn around and offer a mud dripping hand to help a friend rise and conquer a wall, or ditch, or some other obstacle. Ma...

Lets have a Friday night discussion about life.   There is a common conversation that I have on a daily basis with pretty much anyone I bump into, and it goes something like this....   Stranger: Hi, how are you? Me: Hi, I'm living the dream thanks, how are you? Stranger: Huh, more like a nightmare, right? Me: Naw not really. If I wasn't living the dream, I'd wake up and do something about it, right? Stranger: *Confused* Umm, yeah I guess. Me: I hope you have a great day. Stranger: *Crickets*   This conversation breaks my heart. Every time. I hate it. It tells me there are to many zombies walking around. To many people who have already died, and are just keeping their bodies in motion for as long as they generate heat.   Here's the first point. A large amount of the general population has been convinced to live a life where they work a 40-50 hour a week job that they don't like, take a one week vacation every year, retire and...

Everyone in our modern world knows that obesity is a problem. It's an epidemic. It's actually worse than that. Epidemics have cures, lockdowns, procedures. There are no cures for the current situation. There isn't a pill, a shot, or a magical solution. It's an issue of education. Everyone knows we are being brainwashed by the fast food industry, and advertising, Our subconscious is tapped into every day by years of research all poured into the colors and shapes of logos, jingles, and catch phrases that aim to grab and hold our attention. And all of these things offer us what? Food that is so processed it is barely food anymore. You've seen the documentaries. If you haven't, get on Netflix or Youtube. Animals and bugs don't want the stuff these companies offer us. Mold and fungus don't even want a lot of the things we shovel in to our bodies. Well, what do we do? We get back to the roots. Literally. Get growing. For $20 you can order yourself one of...

Hello and welcome back to Suburban Intro to Homesteading! I have a few new homesteading projects in the works right now in my small apartment, but they are in the beginning stages. So I wanted to take some time to talk about another aspect of my life that I think relates to this blog, and can have a positive lasting impact on the world we live in. #30halfsbefore30 is a personal goal I've been working towards for a little over a year and a half. I am trying to complete 30 Half Marathons before I turn 30. At this point the finish line is metaphorically and realistically in sight. Over the weekend I finished my 24th, and have all of the rest of my Half's on the calendar with me finishing at the Air Force Half Marathon in September. If you knew me 5 years ago, this is a big deal. And it has taken a village. Between training partners, a family member's race entry sponsorship, my OCR family the Crazy Mudder Muckers, becoming an Ambassador for the Brokeman's Running Co, ...

Welcome!! Come on this new journey with me, and lets create a better standard of living for ourselves. This Blog is motivated by a drive to end my families consumption of single use plastics while trying to live in the modern world. On our trip we will learn homesteading skills, healthier spending, cooking, and living, as well as try to meet members of our community and collaborate on ways to make this an easier endeavor for my followers. I want to share my experiences and recommendations with you so we can improve together as a community. This will be a back to basics venture in a world where everything is electronic, mechanized, processed, sealed, altered, and straight out of a factory. While citizens become enslaved to electronics, sugar, and the drive to consume at uncontrollable rates we will be a part of the revolution to move back towards a simpler life. Back to books. Back to cooking. Back to family. Back to preparing. Back to together. Let...