Self Reliance

Today I built a chair. There is nothing so satisfying as building something with your own two hands. A year ago this was an enclosure for a dumpster. At 3:30 this was a pile of scrap wood. 

At 6:00 it became an adirondack chair. I used the blue chair on the left as a model. 

I am gonna put this new chair down in my garden. 

I am personally really pleased with how well this chair turned out. I built it in about two-and-a-half hours. With the collecting of the wood and de-nailing it maybe took four hours. My mother was so impressed with my craftsmanship she has asked about paying me to build some new ones to replace our old ones. When I was done with my new one I did my best to repair the old ones. They may last another season. But they don't have many more sittings in them. 

The challenges I faced included the wood sometimes dissolving as I tried to drive a nail into it. In some cases the wood was so old and rotted, that it just turned to mush. Even with that I managed to get enough good useable wood from the scrap to finish the chair. 

I think part of what I am trying to accomplish here with this New Suburban Paleo Farmer is being an all around skilled human. I can run, jump, climb, grow things, cook, and build what I need from what I have in the environment. The first step in sustainablity is being self reliant. We live in large communities, which is good. We should be able to depend on the people around us. However, if for some reason those people are nolonger able to provide us with that aid, we should be able to reliay on our selves.