Life at SoftAcres 06/21/19 - A Solstice Summary

By summer solstice, life at SoftAcres was becoming the psycho-spiritual sanctuary it had been for the last summer seasons--but even moreso. This next year - from August 2019 to July 2020 - will be the last year of my mortgage. It is almost unbelievable to me, that my plan to eliminate as many monthly expenses as possible is working, while continuing to live a relatively comfortable and aptly appointed (meaning, that I enjoy having the utilities that most Americans have) existence. On July 21, 2020, I will have no rent or mortgage, no water bill and no electric bill. Can you, reading this, imagine what savings are possible when these expenses are eliminated? 

As of yesterday, it was reported on NPR that 45 million Americans are "rent burdened," meaning they spend over 50% of their household income on rent (personal financial counselors instead suggest it should be no more than 30% of household income). This is especially true for Millenials, the poor, the elderly, and minimum wage workers--some are burdened even when both parents are working fulltime and parttime jobs!  There are many complex reasons for this rent burden. 

Gentrification has become the major issue in many cities. Often, San Francisco is held up as the symbol for how gentrification has been pushing even the middle class out. Yet, this same process has been unfolding even in my own state of Maine. Housing in Cumberland County in particular is being bought up, where the lower income people are being evicted or otherwise forced out of even the most modest rental spaces, which are then re-rented to higher earning families...

Portland, Maine, the "other" Portland, is a desirable city to live in if you don't mind the chilly winters. It shows up on a lot of lists: Most Livable Cities, Hippest Cities, Healthiest Cities, Foodie-est Cities, etc. And that makes it a desirable location for the well-to-do to relocate. The problem is that there is only a limited housing stock to accommodate the incoming hordes of affluent people seeking to live in the attractive oceanside city. The result is that newcomers battle longtime residents for housing, and housing costs go up. Among the largest 100 metropolitan areas, Portland, Maine had the second largest rise in rental rates in the U.S. Rents rose 17.4%, the median rent in Portland rising to $1582, more than much larger Philadelphia and Chicago. With many hundreds of new families relocating to the city every year, a housing shortage has worsened, and the rent increases have driven the working class out of town in droves. Portland’s vacancy rate is near zero. Meanwhile shelters for the homeless are overflowing with citizens unable to compete with newcomers who consider the $1600 rents cheap by their former standards. The city has been struggling to come up with workable options to increase affordable housing without impacting Portland’s “livability.” Meanwhile, as rents have increased 40% in the past five years, Mayor Ethan Strimling has acknowledged that there was a $500 gap between what people make in Portland and what they can afford to pay for housing.

[Salon.com]

We should consider all the above while acknowledging that more people are choosing to rent, rather than be bound to a traditional mortgage. When I was a child it was still possible to pay off a mortgage before retirement. By the time I graduated from college in the mid 1990's, unsecured credit was being thrown at everyone and their pet! The economy changed from a capital based system to an entirely debt based state by the banks. People were getting second mortgages, equity loans, and maxing out credit cards. America was awash in personal debt by the turn of the century. 

I often asked myself how I would ever live a financially stable life without selling my soul to an employer, losing my personal freedom to obligations to banks, and/or feeling the hypocrisy of working for an industry (ironically, the financial industry itself) whose behavior and policies I didn't ethically or morally agree with. It was the American Game, and I grew to despise it. The answer I came up with and developed to this point had quitting that Game as a first step, and then replacing it as a personal, and spiritual goal. This blog records that entire process.

My motivation was ultimately an artistic one...or, more appropriately, a musical one. Just before leaving my synthetic, yet socially expected lifestyle, I realized that writing and recording music was the thing I had always wanted since I was a child. I believed that my music was more important to me than any other work I could do. It may or may not have been a perfect strategy (i.e. putting my music on hold entirely, by quitting the conventionality that was then seriously affecting my health), but in less than ten years I was at least able to find a place where musical creativity could begin again. Now as long as I can establish the positive habits needed to resurrect my art--my craft, my music (an already-30 year parttime career). I may actually achieve what I set out to do in 2011.

In a practical sense, let me state very strongly--and more succinctly, what the whole point has been...

In 2011 I was dying physically, emotionally and spiritually by trying to live up to the conventional standards of friends, family and the flawed American society I felt enslaved to. I made the will choice to dump it all, long enough to remake my individual material life, so that I might afford to write and create perpetually until my death or old age--whichever came first. For me, this required leaving my music on the sidelines. During this last decade, I felt that I needed to choose to ignore my musical creativity in order to reestablish it someday as my primary activity again, or it (music) would distract me and I would never build a solid foundation to properly support it. This in-between time included all of the cross country Journeying described in the archives of this blog. It has been artistically frustrating, often sad, and a voluntarily risky endeavor. The risk was that I might be tempted to give up music entirely. Now that the goal of creating again is within sight--due to the development of of a truly affordable life, I feel the attraction of future melodies and harmonies pulling me back to my musical love.

* * *

As the days grew toward the longest sunlight hours, I focused on continuing to construct a more stable shelter, maybe one that will eventually become my first official house. I had finally gotten MaineCare (Maine's Medicare expansion program), and for the first time since moving to Farmington, I was able to actually have affordable healthcare. I even had an eye exam and have nice new eyeglasses. Naturally, making up for living with untreated heart disease and other conditions, suddenly took up quite a bit of my daytime hours...and still does. But it was/is all for the best--even with a certain amount of permanent damage seemingly required, as I may talk about in the next post.

Because my physiological energy has been about 50% as compared to last year, there has been a limit on property development. I was and still am happy if I get two basic goals achieved each day, here on the land.

I'd toyed with the idea of using stone in my construction, so I'm fooling around, just to learn and practice some masonry. First, was to collect and pile up enough stones to cover the front of the sunroom, so that I know how many will be needed when I get ready to use concrete...  

Last year's simple setup for rain harvesting was still perfectly effective. And I was once again able to collect ~20 gallons of water per 1/2" of rainfall. After experimenting with various water use systems and filtering (as seen in last year's posts), I've settled on a temporary water use model...

KINDS OF WATER

1. Filtered Rainwater - This is harvested as clean, fresh, 1x filtered rainwater. It is used for bathing, washing dishes, and when needed, potable for boiling, cooking or coffee. It is drinkable in an emergency--preferably going through 1 or more filtering (using activated charcoal if possible), but not preferred for drinking. It is stored in a 20 gallon tank.

2. Unfiltered Rainwater - This is harvested as fresh, unfiltered rainwater. It may contain insects and plant material. It is used for watering and combining with fertilizer to feed consumable plants. It could theoretically be filtered and used like number 1 above. It is stored in a 55 gallon barrel, and then transferred to smaller containers as necessary.

3. Drinking water - For now, this can be purchased or filled at a pump station, which is then added to a small inside tank. While the average person uses about 5 gallons per day of household water for washing and other needs, actual drinking water amounts are very small, by comparison. I myself literally drink less than half a gallon a day of plain water or mixed as lemonade. A person with an EBT card and the transportation required to move moderate amounts spring water, is all set with about $0.50 worth per day. Again, in an emergency (or, someday, as my final setup will include), one need not even buy any water, as long as a good reliable household filtering system is in place to clean harvested water.

4. Greywater - All used water (after washing or bathing) is collected as non potable and non drinkable water. It is used to add moisture to the compost (assuming one uses environmentally safe cleaning products and soap), and/or is used to water trees and other plants on the property. If there is excess greywater, it is channeled to a leach field about 40 feet down the eastern edge of the property... 

The two rain harvesters; each with approximately 50 sf of collection area.

On the top shelf is number 2 water--unfiltered.

One the second shelf is where number 3 water--drinking/spring water is stored.

Also note that I have a great workbench now (tarp covered table), which

doubles as a storage area container with space underneath.

The added sunroom has been a real antidote to the dreariness of the winter-past. It is screened in now on the front and side, with opaque white vinyl walls and door. The room is a huge improvement from last year's leaky outdoor kitchen area...

Sera - "Ahpla"

Sera - "Ateb"

I was fortunate to find a brand new propane double burner cook stove at Reny's. 

Outside, we can now see the addition of a door!

And, with the new doorknob, I can finally be "indoors" on my own land! Ha!

On these warm sunny days the sky never fails to deliver a beautiful and unique sunset each evening, beyond the fields and behind the mountains. This one was especially red...

The sun turned Golden Hour into Copper Hour

I just set up my lights around the perimeter of the inside of the shelter. I love to see the colors interact with each other and how they glow behind the different materials...

Thank you so much for reading and keeping up with these posts! If you enjoy watching this project develop and can afford to contribute a little, please consider buying a book or making a donation through PayPal by choosing your option at the top of the page! 

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