The Contradiction of My Life

Some nights you just have to laugh at yourself. Tonight, I am typing
this on my little netbook at the kitchen table. The kitchen wood stove
is warm with the sounds of wood crackling as it's gentle heat surrounds
me. It is quiet. The little ones are asleep. The kids currently share
a bedroom until we are able to remodel the back bedrooms for later this
year. Little Miss sleeps on the top bunk surrounded by her stuffed
animals, including a special teddy bear that her Daddy got her from
"Build-a-Bear". Little Man sleeps on the bottom bunk. It is still
strange to see him in such a large bed. He goes to bed with his I-pod
and watches cartoons until he can fall asleep. Yes, he uses an I-pod.
Do you begin to see the contradiction? If you read my blogs very often,
I am sure you are beginning to.

Living nearly non-electric, it is pretty much a contradiction that we
have a netbook, our son has an I-pod, and both our children have Leap
Pad and V tech educational toys that require numerous batteries. The
belief is that if you live off-grid or primarily without electricity as
we do, then you have no modern technology in your home. The only modern
technology that we do not have consists only of the TV, video games, and
electric lighting & appliances. We use cell phones which can be charged
using a very small solar power system that we have set up.

We have plans to build our own wind power system this spring. With the
amount of wind we get daily, we should be able to produce enough for our
needs. It will give me the ability to charge up my netbook while using
it. I will even be able to charge and use it during the night, which I
cannot do currently. In truth, most of the time when my netbook is
charging I am at a library or when driving in a vehicle using a power
inverter plugged into the 12-volt cigarette lighter outlet.

Tonight, as I sit here typing this blog, I am typing on the netbook with
an oil lamp providing my light. How is that for a contradiction? Such
is the way it goes. While living our off-grid life, we do have minimal
technology but only what we feel is necessary.