A long time ago, I said that if I could find a politician who managed to have a positive campaign rather than a smear one, I would support him. That’s part of why I supported Gary Johnson when he was running (though it was a lot more in depth than that). But yesterday I saw something that made me really stop and listen. I saw this:
This is raw. It’s different than some of his past stuff. It’s … It feels more real.
I know, feels aren’t what the Right cares about. But this was a GOOD political ad. This one actually spoke to me. Yes, the world is shite. The Institution (the swamp, if you will) has protected itself at the cost of the citizens of the country. Don’t give up, keep doing what’s right, never quit. “They’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you. I’m just standing in their way.” Damn.
I still don’t like the guy. He makes my hackles rise. But I know he’s not the demon the Left paint him as. I can mourn the fact that better candidates didn’t get in, and still know that he’s better than Biden by far. I cannot deny that this video, the words he said, paint a much different picture than the stuff he posted the first time around. Maybe he has learned. Maybe he will be better this time.
There are many things that are important to Conservatives and Republicans that are also important to me. First and Second Amendment issues are prime examples. Freedom to speak, to protest (not riot), to think your own thoughts, to live free, these are fundamentally American things. Other countries, if they have these things at all, have done so because we did it first. Firearms and arms in general, I might be more Right than some of you, because I firmly and 100% believe that “…shall not be infringed…” is the be-all and end-all. I am a “small government” kind of gal, and would love to see the swamp drained. I think that government has the anti-Midas touch – everything it touches turns to shit. Government should be interfering only when absolutely necessary, especially at the Federal level. It should not be possible for someone to be a “career politician.” EVER.
And then there are other issues, ones which are not Constitutional but are near and dear to my heart. I believe that a person’s body should be inviolate, and that includes during pregnancy. I believe birth control should be inexpensive (already possible) or maybe free at point of use, and easy to get ahold of. I think marriage, from the government’s perspective, should simply be a listing of who did what, when, for the purposes of census taking and whatever Federal and State level benefits people get for being married. I think if five people want to get together and form a family, that’s fine. I think gay people are “just people” and should have exactly the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else (and not more, btw). I think black people are “just people” and should have exactly the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else (and not more, btw). I believe that people should be able to get (very basic) healthcare that is free at point of service (largely because it saves money at the community and county level, overall). I believe that religion, and freedom of AND FROM it, are between a person and their gods, and there should be no government level (including schools) statements that are inherently religious.
There’s a lot going on here, and I labeled this article “fears” for a reason. Here are some of the concerns I have, and why I have them. Some echo the concerns that those on the Left have. Take what you will from it.
I’m going to carefully report from the Left side of the line today. I don’t like it. I’ll officially say I like it a lot less than I like reporting Right stuff to Left friends. It feels a lot more dangerous. Still, here I am, the designated person reporting “from behind enemy lines.”
I didn’t watch the debate between Biden and Trump. I don’t like listening to either of them talk, for very different reasons. I caught the media backlash, of course, and I did watch bits and pieces that various pundits felt were important. I watched enough bits to know that saying “Trump won” was sort of like saying “guns fire bullets.” No shit, Sherlock.
The media even stepped up on this one. Mainstream media (CNN, CBS, ABC, etc.) all said basically the same thing: Biden is old, and now we can see it, and gee those Dems have been hiding it really well for the past few years. But let’s get real here… even MOTHER JONES said Trump won that one.
It wasn’t a fair contest. Trump, while I still dislike him on a personal level, is not feeble. He’s brash, energetic, and on point. I don’t have to like him to admit that he answered most of the questions in fairly plain, honest language. Biden, he had to be led off the stage like a toddler up past his bedtime. I hate that the Left is engaging in the level of elder abuse that they are. It’s disturbing, and wrong.
But all the above… is nothing compared to what I’ve seen on FB this week from people that I am “FB friends” with. You can check these out or not.
Isaiah Martin says, paraphrased, we all knew Biden was old, but Trump is an existential threat.
A meme: Just because you think Alfred is too old to take care of the BatCave, you don’t replace him with the Joker.
Occupy Democrats says Biden should use his “newfound presidential immunity” to add four new seats to the Supreme Court and a bunch of other things.
An acquaintance said this (and I’m withholding their name): “Let me spell this out for those in the back: Trump v Hillary was choosing vomiting or Diarrhea. Trump v Biden is choosing stage 4 cancer or mild heartburn. Do not get it twisted.”
I can’t even. I keep hearing things along the line of, “Yeah, okay so Biden is senile and half dead, but at least he isn’t Trump!” And that, well, this isn’t about the presidency, it’s about the country as a whole and that if Trump gets in again, the gays will all be in concentration camps and women will become walking incubators.
Y’all… I need you to understand, no matter how hard it is for you… the Left who are saying this stuff, they really believe it. They actually believe that Biden will be okay, that his advisors will keep him propped up and animatronic no matter what. They would rather participate in the physical and mental abuse of a decrepit old man, than make another choice. And that really is what they’re saying. They want Biden, no matter what. They don’t want to think about anyone else in Biden’s place. They definitely don’t want Harris in there. Michele Obama is probably the closest to a “well, I guess” comment I’ve gotten from some of them. And that’s only because she doesn’t have a penis.
At this point, I believe Trump will win. I believe the Dems will burn their own homes to the ground over it. What I *hope* will happen after the year or two of civil unrest and tantrums (or riots… or both) is that we’ll actually get some decent candidates that can work toward what’s best for the whole country. I think that’s the best I can hope for right now. And boy, it sure feels lonely over here on this fence.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
So back in May, I spent 8 days and 7 nights at the Fort at No. 4 up in Charlestown, NH. I was there for a number of reasons. First, they needed someone to do a cooking demo for a few school groups going through, and that’s entirely my wheelhouse. Second, there was a Rendezvous going on (sort of an 18th century “con”) and they wanted people in the Fort. Third, and perhaps most important, I wanted to teach myself how to bake in a beehive oven.
Salt pork made at the Fort, ready to use in a bean dish.
The Fort is a wonderful and very magical place. It does have running water in the bathrooms (cold only, and only in the summer), and the bathrooms are set up outhouse style (you have to go out of the fort to a small two stall privy to use them). There is electricity in some of the buildings, but when I’m there I rarely use it other than to charge my phone (which I do in a staff room that is not open to the public, during the day when I’m not using it). I do use the fridge in the staff room for keeping food from going off, but only because there is no root cellar there for me to keep things in. If there was, I probably wouldn’t use the staff room at all.
So, in spending a week at the Fort, I learned a number of things about myself. First and foremost, my stress level went down tremendously when I wasn’t reading FaceBook and the news. About the end of the third day, living in a one room cabin and sleeping on a rope bed began to feel like the “new normal” and I settled in very nicely. The rope bed has a lovely, fluffy down feather tick mattress, over which I laid my sheepskins so that the pin feathers didn’t prick my bottom while sleeping. It was still a bit chilly in Charlestown during the evenings, so I was happy to have the warmth of the fireplace radiating beside my bed. If I had wanted, I could have kept the fire going all night, but I didn’t see the point. The residual heat from the beehive oven actually kept it quite dry and comfortable (outside was a bit moist and cool). I learned that sleeping on the rope bed, my shoulder ceases hurting almost entirely… but my hips go out of whack instead and I must pinch a nerve. Apparently I should spend a every other night flipping between my bed and a rope bed to get the best sleep possible. LOL!
Firing the beehive oven in preparation for baking bread.
I learned that you get up early because there’s light, and you go to bed early (for me at least, because I’m a night owl usually) because there isn’t light. The cabin I’m in is lit entirely by the hearth and candles. I have a large candelabra, several smaller candle stands, and a few lanterns. Most nights, I burned a single candle and not much more, because there didn’t seem much point. The one night I was attempting to finish a sewing project, I actually lit up six candles in the candelabra, and that was enough light to allow me to complete my work. It was interesting, seeing the way my body adjusted when I cut out electric light from my life.
The entire time I was there, I dressed as a Fort dweller. I wore a petticoat (a skirt) or two depending on the temperature, and a bedgown (which is a type of blouse that ties or pins closed), a chemise that covered my elbows but not my lower arms, and a frilly cap that covered most of my hair. I wore an apron the entire time, partly to keep my bedgown closed and partly because much of what I was doing was dirty.
I cleaned the house I was staying in. I swept at least twice a day, and always found more dust. It’s a hazard of burning wood – the ash gets everywhere. I washed dishes in the dry sink, with water heated over the fire in a tin kettle. I cooked over the fire in cast iron pots and a spider (basically a frying pan on legs, that allows you to cook over the coals). If I didn’t make a fire, I didn’t eat cooked food, so I made a fire every day. I carted my water in from elsewhere in the Fort. I washed myself in the evenings over a bucket in front of the fire.
The beginnings of a Habitant pea soup, 1750s style.
I think the most striking thing I learned was that it’s really hard to stay clean when you’re living like that. We are absolutely, completely spoiled by showers. I spent almost 45 minutes each night, cleaning myself from top to bottom. I didn’t wash my hair with soap every night, but I did wet it down and scrub my scalp with a washcloth. I used soap on all the “important bits” every day. I made sure to thoroughly clean my feet at least once a day, and always before bed. It took a long time, and sometimes I didn’t feel like doing it, but I always felt better after my evening “spitz bath.” Still, when AWA came to pick me up from the Fort after my week, I noted he drove home with the windows open. I cannot tell you the filth that came off me when I showered at home. It was startling, because I really thought I was pretty clean the whole time. I’d made a point of it! But the bottom of the tub told a different story.
I did well learning my beehive oven use. I have now baked about ten or twelve loaves of bread and several pies in the beehive oven, and am comfortable with the use of it. I learned how to close certain windows while bringing the oven up to temperature, because otherwise the wind would whip the smoke down from the chimney and right back into the cabin. I discovered that it doesn’t matter how many windows you close at night, mosquitoes will find their way down the short, straight chimney to eat you. Might as well leave the window open for a nice breeze.
Bread, almost ready to come out of the beehive oven.The first batch of bread got a bit burnt at the back edge, but was otherwise delicious!As you can see, the crumb of the loaf turned out beautifully!
While I was there, I collected all my hardwood ash. It’s my intention to use it to create lye in the autumn, so that I can then make both clothes washing soap (which is sort of soupy and mushy) and body washing soap (which can be in bar form). I hope to make two batches of bar soap, for comparison… one batch made with my homemade lye, and one made with commercially purchased lye designed for modern soap making. My sister makes soap, both lye and other types, and I’ve helped a number of times, so I figure between the two of us we can probably do a great “compare and contrast” for the Fort patrons.
Chicken and beef pie with horseradish greens, right before the top went onto it.
The profound thing I discovered about myself, is that when I am at the Fort and away from the modern hustle and bustle, I am more quiet, more peaceful, and less klutzy. I tend to rush around from task to task, overly busy at all times when I’m at home. I have so much to do between taking care of the house and cooking and kids, writing books, planning events, marketing, helping out AWA with the blog, and the dozen other things I do every day. When I rush, I do stupid stuff, like trip and fall, or cut myself with knives. At the Fort, the pace was just much slower. I had as much or more work to do, honestly, but there was no rush. Part of it was that I was by myself for the majority of the time (school groups and other people were only during open hours, from 10am to 3pm generally). But part of it was just that I knew what needed doing, and I did it. There was no rush. I just had to move along at an even pace, and I did. No trips and falls. No cutting myself. I did get one splinter, but it got dealt with and I was fine.
There’s so much to be learned by doing things “the old fashioned way.” I like doing it because I love taking those old recipes (whether for food, or soap, or whatever) and trying them out. Every time I do something, I learn new stuff, about myself, and about history. Yes, it’s good for learning how to live without modern machinery. But it’s also just good for the soul, in my opinion. Doing things with your hands, getting more in touch with the world we live in, breathing in fresh air and allowing your circadian rhythms to sync up… it’s all good.
Sausage hash, made at the Fort and enjoyed by the author.
The Fort was designed to teach adults and children about the history of the French and Indian War, and about the colonization of New Hampshire. Perhaps it’s also teaching us about how to live, going forward into our future. I think we’ve lost a lot of knowledge that we used to have. Those people who lived in the original Fort were not stupid. They did amazing things, and without the machinery and computing power that we “cheat” with today. We’ve lost some of that drive. It’s time we got it back.
I’m not entirely sure how to go about injecting that drive into today’s youth, but it’s something I think must be done, and as quickly as possible. My own kids are a mixed bag. I will say that the one who spent the most time “visiting the past” with me is the one with the most insane drive for success and internal motivation. I think that’s something to keep in mind. Allowing children to actually DO things, instead of just reading them or watching them in a video, gives them the opportunity to invest themselves. In order to become a successful person, you have to fail. Without failure, you don’t learn to work as hard. You don’t learn that … that thing which made America such an amazing place when it was founded. People flocked here because with hard work and effort, with blood, sweat, and tears, you could better yourself and your family. That’s not America today, though.
We need more children learning trades, learning to put their personal sweat equity into the work they’re doing. We need more adults teaching it, and yes, pushing it. The stigma of going into the trades should be eradicated, and instead, the plumbers, carpenters, welders, electricians, HVAC folks, and all the others, should be elevated and celebrated. They are the ones carrying us forward, for the most part.
There are a BILLION skills to learn when you’re talking about reenactment or prepping for TEOTWAWKI. I’m going to touch on the top five today, but if there’s a specific skill set you’d like me to write about, drop me a note in the comments below.
Fire
Knowing how to make a fire is probably the single most important skill you can have when in a primitive environment. Fire is how you sterilize first aid instruments, sanitize your water, clean your wounds, clean your body, cook your food, and keep yourself warm. Heck, fire even keeps most animals at bay, which means you’re safer when you have it.
I’ve heard that this was designed by FEMA, but I have no idea. My family has been using it for close to two decades, and maybe longer. It’s not meant to be a “complete list” of what is needed to prepare for emergencies. Instead, it’s more of a mnemonic. It reminds you of what’s most important in your preps. There are lots of mnemonics you can learn.
This is a longish one, folks, so check out what’s behind the cut…
I’m a prepper. The term “prepper” means different things to different people. For some, it evokes images of old underground bunkers filled with canned goods and wall mounted, folding beds. For others, it’s more akin to what grandma did when she put away the harvest from her kitchen garden. Still other folks consider it to be stockpiling firearms to raid the rest of us. I’m sure there are a hundred or more points in between my three, as well.
So what exactly is prepping? It’s a short form term for “preparing for emergencies” or “preparing for the apocalypse.” There are at least as many ways to prep as there are people on the planet, and maybe more. No one way is definitively right or wrong. As an example, the Mormons are required to be always prepared for the end of times, which they are told will last just under two years. Therefore, their church insists they always have two years of food on hand, along with anything else they need to survive until the end times are over. While I may not be invested in their end times prophecies, the principle is a good one.
I tend to prepare for 18 months of emergency. I try to be fairly flexible in my preps, because I don’t know if TEOTWAWKI will happen like Nagasaki, or more like the recent pandemic. I have a little bit of many things, designed to cover the most important bases for my family. Your preps probably are (and should be) different from mine, because your family will need different things, and more importantly, has different skills than my own.
I talk with AWA a lot about some pretty esoteric topics. Lately, talk has surrounded some of the 2A cases he’s been following, Rahimi in particular. It has really gotten me to thinking.
I believe originally (and this is opinion, as I really don’t know and I haven’t looked it up) jails were meant to be a place to stick someone when they did a bad thing. It was a punishment, a grown up version of time out. The greater the bad thing, the longer the jail time. Somewhere along the line, the goal became to rehabilitate prisoners into better people who wouldn’t be going out and committing more crimes. In general, I tend to agree with that idea, though I’m not certain it should be done while a prisoner is actually IN jail. But regardless, there are always going to be those people who simply cannot be rehabilitated. They will always pose an ongoing threat to free people. The Mansons of the world, as it were, should never be allowed out.
When it comes to the scary “big” criminals like Dahmer, Manson, Berkowitz, etc… it’s easy to look and say, “Yep, lock ’em up and throw away the key.” It’s also very easy to prove that they will never be able to safely walk among other human beings. Rahimi isn’t a Dahmer, though. He’s an average dirtbag. There’s no question he’s guilty of the crimes he committed. He’s trash. But the crimes he’s committed will likely land him somewhere between 2 and 20 years. Reading about the cases he’s accused of, it’s looking more like the lower number than the higher one. Regardless, it means he’ll be out on the street while still relatively young and vital. Yet, looking at his record, what assurance do We the People have that Mr. Rahimi won’t go out and shoot up another Whatsaburger, or cave in the head of his next girlfriend?
If you’re coming here from GFZ, you may already know me. Over there, I used the nickname Hagar, because I was very unsure about posting when AWA first asked me to do so. I’m certainly farther left than most people reading this blog, but I’m definitely not “Left.” I’m not “Right” either, though I do seem to be drifting that way on many issues. I spent a lot of time over on GFZ looking into how the Left perceived things, and tried to explain it to everyone here, to foster communication and learning. I will continue to do that here on Vine of Liberty.
But… I’m also many more things. I’m a re-enactor, specializing in the late 14th century England, and 18th century America. I’m an author, with several books and many articles under my belt. I’m a cook, which is reflected in both my re-enacting and my writing. I’m an interfaith minister. I suspect that, now I’m openly myself, I’ll write more about all of those things here on the blog. If there’s a topic you’d like to know about, let me know and I’ll see if I or someone I know has information. If you want information from the Left, I’m happy to provide, if I can.
I love to start conversations about tough topics, and so I tend to read and respond to replies relatively quickly. I have a long-standing personal rule that I don’t interact with certain types of replies, though. People who do name-calling, fat shaming, or are generally dicks, I simply don’t respond to. If something goes over the top, I might let AWA know about it, but most of the time I just don’t respond to it. You’re welcome to your thoughts, and I’m welcome to ignore them. 😉 As an example, I don’t respond to posts about “Obumma” or “tRump” or other bastardizations of presidents’ names. A long time ago, someone explained to me that people who use such rhetoric are generally doing so because they lack the intellectual oomph to go head to head, and so I don’t embarrass those who do it by engaging them. Just my little bit of community service.
On the other hand, politely challenging my viewpoints will almost always get a response out of me. I love to learn, and so if you’re giving me an honest challenge, I will do my best to rise to it and educate myself. I won’t always agree with others, and certainly don’t expect people to agree with me all the time. But I work very hard to present factual information, with opinions being clearly labeled as such.
I’m a staunch 2A gal. I’m a staunch “separation of religion and state” gal as well. Religious freedom is a big one for me. Because I spent my childhood in Canada, I know the woes of socialist healthcare, and so I definitely am not a fan of Obamacare. I am very much a sincere and devout convert to my new home country, and I love America very much. I’m part of this blog, and was part of GFZ, because I see the harm that the “great divide” between Left and Right has caused and is causing, and I want to do what I can to help heal it. I realize the writings of a random woman on a small blog in the middle of New England really isn’t going to do much for the country as a whole, but it’s what I can do, and so I do.
You will probably see a lot of posts about myself and the Fort at No. 4, because it is an important part of my life. I love teaching history to people, especially in a setting where those who come through can touch and taste and interact with that history like they do at the Fort. I believe making history come alive is the secret to making it interesting for kids, and so I patiently churn butter and make fried bread and teach the school groups about building fires in the beehive oven. I try to make it fun, which automatically makes it interesting.
Another thing you’ll probably see from me, if people are at all interested, is stuff about prepping. I tend to look at prepping as more “how to live comfortably without internet, electricity, running water, and central heating” than “bunkers and MREs.” That’s reflected in my hobbies and my interests. I have many subjects to touch on, from making lye from wood ash (which I’ll actually be doing at the fort, at some point this fall) to washing clothes by hand. Again, if there’s something in particular that interests you, let me know and I’ll either write about it, or find someone who does!
So there you have it. I’m me, Allyson, and I was Hagar. Nice to meet you all. I’m kind of happy to get out from under the shroud.
You will probably see a lot of posts about myself and the