So you think you are a Homesteader Part 11

So you think you're a homesteader? Lessons from the MAYFLOWER- After 2 months at sea the colonist's are finally at anchor in the New World ! Mentally & physically exhausted from their trials & tribulations they must now rise to the greatest challenge yet, to build a life & society in the wilderness with only what they've brought in a small ship. It must have been an exciting & frightening time, a small group of people gathered at the rail of that tiny ship looking at the cold, apparently lifeless and unimaginably vast wilderness that was to be their home. First they send a small party ashore to get firewood for their cooking needs. They also unload the "Shallop", a small ( c. 30 ft.) sail boat that was cut up and stowed in the hold. It has been rather bruised in the voyage and will take some time to repair. Having abandoned the troublesome SPEEDWELL in England, the Shallop is the only transportation they'll have once MAYFLOWER leaves them. The women hasten to shore to do the first washing since they boarded. Try and imagine yourself then and there among this crowd at the rail, It's November in Cape Cod, winter is around the corner, you're not where you expected to be, you have no shelter, little food, you are ill and frightened. What would you do ? They get to work..... To me, this is one of the most important lessons we can take from the MAYFLOWER experience, many in this group have set out on a journey of self sufficiency & independence. We've had that first exciting & daunting look at the land we'll make home. It's exciting because we imagine what will come & daunting because we see all the work to come & know it's all on our shoulders. If you are still dreaming of that land & that life or maybe in the process of finding it, remember the pilgrims. They couldn't search real estate sites, drive air conditioned cars to look at land, run to Home Depot for lumber or a box of nails. Yet they built a life that developed into a mighty nation by accepting the challenge fully aware of how hard it might be. They did it by getting to work. It's really that simple- get to work and make it happen.


-Unicoi Ludd