So you think you're a homesteader - part 17

So you think you're a homesteader? - Lessons fro the MAYFLOWER... Our last visit with the colonist's was Dec. 13, 1620 as the exploring party returned to MAYFLOWER to report on the potential settlement sites they've found. The colonist's are happy & excited at the prospect of finally getting off the ship and starting to build their new lives, but this happiness is dampened by the sad news for William Bradford of his wife's drowning and the death of James Chilton since they've been gone. On the 15th, the MAYFLOWER attempts to follow the Shallop to the new site but contrary winds force them to return to their old anchorage. The next day they try again and finally, after 102 days since leaving Plymouth, England they anchor a mile off shore in "Plimouth" harbor. For the next few days they look at the area and on the 20th decide by a voice vote on a site near "Jones River" which is just navigable by the Shallop at high water. Desperate to begin building their shelters, they are once again thwarted by the weather as storms and rain confine them to the ship. On Dec. 21, Richard Britteridge becomes the first colonist to die at Plimouth. The next day "Goodwife Allerton" is delivered of a still born son. Dec. 23 a party is able to go ashore and bury the dead and begin felling timber for construction materials. ----By now I hope you've seen just how hard these people struggled for their dream. They seem to be faced with obstacles at every step, in today's slang we would say "They can't catch a break". I know I've felt that way before and I bet you have too. If you think a "homestead lifestyle" is all sunshine & buttercups you've never done it. There's a reason the back to nature hippy communes aren't around - it's hard, it's fixing fences in a freezing rain, it's waking up to a fire in the chicken coop, it's splitting firewood with broken ribs, it's limping on a bad hip to get the chores done because the ATV won't start. It's all that and more and sometimes it's sunshine & buttercups. My advice, for whatever it may be worth is learn to relish the challenge of the tough times and take the time to really enjoy the sunshine & buttercups. Most of all, no matter what, keep plowing ahead because sitting around whining about how hard you've got it is pointless and really comparatively untrue.

- UNICOI LUDD