We Move a Little Slower

As you can imagine, when one gets up in age, one has to be a bit more careful out in the field and move a little slower than your average homesteader.

I remember the days when I had all the energy in the world to run around like Justin Rhodes, the star of homesteading these days and many others. They can climb hills pulling a chicken tractor of 30 chickens the entire way after tending to all the other animals on the farm at 5 a.m. with still a days work ahead.

Being a Senior Homesteader, makes you see life for what it is, in slow motion. The reason for this is, to keep from wearing ourselves out too fast and to keep from injuring ourselves. This is facing reality and there is nothing wrong with that.

This is why we must learn what our limits are. If arthritis is a problem, one may not be able to handle large animals, or too many responsibilities. We must learn to take on what we can. Use our minds and not our muscles.

For some it is a couple of chickens and a big raised bed garden. For others it is a farm full of self serving animals and a community that provides fresh veggies.

What ever it is. Own it.

Hammering your finger or dropping a piece of wood with a rusty nail on it, on your foot, is of course something to be cautious about. But if you practice safety measures of wearing the appropriate gear, gloves, hat, glasses and moving purposely and carefully, you can avoid a lot of injury. Most of the time.

But then there is your Senior Homesteaders normal aches and pains that can be agitated by your new life style.

For example, last week I was using power drills and saws to finish building the chicken coop. This week I am suffering with bursitis in my elbow. A younger person would less likely be suffering after using power tools. The other day my husband stepped on a pine cone and twisted his ankle. He is now limping through the fields. As we get older we seem to heal slower.

As a naturalist and herbalist, we use a number of different methods to remedy our aches, pains, colds and wombs.

As a homesteader you have to be prepared to experience such things and know how to handle them, because as a homesteader, life goes on. The chickens still need to be fed and gathered, the goats still need to be put away. Things still need to be done in order for this wheel of life to continue to turn. It is the love of what we do that keeps us going. Knowing we can care for ourselves to a certain level is rewarding.

So when we are injured we rest a little more, work on projects a little less, so we can recuperate a little faster. All is good.

You would be surprised how much faster and more efficiently you can get things done when you move a little slower.