Just read your article [The art of living in small spaces by Claire Wolfe] and getting lots of good ideas. I just purchased, The small house book, by Jay Shafer.
I am impressed that you share this space with your loving pets too. I feel if I try one of these small spaces, I will have to start out with it being a weekend place. I don’t think I could convince my husband to live that small and I don’t think I would want to live in too tight of quarters with him. LOL. Maybe we should have a his and hers and join them in the hallways.
I appreciate your opinion in general regarding the legalization issue. Unfortunately I must disagree with you on the positive spin you have given the upcoming “The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010″.
Reading the specifics of the legislation I’m sure you would agree that this is a far cry from a freedom-based initiative. You made some very sound arguments in the article but did not address some of my main concerns. Specifically the regulation aspect limits the amount that can be grown and possessed, which begs the question of just how the authorities would monitor the plants grown on an individual’s private property; will the authorities be inspecting homes? I cannot in good conscience support this initiative because it doesn’t decriminalize marijuana, it simply changes the terms of what is considered criminal activity according to the law. Furthermore, collecting taxes on something that is grown and consumed privately seems quite impossible to me.
The skeptic in me also is extremely leery of any “step” the government takes in any direction. More often than not, legislation is bastardized through endless amendments and adjustments as time goes on. Rarely do these actions result in less intrusion on individual rights.
I just got my new issue of BHM and I noticed several nasty letters canceling subscriptions because of right wing thinking. Keep up the right wing thinking! If anything, you are not right enough! I have been a subscriber for years, have most of the anthologies, several of your books and all of my back issues. I love Jackie! She is my absolute favorite. My sister, Linda, who is also a subscriber, and I often talk about Jackie’s articles.
My husband and I moved back to our home in Tennessee a little over a year ago, having moved to Illinois approximately 8 years prior for fortune not fame. Unfortunately, there was not much fortune to be had there either. Ha! Ha!
We are trying diligently to get as prepared as we can for whatever is coming without going completely nuts. Most of our friends and family think we are crazy. I am sure there are more of “us” in the area, we just haven’t talked to many yet.
Thank you for a great magazine, full of tips and advice on how to live an independent, self-reliant life–without making it seem “criminal” to be Conservative! Keep it up.
I appreciated the article in the current issue of BWH about tub gardening.
I purchased three 18-gallon tubs, added potting soil, and am very pleased with the results: tomatoes, bush beans, assorted peppers, lettuce & sorrel. Excellent recommendation for those of us with small urban garden space. Plus the barrels are inaccessible to digging by our puppies.
