Back to Normal, post Christmas !

In the past few days I have had lots of time to just stay put and think. I consider it a blessing to have this quiet time of restoration of my health to define and or redifine some of the reasons we choose to live this seemingly "quaint" or "backwards" life style. To formulate answers to the many questions we get as to why we choose to live so differently than mainstream America. No cell phone, no cable TV, no laptops, no clothes dryer, no dishwasher. We are so low on the tech end of things except for the computer and the digital camera !
Simply put we want to live a life that has what we feel is essential for living a life full of love and purpose. Having time to visit with loved ones and friends. To always have time to stop and visit. To work hard enough to sleep soundly. To have a clear mind that is able to pray and sing. We find that by living simply we can accomplish this. By doing things like, growing our food, caring for animals that help sustain us, raising our children according to how we feel led by God, taking care of our health in a natural way and that of our loved ones also. Worshipping in freedom, seeking to maintain some of the traditonal ways that bind people together by bringing them together in work and community. We wanted to live a life that did not call us away from our deepest values and have us get caught up in the rat race of "wants" and such that predominate society today.
We are soon making one more rather large move to be more stress free and have more time to dedicate to living simply and as uncomplicated as possible. My husband is going to leave his well paying, but high stress job, for a simple 8 hour a day, no stress, low paying job. It will be a huge adjustment for us to be "poor" again in life but well worth it. We feel strongly led to do this and know the blessings will be great. We are at a point in life where money is not a big issue as everything we have is owned outright.
Today I took some pictures of life back to normal after the holidays.
Broccoli and cabbage growing in our garden and there it lots of collards needing to be picked today. Also there is new wood split, needing to be stacked. Just the kinds of chores that make climbing into bed each night a welcome event.

weather: hot and windy 78 degrees. sustained winds of 15 mph and winds gusting to 40 mph. Humidity of 13%
doors open and the smell of smoke everywhere as fires burn throughout the area.
God have mercy on those in danger of loosing everything to fire.