The Uncomplicated Life

This afternoon a friend of mine was complaining about her heating system not working, and I sure understand that.  Its going to be cold here tonight and the thought of no heat on the first cold night of the season, is not a pleasant thought at all.   She was telling me that things seem to break in three's for them.  Last month it was the dishwasher and right before that, the garbage disposal.   I felt her pain but then got to thinking, well, actually Emery and I starting talking about our rather uncomplicated lifestyle.  You see, we don't have a heating system to break down.  We heat with wood, so our investment would be the wood stove, and they outlast most people and our wood comes from downed trees, which in this area, there seems to be an abundant supply.  People are always contacting us to see if we want to haul away their already cut down trees.    Our air conditioning system consists of two window units, not some fancy system that one service call can cost more than one of our units.   No dishwasher to break down, we don't have one.  No garbage disposal to break down, we don't have one.  We have a compost pile and chickens that love food scraps. We do have a washing machine but no dryer to break down, we have two poles and 4 lines.  
We don't have much that could break down and cause us to pull out our hair with worry or reach deep into our pockets.   There are no expensive clothes to take to the dry cleaners or worry about ruining.  Its quite a relief to not be faced with all the "what if's" of home ownership.  Our house is simple, and there isn't much Emery cannot fix himself.  We even own an older car, so that he can work on it easily.  The simple life, or what I have come to refer to now, is our uncomplicated life, is just that.   We aren't even worried about our electricity going out during a storm.  We are set with candles and kerosene lamps.  We can even cook on the wood stove if need be.   Most of the year, something is growing in the garden and the chickens are good layers.  So we could always eat, even if the stores were closed.  No debts, we own what we have.  It makes life easier.    So today, on this cool autumn day, I am thankful for a life that is easily lived with joy and contentment.  Uncomplicated by owning lost of stuff.