Have you ever wished you could leave the hustle and bustle of modern life behind and just be? Logan and Heather Ward did. So they sold their place in New York City and bought a farm in rural Virginia. Then they turned off the water and electricity, and spent a year living as though it was 1900. They raised goats for their milk, cheese and butter, planted a garden, canned enough to last through the winter, and used a horse, bicycles, or their feet for transportation. And yes, they used an outhouse, as did their potty-training young son.See You In a Hundred Years (2007) is one of those We-did-something-crazy-so-I-could-write-a-book-about-it memoirs that I love. The results of the Wards' experiment are funny (they made a lot of mistakes) and inspiring (I will can more than four jars of jam next year!). Best of all is the relationships they develop over the course of the year: with their new neighbors, even the gruffest of whom turns out to be generous and kindhearted; with visiting friends and family who jump into the turn-of-the-century with varying degrees of enthusiasm and aplomb; and with each other.
I loved this book! It served as a reminder to enjoy the small pleasures in life.
ReplyDeleteI read this book, last year I think, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards, I found an article or something on the web where they talked about their life since writing the book.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already read No Impact Man, I finished it last weekend and rank it as my favorite of that genre of memoirs. His blog is a pretty good read, too.
Sounds interesting. I'd like to read it! I always wonder how people managed things before all the modern conveniences we have.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting...and a little like my childhood, when my parents first moved to Oregon. We still had electricity, but no indoor toilet.
ReplyDeleteMuch better to read about it than try it myself! I still count modern plumbing as a top three invention EVER.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. Looks like a great book. It sounds a little like Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver but kicked up a notch. Much harder to do without modern conveniences.
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