I can't remember the exact content of the conversation- or when, where and with whom I was engaged in dialogue with. It doesn't matter. The point is at some space in time somebody brought up the fact that if you have a relatively complicated electrical system with one minut detail such as a single light behaves oddly that another simple action such as disconnecting the battery and then reconnecting it may very well correct the errant detail. We were probably sitting around a wood splitter or truck or a tractor shooting the breeze and sipping a brew after a days work. For whatever reason I stored that fact-random at the time- for many years.  

This winter was particularly cold. Very seldom would we travel any considerable distance without the assurance of our four-wheel drive truck. As a result the car stood idle while we were away. The first time we started it up after being away the "check engine" light stayed on. I did my due deligence. I check all the obviously things but did not detect any defects. The car drove like a champ and months went by before my brained recalled this past conversation. In two minutes I took out my Allen set, disconnected the negative terminal and waited. After a couple minutes I reconnected and started the engine. The light was off!

At that point a realization occurred. That is the reason I am so intrigued with his notion of homesteading. You just have to figure it out!  You draw on your past experience, gain perseptive and eventually you just kind of figure it out. Starting from raw land you are forced to figure out a lot of things.  

Priority in life is not placed on money. It is not placed on having fuel combusting toys and a big house with leather furniture. When technology comes into your hands it is out of a need. The necessity of a possession begins with the most hale of them all- food, shelter, clothing. After years of work and thinking things through electricity and water flow. The gardens produce more, daily chores become more efficient and then finally the finer points in life like can be entertained. 

But in this modern world- where even contemporary homesteaders watch films on a flat screen at the end of the day- What is the "simple life"?  Is it in the rural homesteads of America?  After all, this is a life full of all sorts of tools, trucks and large properties. Or dare I say that the "simple life" exists in the middle of New York City?  A place where residents have hardly any space in comparison yet never drive a car. Where everyone shares common sewage and utilities?  Does the "simple life" exist in both?  If so, what does this paradigm mean for the future of our planet?