'See You In A Hundred Years'
Engrossing, Entertaining Chronicle of 1900 Rural Living Experiment
By David M. Kinchen
Could you give up your car, electricity and all the conveniences of modern living in order to get back to the basics circa 1900?
Logan and Heather Ward decided in 2000 to do just that, leaving their comfortable home in New York City, where they had lived for about 10 years, buying a farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and deciding to try to live as much as possible like a typical farm family in 1900. Logan Ward writes about their experiences in "See You In A Hundred Years" (Delta Trade Paperback, 272 pages, $13.00).
Very few people are going to follow the example of the Ward family -- which included their toddler son Luther -- seeking a simpler life that would remove the urban rat race aspect from their life, but just about everybody will enjoy this book -- and learn many valuable lessons about conservation and consumption in our consumer-driven society.
Reading this book, I was reminded of a 1945 book and 1947 movie, "The Egg and I," starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert as an urban couple buying a chicken farm in rural Washington state. The movie introduced Ma and Pa Kettle, played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride, to an eager movie-going audience. About the same time as the Betty MacDonald book and subsequent movie came out, I was growing up on a similar farm in southwest Michigan, probably longing for a more civilized existence that would eliminate the use of an outhouse in snowbelt winters when our septic tank froze up.
When they bought their farm near Swoope, VA, the Wards decided to remove all the modern conveniences that had been added through the generations. No more electric pump at the well, no more Volvo to go to go shopping, no more electricity, a phone unplugged (although they kept the phone service current in case of a medical emergency). And yes, no more indoor toilet! Logan had to shave with a cut-throat straight razor -- ouch! -- because King Gillette's safety razor didn't come along until 1903. No more shaving of Heather's legs and underarms, either. She wasn't about to use a straight razor.
As the months piled up from their year-long experiment, marital and family stresses emerged and were illuminated, Ward writes. They had experienced a different kind of stress in their life in Brooklyn, with Logan Ward constantly on the go around the world and writing free-lance travel and home oriented stories (he has written for many publications, including The New York Times, Men's Journal, National Geographic Adventure and Popular Mechanics) and Heather with an absorbing -- and time consuming -- job.
Both Logan and Heather had Southern roots -- Logan from South Carolina, Heather from Alabama -- so the choice of a farm in rural Virginia seemed to make sense. It reminds me of a similar back-to-the-land movement in the 1960s and 1970s that brought urbanites from the Northeast and elsewhere to rural West Virginia, especially Summers, Greenbrier and Monroe counties.
Swoope is also home to Polyface Farms, which Michael Pollan discusses in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (for my Dec. 16, 2007 review, see: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/071216-kinchen-columnsbookreview.html). I wish Logan Ward's book had included an index, something I consider vital to any nonfiction book. Ward writes about his contact with Polyface, an organic farm, in this book, but you'll have to page through the book to find the reference, in the absence of an index.
Logan and Heather and Luther learned about living with basic transportation that existed in 1900. They bought a horse, Belle, a 2,000-pound Percheron draft horse, and found a buggy in nearby West Virginia. Logan Ward's learning curve with Belle and his experiences driving a one-horsepower vehicle are worth the price of the book. They also used bicycles and that old reliable, walking. People walked a lot more a century ago. Our Michigan farm made use of draft horses, but we also had John Deere, International Harvestor and Ford tractors.
How did their neighbors react to the city slickers and their back-to-the past experiment? Surprisingly well, although many were perplexed at what the Wards were doing. Some applauded their efforts and helped them with the basics of country living. Just about everybody helped them with canning and supplying them with food and advice.
In an interview included with the publicity materials included with the review copy, Logan Ward says he "learned a big lesson about the importance of community. We never could survive the year without the friendship, encouragement and help of our neighbors. They shared what they knew about gardening, driving draft horses, chickens. They loaned us wash basins and walnut crackers that had been gathering dust in their garages. They brought us news of 9/11 -- and offered comfort and security in its terrible aftermath."
No more modern kitchen appliances for Heather Ward: she had to learn how to cook and bake on a wood-fired range and wash clothes the old-fashioned way. Occasionally they would switch chores, with Logan doing the cooking and Heather providing the firewood and water. They learned that they alone were responsible for the food they ate, the water they obtained by a hand pump from the well, Ward writes. There was no TV and radio in 1900, so the Wards did without. They read a lot by lamplight.
These lessons were transferred to the home they bought a few years later in Staunton, VA, not far from Swoope. Logan Ward: "Even though we rely once again on electric appliances and inexpensive manufactured goods and packaged food, it's in our bones not to be wasteful...Like many people, we do our part to limit unnecessary consumption, to practice the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), shop locally, buy raw foods at the farmers market (and use a canvas bag rather than plastic), turn lights off in unoccupied rooms....And we walk places whenever we can!"
So, read Logan Wards book, delight in his family's experiences and learn how to practice the three Rs in your own life.
