By Mister January 2017, James “Busvlogger” Moore
So I switched places with my wife to become the stay-at-home parent right as The Great Recession dropped. (I think that’s what we’re calling it now.) Our income was halved just as we were taking on new college debt; as Jamie started nursing school.
It was a sobering and uncertain time. My aspirations to try my hand at homestead farming, as a hobby, suddenly felt more like a practical survival strategy. Now, we were never truly destitute; we could eat and stay warm. But it was a wake-up call that really stretched us and made us more intentional.
Right about that time, I started making YouTube videos regularly. My brand, for the most part, has been all about crafting your best life; usually through the themes of food, farm, home and travel. This month’s theme ‘Step by Step’ resonates with me deeply. Maybe you’ve heard that phrase: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
My grandmother was poor and young during the Great Depression. (I know, I’m going off on a tangent, but I’ll bring you back.) I remember how grocery shopping with her, for a handful of items, took for-ev-er! She would look at all of the cottage cheese offerings at the store and ‘math’ it to death between the containers’ weights and prices. As a kid of the eighties, a decade of excess, it seemed like insanity!
A few days later, when the cottage cheese had been eaten, the container was washed with the same diligence that was afforded her good Pyrex. In the back room, above the whirring deep freeze, the container was nested with others like it; ghosts of cottage cheeses past. Thinking back, I’m sure the stack of cottage cheese cups were three feet high, at least. Madness! “You never know when you’ll need them.”, she’d say. If she ever sent us home with left-overs, off to the back room she went. A cottage cheese container fit the bill for her cole slaw perfectly.
Fast forward thirty years. Grandma is gone, but her house isn’t. It’s empty, except for storage. It shares a driveway with ours. We’re about to build a barn. Actually, it’ll be a party barn. There’ll be a kitchenette in the corner and a sitting area with big windows facing both the pond and a gorgeous, huge white oak tree. We want to be prepared when our kids are teenagers and need a place to hang out with friends. Okay, it’s really so I can keep an eye on them and know what boys are trouble! (envision me sharpening a knife, giving some boy the stink-eye, here)
Of course, I’m going to make a video series about the barn raising. I’ve gotten a sponsor for one video and am looking for more. I’ll have help for the new concrete slab and I’m hiring a company to put up the posts and roof. The siding, I’ve salvaged from a beautiful old oak barn; it’s piled next to the building site. I’ve also collected the kitchen cabinets and even a stove top. Through the years I’ve been stacking up some very cool old windows and doors. I didn’t exactly know what they would be for, but… you never know when you’ll need them. They’re in the empty old house across the driveway, next to Grandma’s cottage cheese cups.
Check out some of my local YouTube videos:
Arkansas – A Love Letter to the Natural State
Bravo for inspiring us with your family’s answer to that recession. Your videos are fun. My parents and in-laws grew up during the depression, and like your grandmother, hey seldom threw anything away. Clearing out their houses after they were gone was both nostalgic and eye-rolling.
This so reminds me of my grandmothers. Neither one EVER threw away a jar—of any kind—or a plastic tub. One grandmother saved all of the foil from her gum wrappers! But we were always warm and well-fed. And loved.
When you go to grandma’s refrigerator and can’t find the butter because everything is in a butter bowl……. I still use this method too. It’s free! And, as you said, perfect for sending goodies home with friends! Love the story!