Advice and Observations on John Victor's Problems

(Page 4 of 4)

March/April 1985
 
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As far as John Victor's antidote to garden pests goes, he and I disagree only on the bore. I find a sweet little .410 shotgun, full choke with 2-3/4" shells carrying one half ounce of No. 6 bird shot, more effective than a rifle — even if the scattergun does take out a few pea leaves along with the invading woodchuck.

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Finally, I'd urge all readers put of by John's misadventures to reread the final section of his article under the subtitle "WHY BOTHER?" And add to it my own recent morning's experience: A winter blizzard was howling in over our mountain, carrying a predicted yard of new snow. But there was enough food in the dirtfloored cellar to last for months, wood in the shed to heat the winter through, and we were snug for as long as Mother Nature needed to push the sun through the scudding overcast to light up the new white stuff: The early morning radio news was full of "metro traffic reports" of blizzard-caused freeway snags and bumper thumpers and trucks jackknifed on of ramps as urban commuters struggled to get to work on I-90-this and I-90-that in Albany and Boston. That used to be me and used to be John Victor and perhaps still is yourself. Whybother to go a-homesteading, indeed? Well, for myself, I poured some hot water from the woodstove kettle into a handmade mug of homegrown sumac-honey tea, sat me down in a ratty old chair, and spent the commuting hour listening to the rest of that traffic report and chuckling one more time through John's tale of wonderful misadventure.

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