It is time to unwant (1 Viewer)

Many people living along the gulf in the USA want to make a living off of the fish rich Gulf of Mexico and make money from drilling oil right in the middle of it.

Many people in Alaska want to enjoy watching the wildlife, shooting the wildlife and making money from drilling for oil in the middle of that.

It's about time to start unwanting. I decided, many years ago, to unwant a gas guzzling vehicle. I unwanted a gasoline powered lawn mower. I unwanted a gasoline powered chain saw. I unwanted poisoning the water by putting insecticides, chemical fertilizers and herbicides on my lawn and then water the lawn with precious water, changing it into a toxic fluid and sending it into the environment.

What I got for all of this unwanting is what I really wanted in the first place. Healthy, beautiful birds and animals out every window and a feeling of being at peace with the planet.

I 'unwanted ' grass on my lawn (I think it's an invasive where I live anyway). My neighbors aren't thrilled, but the birds and herps are. I'm not unwanting by large twin engine boat-but would be happy to trade to biodiesel if I found a qualified installer. :t:

I have an electric lawn mower and some years I mow my "yard" and some years I don't. I have some grass but, it is mainly native vegetation. When I don't mow, the plants grow waist high and, when they go to seed, it delights the Indigo and Painted Buntings to no end. And a yard full of beautiful buntings delights me to no end.

Yeah, that's certainly a very good idea, but to do it in a fully consistent way is not that easy. To unwant a gas lawn mower and having an electric one is like changing 12 for a dozen. In my understanding, to 'unwant' would mean to actually renounce to having and even to renounce to property altogether. But that's certainly not an easy task. If we were able to say "the" yard instead of "my" yard, now then we'd be slowly approaching the real sense of unwanting. Like birds, by the way. If birds could speak, they certainly wouldn't have words like "my", "property", "having" and so on.
Having said that, yours is certainly a far better approach than mine ||

We sometimes get snakes in the yard here if the grass is long. Locals who unwant their lawn mower eventually change their minds and want it again. I've got a rechargeable one, at least it's quiet.

We've unwanted the second car, and I wouldn't mind unwanting the clothes dryer.

Yes, in the end, an electric lawnmower may not save anymore energy but, the 2 cycle engines are the worst polluting gas engines. And the noise...Plus, starting an electric lawnmower consists of pushing a button.

I live in the USA and most people believe they can just have anything they want, whenever they want it. Four TVs? It just ruins family cohesion.
The average car driven here doesn't get 2 miles per gallon more than they did in the 1960s.

We get in wars all over the world to keep the oil gluttony going. Our new president is for drilling in every precious wildlife area so he's a major disappointment.

And, Hey, we love snakes. My wife is always bringing in snakes to show me.

An inspiring post Bird Boy. We unwanted a car over four years ago....it's hard work sometimes but we manage to cope mostly.

On the subject of snakes though - I'm with Peter, you wouldn't be wanting to wrap one of our Australian Tiger Snakes around your hand like that if you found it in your yard!

On the subject of snakes though - I'm with Peter, you wouldn't be wanting to wrap one of our Australian Tiger Snakes around your hand like that if you found it in your yard![/QUOTE]

You happen to live where there are a lot of dangerous snakes, most people don't. One of the prejudices we always try to educate people out of is fearing nonpoisonous snakes.

We have several species of snakes on our property. Only one, the Pygmy Rattlesnake, is poisonous and it is about as docile as it gets. My wife has found a couple of them while weeding her garden. She had her hands on one before she saw it. It never tried to bite her. Even snakes can tell when you aren't a threat. Yuh just gotta hold your mouth right. 8-P

For the last 3 years, everytime I have seen a mouse in our house, a few seconds later, there will be a 2ft. Rat Snake come along the same path, hot on it's heels. I love it.

There was a man in Oklahoma that made national headlines. While out in the woods, he stepped on a Pygmy Rattler and it struck him. (I would, too). He then kicked at it and it struck him again (I would, too), this time attaching itself to his leg. The man lost his balance and fell onto a Copperhead, which bit him, too (I would, too). Time to mosey on over to the hospital. He's OK, they just aren't that poisonous.

Bird Boy said:

And, Hey, we love snakes. My wife is always bringing in snakes to show me.

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I wish we only had cute little ones like that!

Bird Boy said:

For the last 3 years, everytime I have seen a mouse in our house, a few seconds later, there will be a 2ft. Rat Snake come along the same path, hot on it's heels. I love it.

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Nice, but in the house? I'm not sure I could get used to that.

Getting back to unwanting, have any of you unwanted your central heating or air conditioning? I think I could lose the air conditioning, but not the heating. Unfortunately there are others in the house who would prefer to lose the heating.

pshute said:

Nice, but in the house? I'm not sure I could get used to that.

Getting back to unwanting, have any of you unwanted your central heating or air conditioning? I think I could lose the air conditioning, but not the heating. Unfortunately there are others in the house who would prefer to lose the heating.

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We live in a forest and, as much as we can, we try not to be intrusive. Many of our windows don't have screens on them because I photograph out them. We leave them open when the mosquitos aren't bad, which cuts down on birds hittting the windows.

So, we have birds and animals coming through all the time. We have had wrens nesting in the bathroom, hummingbirds and a variety of other birds and animals drop in for a visit. I awoke one morning to a wren perched on my forehead. Opossum hiding behind the coffee pot was interesting first thing in the morning...

As far as central heat, we went 25 years out here without much heat,
through some very bitter winters. We recently installed it. I think we have sacrificed more than most so I don't mind being warm for awhile. And, besides, I'm old. We have a small, (efficient?) window air conditioner that keeps the living room cool. That is enough for us. If we had any wind at all, I would be set up for that.

One morning we observed a snake slithering across the floor. What got our attention was that it was so big, we could here it on the tile floor. Give you the Willies? Not us, we love it!