Kindred Spirits
I thoroughly enjoyed Joe Tarr's article, "Off the Grid" [Vol. 9, No. 43]. But intentional communities aren't just for old hippies anymore. Little Mountain, a new community in Blount County, may serve as a workable prototype for "eco-villages" in this region. Most of the property owners are professionals or early retirees who want to live in an environmentally responsible way and maintain a sense of community, but who do not want to cut themselves off from the rest of the world.
Previously a family farm, the 145 acres will be developed in a way that will carefully protect much of the forests on the property. The homes will be clustered (to reduce the impact of roads and utilities) around a hundred wooded acres that will be left completely natural and held in common by all the property owners. A conservation easement on the wooded area will protect it from development in perpetuity.
The idea of intentional communities is evolving to combine the best of both worlds—a community of kindred spirits who are fully engaged in modern life.
Candace White
Maryville
Living the Way You Want
Your recent topic "Off the Grid" is a good one. Of course, there have been enclaves of people for years (as you mentioned, such as Summertown) that have endeavored to get off the grid. Especially in areas surrounding universities such as Burlington, Vt. or Ithaca, N.Y., for years people have been at least nearly off the grid. I have two brothers who built teepees and lived in them up in Ithaca for years.
Closer to home in Sevierville, Marc Cardoso has pioneered EcoGenics (see http://www.dabncy.com/ecogenics) which actively promotes alternative fuels, housing, food, powerpaks, etc. and has been successful in getting off of the grid (http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/livingoffthegrid).
Through the use of methane gas and ethanol created from waste products in combination with DC current and solar panels, we can become self-sufficient in the area of electricity with a little ingenuity. With the possibility of a Y2K computer meltdown lurking, we all might do well to investigate the phenomena a little more closely.
Also, the feeling engendered by self-sufficiency is a very good one! It feels good to grow your own vegetables and fruit the way you want. It feels great to have your own fresh eggs from your poultry raised the way you want.
John Cummins
New Market
Not Old, But Wise
I thoroughly enjoyed Betty Bean's story about her brother, John, and her personal account of the origin of the infamous redneck tapes ["Ass Whuppin' Time," Vol. 9, No. 42]. Her words helped me to have a better understanding of the tape, now CD, and a new respect for John and his role.
What I didn't enjoy, as Eddie's daughter, is the reference to my father as "an old race driver." My father is not old. Not even close. He will be 77 this week and that is not old. He remains lean and muscular and agile. He has the mental acuity of a college student, a photographic memory (somewhat selective) that forgets nothing. Over the years he has taken art courses at UT and favors charcoal drawings as his medium. He can still "do the math" quicker than any of us. Even the X Gen. He is a constant source of amazement and inspiration to us kids and our kids who also have selective memories.
My father has worked every day of my 53 years and still works every day then goes home to play on his backhoe until dark. He is in perfect health, having spit at cancer twice. He has the country, redneck, cuss-word dialect down to a science and plays it like a fiddle, believe me, all the way to the bank.
I teach arthritic fitness for the YMCA. I go around to the Baptist Senior Centers and I can tell you that none of my students in their 60s, 70s and 80s are old. They may be older. They are healthy, sharp as a tack, and full of life. They have taken care of themselves, as has my father. Allow me to share a conversation I had with him just last week:
"Dad, I went to Kingsport last night to hear Lisa Alther speak," I said.
"Was she pretty?" he asked.
"More like elegant," I replied, "She is also very smart."
"Who wants to be smart?" he asked.
"Doesn't everybody?" I asked.
He laughed at loud and said, "Hell, no! I'd rather be lucky!"
So now, maybe you will have a better understanding and perhaps a new respect for the character in the endless, never-to-go-away, REDNECK TAPES.
Edna Harvey
Knoxville
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