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Show KIinnlSfilDln)i But in order to stick it out and make a living, anyone here can tell you that the land requires a full commitment, commit-ment, and you don't have to see a movie to find that out. This is not an altruistic lifestyle. Unfortunately, whem economic depression has hit this country, the ranchers and farmers were as devastated as city dwellers. Everyone was af fected by a system that had gone haywire. So I don't profess to prophesize anything any-thing here about another depression. On.y that there can be a common approach to dealing with more difficult ltimes that may make these conditions of depression less difficult. Does that make sense? I only hope so. What issues do we now face that seem overwhelming and irreversible? Seems like high prices for everything and threats of losses, of energy are pretty current topics. Yet through our advanced technology and our Yankee ingenuity, we have uncovered old secrets for using the elements of wind, water and sun right in our own backyards. That is why I wish Congress would pass a new Homestead Act of 1981, encouraging new levels of self-sufficiency using the old proven methods. In the guidelines would be gardening garden-ing and other topics of home products. Interestingly, many current homesteaders work outside the home in wage-earning jobs, and I freely admit that I am one who would go utterly crazy if I did not work and take classes and workshops in areas of interest. Part of this interest is in creativity and I try to add to that the qualities of resourcefulness. There is no sense to me in trying to turn back the times. We have technology now. Let's use it. Preferably not to blow ourselves up with it. There are some pretty harsh realities here now to contend with that old homesteaders home-steaders did not have, such as money to buy land and shelter. Then one still has to find time to work the land and take care of the animals. Love those animals! Well, no one said it would be easy. And that is what I liked in the spirit of a certain film called "Heartland." Because eventually even-tually the roses will grow in a garden, as well as carrots and cabbage, and you won't have to wait in line to pay an arm and a leg for them. By Mary Barrena Film Festival Week is over and we are back to where we began, just so much more "recharged" with what is happening in the outside world. Given a glimpse of what some very expert storytellers have presented, I cannot help but refer to one of these films this wek because of the impression left with me. If you saw the movie "Heartland," a first place festival winner about homesteading in Wyoming in 1910, then you saw more about the topic than I can present in written sketches for you here. But one fact also remains, and that is this; almost anywhere in Summit County exists the same spirited and strong-willed strong-willed people. I see them daily and the conditions are the . same as they were in 1910, with the addition of gas driven motors and electricity. electri-city. For my neighbors there , is no other reality than the land that was opened up to them by the Homestead Act passed by Congress in 1862. ' The general movement of the American people has been ever westward. As each territory opened up, under the law a settler could claim 160 acres of public land, proving the rights to the claim by living on it for at least six months every year. |