by Dana Dwinell-Yardley

It's nearly May, and us Vermonters of the Frozen North are suddenly thawing nicely. Last week's 80 degree weather saw the streets of Montpelier bustling with people relaxing, talking, coming out of hibernation and greeting the sun. There are Cate Farm seedlings at the co-op. There are Frisbee throwers and kite flyers on the State House lawn.

I have been luxuriating in this new-found warmth myself — running around barefoot, playing lots of disc golf, going on the first real bike ride of the season (to go jump in a brook, no less!), and tending to my burgeoning tomato plants. (I'm excited about building them a new self-watering container gardening system I learned about from my mother, Jane, who learned it from Ed Smith — Vermont's container gardener extraordinare — who invented it. It involves two plastic five-gallon buckets, a smaller bucket, a drill, and lots of potting soil. Check out Ed's book, Incredible Vegetables From Self-Watering Containers, for more details.)

This time of year brings new energy and ideas for sustainability and independence; the summer ahead fills with plans and wild dreams. We are inspired — at least I am — to do more, to bring our lives closer into line with our grand visions. New projects dance in our sun-warmed brains.

"This summer, I'm going to grow twice as many vegetables," we say. "I'm going to bicycle to work every day. I'm going to learn to preserve food, and take up that handicraft I've been meaning to learn, and look into solar panels for my roof.

"Summer is great! I'll finally be able to take up a musical instrument, get in shape, start writing, start dancing, organize my finances, volunteer, get involved, write all those letters to the editor I never wrote but really honestly meant to. Maybe I'll even quit my job, or go totally localvore; start a new organization; find that perfect house or piece of property so I can finally homestead like I've always dreamed of."

We say Yes! to new energy, inspiration, and enthusiasm — but not when the price you'll pay is greater than the reward you'll reap. Living sustainably, living closer to the earth, living self-sufficently is not about speeding up and packing even more projects into your life. At least half of living "green" is about the way you do things, not what or how much you do. It's about slowing down and paying attention. Don't worry if you're not living the perfect self-sufficient dream life. It's the act of taking one more step in that direction that counts.

I read an interesting book recently by Jenna Woginrich, a young web designer who decided she wanted to try making more of her life for herself: essentially, homesteading. Her adventures are chronicled in her book Made From Scratch. (You can read her blog at http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/) At the time Made From Scratch was written, Jenna lived in Idaho, but she has since moved to Vermont.

The book's tone is lighthearted — a good thing, mostly (although it occasionally sounds like a compendium of back-to-the-land, old-timey clichés). In the introduction, however, I found some truly profound words.

I think the real trick to finding that sense of satisfaction is to realize you don't need much to attain it. A window-box salad garden and a banjo hanging on the back of the door can be all the freedom you need. If it isn't everything you want for the future, let it be enough for tonight.

Don't look at your current situation as a hindrance to living the way you want, because living the way you want has nothing to do with how much land you have or how much you can afford to spend on a new house. It has to do with the way you choose to live every day and how content you are with what you have. If a few things on your plate every season come from the work of your own hands, you are creating food for your body, and that is enough. If the hat on your head was knitted with your own hands, you're providing warmth from string and that's enough. If you rode your bike to work, trained your dog to pack, or just baked a loaf of bread, let it be enough.

Yes. Let it be enough. Let what you do be enough.

I am not suggesting you sit back and not do anything new. Quite the opposite. It's high time we all change our way of living and our level of consumption before our current global situation tips our culture into a unstoppable slide toward self-destruction. But don't try to tackle all the world's problems, solve a planet's worth of disaster in one summer.

Do one thing. Stretch one more arm's-length toward sustainability. Figure out what one change your life needs most, what one action will make you happiest, what one idea-in-motion you can contribute most toward sustainability and independence for your state and yourself. Learn what you need to learn to make it happen, and then do it. Do it well.

And let it be enough.

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About Common Sense
Common Sense is written by Jane Dwinell and Dana Dwinell-Yardley, a mother-daughter blog team. They live on an urban homestead in Montpelier. Send them your questions and comments about food, fuel, family, or financial independence! Write to mountaingirl at vtlink dot net. You can also check out some of their other writings at their website: www.spiritoflifepublishing.com.