Pete Seeger's wife, Toshi, died a couple of days ago. Pete and Toshi were married just a few days short of 70 years. A long life lived well.
I owe a bit of where and how I live to Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. I had an album of a live concert they did together years ago. On that album there was a description of how they lived. It made a reference to Pete Seeger going to Arlo's house (or maybe it was vice versa) where they would help each other put up wood for the winter. They both lived simple, rural lives. They'd go and tour when they needed a bit of money or when they needed to make some issue heard. I actually saw them back in the early 80's, in a cold November, and Arlo performed Alice's Restaurant, the whole thing, because it was close to Thanksgiving.
The simplicity of their lives expressed on that album cover appealed to me. I liked the idea of having a rural house. Chopping wood. Working to live rather than living to work.
And so I have that lifestyle now. Rural. Off grid. I work part time (but currently I'm on Disability, not having worked for two months because of a workplace injury). Joni and I live simply. And we are happy having a long term project, this homestead, to entertain and frustrate us for years to come.
I have Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie to thank for planting that idea in my head.
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