The vehicle you drive is loaded to the gills, pointed north up Interstate 95.
You are headed, moving to Maine. The return address on next year’s Christmas cards is going to read somewhere in Vacationland.
The plan for the Maine move started to simply lighten the financial load.
With your name peeking through and coming at you in waves. In too tall monthly or more often leaning sideways stacks. Tossed in your mom’s inherited pull down writing desk for annoying attention to the household bill paying.
Some of your friends wonder if you are on medication. Or should be. If they have the meds mixed up and ask are you feeling alright? You smile. Say nothing. But have done your home work. Before pulling, yanking hard on the three prong grounded plug. Setting up the living off grid by double clutching. Shifting into a lower, slower life gear. 10-4 good buddy. Wait and see. Give me a little time to lay the ground work in Maine. Then come visit and see who’s crazy. Like a fox. Change their tune 180 degrees.
Become more self reliant, very sufficient living off grid in Maine.
You still have juice, just not the kind Public Utilities Commission (PUC) boards regulate. With no more bang bang bang systematic rate hikes to stomach. Like it or not. Living without the corporate profits, surcharges, transmission and extra tax feeincreases is what you dream about, see. All to reduce your carbon footprint.
Thirty percent of your power consumption is lighting. Build your new energy efficient home with the southern exposure for free solar heat, an even lighting sun or not. You’ll be hanging out clothes on a line to air dry. Or placed on large wooded racks in front of a winter wood stove to dry, get some needed inside air moisture.
Heating with birch, beech, maple, ash, other natural hand split, you stack, pack, you deliver fuel.
From your Maine land wooded sections. No oil truck going beep beep backing in the drive way. With a guy leaping out to hook up, screw on the hose for Texas or wherever it came from fossil tea to flow at four dollars a precious gallon.
Self inflicted pulling the plug. Not forced on you makes it a challenge, sport, passion, obsession. Not a lament, curse or anything to cause anger. Because done by choice, with a sound mind. Lots of careful planning, timing.
Also the living off grid does not mean you are anti-social, a hermit, recluse or a loose canon that should be worried about, watched closely. Lots of folks are already doing it. Heck before those high power lines, everyone lived quite nicely without the 120 AC DC hooked to the house.
Not going undercover for an illegal wacky tobbacky below radar grow or as a member of the witness protection group.
That’s not the reason for the pulling away from all those plug in outlets. The gadgets, some you keep, just not sitting around on all the time. Parked, wasting fuel you have to pay dearly for is the big twist.
Here are 10 off grid homes. Or take a gander, gawk at this extra 15 homes for off grid living.
Maybe living on a Maine island, self sufficiently is more the solitude, protection of natural beauty you crave.
Growing your own Maine food. Selling the surplus. Raising meat, collecting eggs, the hands up and down moving, squeezing for the milk. An army of one or couple of peas in the same pod.
Reading up on blog posts about which direction the wind blows in your life. To know how best for you to approach the exercise, transition. To give up, cut one by one the strings of dependency that web more and more around all of us today.
Leaning on local Maine Amish settlements for guidance and to observe so this is how it is done huh?
Raising kids on the off grid Maine spread where simple living is the common denominator on every decision you make. For the grand scheme to be free, less complicated and more enriching, empowering. Maybe in retirement in Maine after your family is raised. Have flapped their wings hard to move away from the nest.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com