Actually this is sharing of old knowledge. Let's say tomorrow, the world ran

@writersedge (22563)
United States
April 19, 2010 6:53am CST
out of petroleum and we couldn't use electricity. We had to go back to prior to those things, what skills do you have from the older days? I can shoot an air gun. I can do some bow and arrow shooting, but I'm not hitting much of anything on even a standing target yet. Not at anything moving yet, but I can shoot one. I can also: make butter, sew on a button by hand, do fire pit cooking, gather food, garden, walk decent distances, hand pump water, gather tinder, start a fire (usually), carry 10 lbs (used to be more than that, but I've had lots of back problems), cook some things on a wood stove, use a wood stove iron, prune trees, repair clothing by hand (can't wear it anywhere afterward, but good enough for around here), cut a path, take care of small animals, raise pigs, raise angus cows (but I don't have the land for this), make candles on a wood stove, (that's all I can think of)I can dry plants for tea and food (if the weather cooperates or I keep a wood stove going in one room. I can do simple problem solving. I can reuse and recycle items. I can do tent camping. I can make and so some natural dies. My husband can shoot a rifle and a shot gun. He can throw a bucket down into a well and draw water back up. He can chop wood. He can garden and pick wild berries. He can start a fire. He can cook some things on open pit and wood stove. He has a collection of old-fashioned hand tools. He can make some things that are useful with the hand tools. He can walk short distances. He can carry 50 lbs. (it used to be more, but he has had back trouble). He knows how to make a travoy. He's good at first aid. He can read instructions and do them. He knows how to play lots of board games. He can hand sew a button and do basic mending. I know there is more, but that's all I can think of. Oh yeah, He can hand pump water. He can dig for long periods of time. I know there has to be more. He can do technical and complex problem-solving. He can use scraps to make something. He can do tent camping. We both know how to entertain ourselves without a tv set or radio. So what can you and your family do? Once people see this list, I bet they realize they have more abilities than they think. I know, people my age and esp. older have a lot of abilities, many more than mine.
1 response
@SViswan (12051)
• India
21 Apr 10
Though I'm not that old, I've lived in India at my mother's place where electricity was used only for watching television at night (when there were no voltage fluctuations) and lighting the single bulb in the house. So, there are quite a few things I can do without electricity. I can cook the old fashioned way using grinding stones ..the only are there that I am challenged is...with the old fashioned fire stove...I don't think I know how to use that. I know how to sew and do basic mending. I know how to make tamarind by taking out the seeds and drying them with salt. I know how to make pickles. I learn quickly and can do any kind of manual job (healthy enough for that). I know how to make teaching aids from things around me. I know how to draw water from a well. I can walk (I do it right now..walk wherever I can). There are lots more...but you get the gist...I'm a willing and quick learner...so I guess, I can do lots of things once I put my mind to it.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
21 Apr 10
That's excellent! Not sure what tamarind is, but it sounds like work. My Mother made pickles and I assisted her, but I've never made them on my own. She has passed over. But I can't have salt like that anyway any more. With only the lone lightbulb and tv (I have a friend who lives like that in the mountains, he has a solar panel, so only the light bulb during the day and if enough electricity stored up, maybe a tv show or the radio at night), I'm sure your list of things you can do is long. Much longer than here. So if we go back to the olden days, you can do just about everything! Thanks and take care.
@SViswan (12051)
• India
26 Jun 10
Thanks for the BR! But I have to say...the 'Gulf War' taught me a lot about life and living without the luxuries that I was used to since I was born. It also helped me to appreciate a life without the appliances that made life easy for us.