Jacob's Tails . . . (Back-to-the-Land)

By Lynne Benjamin

"Jacob's Tails"-a collection of stories with over 50 photographs highlighting the adventures of Jacob (the eldest dog)and his humans, Lynne and Fred over seven years going back-to-the-land in the 60s and 70s. Armed with how-to books and little experience: they had chickens that wouldn't lay; a goat that wouldn't milk; and a horse that avoided work. They built a dome; used wind power and survived.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynne Benjamin
• Release date: Sep 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9780978398118

Lynne Benjamin

Lynne came from a small western city in Alberta, Canada to the big city for find work and adventure.She found Fred and together they started their lives of adventure going ‘Back-to-the-Land’ in Cape Breton in 1969.In 2001 Lynne took a two year sabbatical from herwork as a independent Human Resource Consultant to become a turtle and explore North America in their Recreational Vehicle. She never looked back.Lynne started her writing career by creating a Photo Journal Web Site (before Blogs). She has had a number of articles published in various RV magazines, the Canadian Stories magazine and currently edits a newsletter for a group of writers (Penwheels)who belong to the Escapees RV Club.Lynne considers the RV as their home but spends some time in their expensive storage unit Condo inLethbridge, Alberta.She can be reached at [e-mail]

Book preview

Jacob’s Tails...(Back-to-the-Land)

A True Experience by Lynne Benjamin

What others are saying about 1Jacob’s Tails . . .

"Jacob's book is . . . an engaging and honest read that will carry you on the journey back to the land. The book begins with Lynne and Fred's early attempts to find the right property and the adventure of title search . . . Jacob (er, um, Lynne) goes on to detail the dome house Fred designed and built and the unexpected disasters they encountered when they first arrived. The story continues with the choices they made, the day-to-day tasks they had creating their lifestyle, including raising goats, sheep, and pigs and planting fields of strawberries, turnips and plentiful kitchen vegetables. Photos add another dimension to the tails".

~~ Alice Zyetz, Author,

You Shoulda Listened to Your Mother:

36 Timeless Success Tips for Working Women

Other Comments from Readers:

~~I feel like I was actually there

~~ I'd love to see it as a film

‘~~It's so easy to read

~~ I remember those days and feeling like I could do anything

~~ Jacob's Tails is a charming read . . . "

1Jacob’s Tails . . . (Back-to-the-Land)

A True Experience by Lynne Benjamin

Photos by Lynne Benjamin

© Copyright, 2009 Lynne Benjamin

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN Number: 978-0-9783981-1-8

Written in Memory of Jacob

Special thanks to all those who gave us the memories

Special, special thanks to all those who kept me going

Lynne can be contacted at [e-mail]

or

through firstep Books

Jacob’s 1Tails . . . (Back-to-the-Land)

Table of Contents

Preface (A little background)

Chapter 1 – Finding the Land

Chapter 2 – They Warned Us

Chapter 3 – Ready, Set, Go

Chapter 4 – How Will the Walls Stay Up?

Chapter 5 – Collecting Our Family

Chapter 6 – The Mating Games

Chapter 7–One+One=Fourteen or One or Two or...

Chapter 8 – Dreams, Plans . . . Reality

Chapter 9 – Changes Happen

Chapter 10 – Onto the Next Adventure

About the Author

****

Preface (A little background)

Jacob’s Tails are about one family’s experiences of going back-to-the-land.

The sixties – if you weren’t there, you’ve heard about them – a time when a burgeoning population of young people, full of energy and confidence, sought to explore their world and test their vigour. The Baby Boomers numbers alone resulted in a substantial influence on the social and economic life.

They were twenty-something: the age you can do anything; you are strong; young; infallible, and capable of doing everything. Even if you had never done it before, you were willing to try and had all the confidence in the world that you would succeed. All you needed was the opportunity and you would figure it out or improvise the rest!!

The sixties were filled with social movements that worked to bring a greater sense of control to the people, especially in the cities. There was the anti-war movement, the women’s movement, the movement for a just society. There were protests, underground newspapers, free stores, free medical clinics, a free university, free concerts (remember Woodstock), free love, experimentation and drugs. While there were those who were convinced they could change society from within, there were others who chose to leave the pressures of that environment and adopt a simpler, more natural way of life – become back-to-the-landers as some called it in those days. Other called them hippies.

Armed with lots of how-to books and little experience, these back-to-the-landers sought areas that were relatively undeveloped where they could build a home, raise their own food, generate their own power, and struggle to be self-sufficient. Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, seemed an ideal destination.

Even though it is politically part of the province of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island is an entity unto itself and its history is both long and diverse. Discovered by the English explorer, John Cabot in 1497, the land was already occupied by the Mi'kmaq (or Mic Mac) natives. France claimed the island in the early 1700’s and it was ceded back to Great Britain in the 1760’s. Land grants to Scottish and Irish settlers in the 1700s and 1800s resulted in a strong Gaelic population.

The island is 175 kilometres long and 140 kilometres wide and many have compared the highlands of Cape Breton to the highlands of Scotland. Much of the terrain is rocky and rugged resulting in a spectacular landscape but not highly fertile lands. Many of the Cape Bretoners turned to the forests and oceans to sustain themselves.

Prior to the mid fifties, Cape Breton was isolated. Access to the island was limited to ferries. The construction of a two kilometre raised road – the Canso Causeway – across the Strait of Canso was completed in 1955. While the causeway lessened their isolation, Cape Bretoners struggle to retain their identity. The locks on the Cape Breton side of the causeway help preserve Cape Breton’s island status.

The residents of Cape Breton still retain much of their unique character and culture.

Jacob’s Tails . . . started out as Memoirs of a Back-to-the-Lander and it is a collection of stories based on the memories of seven years spent in the middle of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Ah-huh!! I always wondered how Jacob, our first dog, might have seen things. I decided that looking at the adventures through his eyes was an interesting perspective. Jacob was real and his stories are real and true. He came to us after he was abandoned by a former house-mate; he fit into our eclectic life-style and just stayed on with us.

There are many stories but I have tried to stick to stories that Jacob would be privy to and include the multitude of animals that were so much a part of our lives.

And so it began.

****

Chapter 1 – Finding the Land

My name is Jacob. Most times they call me Jake, but when they want me to do something or they’re mad at me they call me JACOB.

I look like a cross between a German Shepard and a Chihuahua (whatever that means). I’m rather small but well proportioned. I have good pointed ears and my eyes protrude a bit. I’m brown-black, bright and fast.

I first became acquainted with Fred and Lynne after I left my litter home and ended up on the street. I was taken in by a bunch of young humans who lived in a house for kids who were in trouble. Their leader said that they could not keep me because I would probably end up running away just to get away from them. So one of the humans on staff took me home with him. He lived with Fred and Lynne. He moved out and then Fred and Lynne bought me a license and we became a family.

Fred and Lynne are rather ordinary looking humans. When all this happened, they both had long hair. Fred’s was the colour of a Golden Lab and Lynne’s was more like mine, only she had some grey in hers, which, of course, I didn’t have then.

To go on with our story, one day their friend, Gail, came to our house. Gail was a hippy, if ever there was one. She was an old friend of Lynne’s who has drifted in and out of our lives forever. Apparently even beyond our lives because Lynne’s father used to take out Gail’s mother. Anyway, Gail went on and on about an adventure she had in a place far away.

There’s all kinds of land for sale on Cape Breton Island, she told them and cheap, and absolutely breathe-taking scenery.

And the people are great. They‘re genuine, hard-working and friendly, she said.

I watched Fred and Lynne. Their eyes started to sparkle. They didn’t say anything but I knew we were about to embark on another adventure, something new and something exciting.

It takes a lot of work to get ready for a long trip. First, Lynne’s little red car – the car that Fred hated so much – was traded for a big van. We needed to change the van so we could live in it. We built benches and a table that could convert into a bed for us to sleep in. The cupboard was something we found on the street on a night when humans put out their big garbage. It was perfect. It had drawers and doors and a lift up counter where the stove could go.

Fred laid a new floor and Lynne made some cushions for the benches and the bed.

The van had a new white paint job and you would never know it was an old Bell Telephone truck. Everything inside was painted a bright orange. It looked good. We packed up what we thought we would need for camping and the van was all ready to go.

Six o’clock in the morning, they dragged me out of bed. Fred drove, as he usually did, Lynne sat on the other side, and I perched on my big orange cushion between them. I looked out to see what was going on. No many cars on the streets of Toronto at that time of the morning and before long we were out of the city and onto the big road heading east. Fred did his usual, ‘get behind the wheel and drive for 12 hours’, and Lynne did her usual, ‘sleep while Fred drove’. I watched where Fred was going for a while and then I slept with Lynne.

Finally there came a point when Fred just couldn’t drive anymore. It was dark and late. There wasn’t much traffic on the road. So Fred pulled over to the side of the road. We crawled into the bed and soon were all asleep.

I woke up suddenly to loud, strange noises coming from outside the van. I thought maybe I had been dreaming. I jump down onto the floor and could hardly stand up. The van rocked from side to side. I jumped back up and looked out the side window. ‘Whoosh’ – a huge truck whizzed by, then another, then another. They started blasting their horns way back when they first saw us and kept them blaring until they were way down the road.

Okay, if they wanted to wake us up, they did a good job. I jumped back down and circled around in the small space between the bed and the front seats. I tried to tell Lynne and Fred what was going on.

They finally woke up. Panic! The trucks were coming VERY close. The side of the van was inches from the road, it swayed even more. Fred jumped behind the wheel and we took off. That was a close call.

We found a place to pull off the road and we all breathed a sigh