While eating fresh biscuit sandwiches with fresh eggs fried for breakfast this morning, Savanna and I decided to go off-grid on Sundays thanks to a book I am currently reading by Pico Iyer called The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere. And it has probably been the best day I have had in months.

After breakfast, the four older folks in our family took baths (which requires heating water on a wood stove, carrying and dumping the water into a washbasin in the tub and using a cup to pour the water over our heads). We know there are propane alternatives to heat water, but we love bathing like we do.

After all four of us took baths, we spent the day in our 75 degree greenhouse where I planted two varieties of nasturtiums and cauliflowers while Primrose and Marlena filled two-and-a-half inch pots with soil with their make-believe teacher named, Mrs. Dirtyhands. Mrs. Dirtyhands taught them step by step how to dig their hands in the wheelbarrow full of dirt and take a deep breath and say, “Aahhh…” before filling the pots. They did a great job, we all did. Working to the sound of the roosters crowing, ducks quacking, and an occasional car passing by. Obsidian slept in the pack-n-play while I carried Lyra in a carrier on my chest while planting. We transplanted a few varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers, and then I came inside to make lunch. Did I mention it was 75 degrees in the greenhouse and we were all sunbathing?

I made a big salad in our new salad bowl (Thanks Good Brother Karl), hot biscuit-cheese sandwiches, smoked salmon, and dates. I put everything on our new serving platter (Thanks Good Brother Karl), and carried it all to the greenhouse where we sat on the grass and ate. The big girls were acting like boys, while the babies were hanging out watching. It was a beautiful moment, even though I always get a little frenzied while cooking, serving, and eating with the family- it is still nice to do together.

I fought the urge to pick up my phone today at least 1,500 times. What about the new Iraq Combat Veteran group I joined on Facebook? Or a new reel that I want to post? What about our YouTube channel, do we have any more subscribers? I should probably check my Facebook, Instagram, Amazon book reviews, bank account, weather, emails, and… well, oh yeah– calls and texts. What if a friend needs me? I fought the urges- we agreed to check our phones this morning after breakfast, and then again at 8 p.m. That was it.

Pico Iyer’s book reminds me that not long ago people lived in a time when they were not available 24/7 to anyone and everywhere. But nowadays, “More and more of us feel like emergency-room physicians, permanently on call, required to heal ourselves but unable to find the prescription for all the clutter on our desk.”

After lunch, I played blocks, puzzles, and make-believe with the older kids in the yurt while Mom bathed the babies in the baby bath in front of the wood stove in the living room. When the older kids started to get a little wild due to tiredness, I brought them back to the house to watch a movie. I sat with them in the rocking chair and read IT while they watched Polar Express, listening to the cooing of the baby being bathed, checking out my wife’s hot, freshly shaven legs in a short pair of shorts. Hubba hubba!

When 8 p.m. rolled around, I snuck into the kitchen to check my online life. In less than two minutes I had replied to two comments in my new Facebook group, accepted a friend request on Instagram, checked both emails, saw I had received a new rating on Warflower and none on Just Like a Soldier, and I had checked the weather. I had zeros texts and zero calls. Nobody was on the verge of death, depending on me, and only me, to help save them. Nope, it’s all imaginary. And after two minutes, I turned the phone off and put it back in the drawer.

Savanna and I agree that we are going to go off-grid every Sunday from here on out, and probably more often than that based on how awesome our day was. We didn’t keep track of time, we didn’t listen to music, and we didn’t worry about anybody else besides the people, animals, and places right here in front of us. I watched the light change throughout the day, listened to the subtle sounds of wind in the spruce boughs, smelled the dry straw and dust from last year’s mulch in the greenhouse, and enjoyed my time right where I am with exactly who I am with in a way that I have not felt in too long.

I can’t wait until next Sunday.

P.S. Since I am on-grid right now, (wink wink), don’t forget to subscribe to the Stark Raving Mad Publication that comes out tomorrow! SecretGardenAlaska.org/blog
If you pay $5 (less than a Bean Freeze from the Buzz), you’ll get to watch our private video on YouTube and hear three of my songs. Who knew I could play a little music? Hope you all find some stillness, silence, and satisfaction right where you are!