Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Cedar Choppers

texasmonthly.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 25 posts

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#11

Post by ksdale »

davidw wrote: post #8
52-6F-62 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the movement's already started to some effect with modern homesteaders. https://psmag.com/environment/opting-homesteading-matter-tod... https://www.literallydarling.com/blog/2016/11/04/millennials...

That sounds good, but realistically, and perhaps somewhat differently from what most people imagine, denser city living (as opposed to suburban sprawl) is probably the best bet for the environment for most people who can't go live in the woods.

There's also a growing urban homesteading movement that combines the benefits of density with some of the benefits of self-sufficiency, a reduced environmental footprint, and the added bonus of potentially living in a city filled with green stuff!

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#12

Post by dreamcompiler »

My Dad lived in Austin in the 50s. He used to call poor, uneducated rural people "cedar choppers" and until today I had no idea where that came from, or that it was an Austin thing. It seemed -- weird -- because I never heard Dad say a perjorative word about any other group of people.

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#13

Post by dreamcompiler »

lurquer wrote: post #10

The tree pollinates during a 2 to 3 month period during the winter months, and for many people, the allergies it causes are horrendous. If you're allergic to it, you're basically screwed from December - February. The pollen is so thick in the area that your car will covered with orange dust every morning.

My property is full of them. In February and March the trees expectorate visible yellow clouds. It's a nightmare.

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#14

Post by [deleted] »

strait wrote: post #7

The "cedar" in the Hill Country is actually the Ashe Juniper tree and it thrives in the area. It is drought tolerant in an area of frequent and prolonged drought and the hungry deer population won't touch the saplings while they obliterate the competing saplings from most other tree species that they are able to get to. My parents live in the Hill Country and when I go to visit, I end up spending some time in the bac…

[deleted]

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#15

Post by gerbilly »

anon1m0us wrote: post #2

> “They didn’t care about possessions,” Roberts says, “and they lived in housing fit for animals.” I find it interesting how disrespectfully nose up folks talk about humble people like the Cedar Choppers, when if we all continued to live like they did, we wouldn't be in this climate mess we are in. It's caring about possessions and extravagant homes ( un fit for animals?) that has destroyed the planet for all animals…

> I find it interesting how disrespectfully nose up folks talk about humble people like the Cedar Choppers

They denigrate them because their lifestyle makes them uncomfortable.

It makes them uncomfortable because they are free in many ways that middle class people are not.

They are free of our social norms and they could earn a weeks income in a day selling wood.

It probably made them question their life choices and the fairness of the system.

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#16

Post by blantonl »

strait wrote: post #7

The "cedar" in the Hill Country is actually the Ashe Juniper tree and it thrives in the area. It is drought tolerant in an area of frequent and prolonged drought and the hungry deer population won't touch the saplings while they obliterate the competing saplings from most other tree species that they are able to get to. My parents live in the Hill Country and when I go to visit, I end up spending some time in the bac…

barefoot with a brush hand saw

Oh man that made me cringe. I’ve spent a lot of time on Texas Hill Country land (Kerville etc) and between rattlesnakes and chiggers you are one brave soul.

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#17

Post by strait »

blantonl wrote: post #16
strait wrote: post #7

The "cedar" in the Hill Country is actually the Ashe Juniper tree and it thrives in the area. It is drought tolerant in an area of frequent and prolonged drought and the hungry deer population won't touch the saplings while they obliterate the competing saplings from most other tree species that they are able to get to. My parents live in the Hill Country and when I go to visit, I end up spending some time in the bac…

barefoot with a brush hand saw Oh man that made me cringe. I’ve spent a lot of time on Texas Hill Country land (Kerville etc) and between rattlesnakes and chiggers you are one brave soul.

Something else is even worse. Fire ant mounds hidden under thick grass. If the ground feels a little softer than it should, hop along extra quick!

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#18

Post by adrianmonk »

lurquer wrote: post #10

The tree pollinates during a 2 to 3 month period during the winter months, and for many people, the allergies it causes are horrendous. If you're allergic to it, you're basically screwed from December - February. The pollen is so thick in the area that your car will covered with orange dust every morning.

From https://nosneezes.com/resources/pollen-information/ :

"The highest pollen counts ever recorded anywhere in the world occur annually when these trees cut loose."

That source doesn't give any further information to back this up, but it doesn't seem too hard to believe.

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#19

Post by benj111 »

anon1m0us wrote: post #9
usefulcat wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we lived like they did, we'd probably also have half the life expectancy and way more deaths during childbirth, just to name a couple of differences.

I disagree. In fact, the opposite could be true. The focus on material possessions like clothes, diamonds, cars, homes, and just in general -- consumption -- has made us less healthy than we otherwise would be and we don't have money to spend on good food, the time to exercise or find peace of mind. Just because we got bigger houses and less polio in the same timeline doesn't mean those too things are correlated to t…

Living like this would imply living without a car(?) and more geographically spread out, less connected/more insular lives, with less money to pay for health insurance.

I suppose it depends on how you interpret the parents "If we lived like they did". I don't think its reasonable to spin out a scenario where healthcare would be better, because all the elements of supplying healthcare become harder. I don't think it would necessarily be worse overall though.

Re: The Cedar Choppers

#20

Post by pvaldes »

adrianmonk wrote: post #18
lurquer wrote: post #10

The tree pollinates during a 2 to 3 month period during the winter months, and for many people, the allergies it causes are horrendous. If you're allergic to it, you're basically screwed from December - February. The pollen is so thick in the area that your car will covered with orange dust every morning.

From https://nosneezes.com/resources/pollen-information/ : "The highest pollen counts ever recorded anywhere in the world occur annually when these trees cut loose." That source doesn't give any further information to back this up, but it doesn't seem too hard to believe.

what would be a definition of "cut loose"?

If it means pruned, sounds logical to me.

Post reply on HN