For those who have just joined us here at Eden’s Path, a word of explanation. Four months ago Debbie and I decided we would turn off our cable TV. Disconnect it, and unhook from the world of 100-channels and nothing to watch. All for only $58 per month.

All we had was the “basic cable” service anyway. No digital TV, no set-top box, no 24-hour music channels — nothing but what the cable company said was basic service. Which is what we thought until early 2006, when I called to tell them we wanted to disconnect. “But,” the helpful lady said, “we have local channels for only $10 a month.” So, I fell for that and for several months we got about 12 channels — all the local stuff, plus 2 PBS stations, plus ESPN (not local, but go figure).

That lasted until the 2006 elections, and I wanted to watch the election returns, so I upgraded from “local” back to “basic.” We kept cable on until last summer, when we both agreed we were tired of nothing to watch at $58 per month.

So, I called the cable company again. “I want to disconnect my cable,” I courageously told the customer service person. “What if I offer you the same service for only $30 per month?” she asked kindly. Of course, I fell for it, again, but felt like a real negotiator this time. “I got our cable for only $30 a month,” I proudly told Debbie.

By this fall, both of us had decided cable was not even worth $30 a month. One more call.

• “I want to disconnect my cable,” I said.
• “How about just local channels for $15 a month?” she asked.
• “Nope.”
• “How about high speed internet? We have the fastest at only $49.95 a month.”
• “Thanks, but we’ve got DSL.”
• “We could offer you phone service, too”
• “No thanks. Just cut it off.”

And with that, we were disconnected from the world of cablevision. Umbilical cord cut. Free-floating in the digital age without a coax to our name. Here’s what we’ve discovered:

1. We didn’t have time to watch TV anyway because we’ve been busy reading, talking, playing Scrabble (don’t laugh, Debbie beats me), blogging, visiting folks, and baking bread.
2. We don’t miss it.
3. There isn’t much real news. What there is we get on the internet.
4. Others have done the same thing. I just discovered yesterday that Kevin Kelley, one of the founding editors of Wired magazine lives in a TV-less house.
5. We’re not going back.

So, that’s what really started us on this little journey. Oh, the roots go back further than that, I guess. We’ve had a 15-year on-again-off-again love affair with a vegan diet; now more on than off. We’re in a different stage in our lives, and I’ll write more about that later. But, it’s the quiet we love. We can hear the birds now, even with the windows closed. We can hear our neighbors children playing in their yard. We can hear each other. We think we can hear God sometimes, too. Still faintly, but better than before. All of that for $0 per month. Not a bad deal.

We finally filled up our bird feeders today.  The wind last week broke one, but the others survived.  (Notice how the wind peeled the lattice off the deck.  I fixed that today, too.)

The big feeder sits outside our den window, so we watch the birds in the morning after breakfast while we’re drinking our tea.  Squirrels, too, because the feeder is not squirrel-proof by any means.  But, we don’t mind the squirrels getting some of the black, oiled seed as well.

Our local Southern States farm co-op is not far from our house, so we picked up a 25 lb. bag of seed the other day.  We keep the seed in a galvanized can under the potting bench.  This winter we’ve seen lots of cardinals, small finches, tufted titmouses (or is it, titmice?), and a bunch of other birds we don’t know the names of.  Oh, the other day we also saw a bluebird.  So, the bluebirds are back, or maybe never left.  We watched a robin chase the daddy bluebird away from the dogwoods in our front yard all the way into the neighbor’s yard.  Nature is rough!

Helping us feed the birds today is Pretty Kitty.  If you don’t know Pretty Kitty, you can read all about him on Debbie’s blog, Goodthoughts.  He’s the neighbor’s cat, but makes his rounds on the street visiting one and all — especially if there’s food to be had.  Pretty Kitty would like to be a “bird feeder” too, but we discourage him from that.  He did bring us a mole the other day.  Laid it right on the front walk as a little parting gift.  So far the birds are safe, as Pretty has put on a few pounds this winter.  All those handouts, I suppose.  If you look closely at the photo, you can see Kitty licking his lips!

Debbie and I started a new blog, Eden’s Path, to chronicle our journey toward a sustainable, simple life. The name Eden’s Path is taken from a old Celtic Christian saying that living in this world is like having “one foot in Eden.” We thought that summed up what we were trying to say. At Eden’s Path we’ll explore ways to live more simply — spend less, enjoy it more, slow down, and live our lives in the rhythm of God’s grace.

This journey started when we turned off our cable TV, and began to use that time to think, read, talk, cook, and generally try to live our life “mindfully” as the Buddhists say. Of course, Jesus said something similar when he said, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.”

There is also a monastic component here, too. Two words described the life of monks — orare et laborare — to pray and to work. So, that’s what we’re trying to do within the limits of our ability. And if it sounds way too serious and grim, we’re actually having a lot of fun! If you’re interested, stop by Eden’s Path, and leave a comment or some helpful hints. We need all the help we can get! — Amicus Dei