Author | Lightnews

Rachel Fairbank

@sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social

810 followers 260 following 430 posts

Science journalist, with bylines in Nature, National Geographic, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Houston Chronicle. I cover a mixture of health topics, with a focus on conditions such as autism, ADHD, ME/CFS, POTS and Long COVID.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 2h

I’m headed to a Halloween party at the Children’s Museum with my son, and my costume is quite on the nose.

A woman dressed in overalls, a pink shirt, and a pink bandana waves at the camera.

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

Thanks. I'm grateful it's in the past.

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

What they will say is that it was extremely hard, and they didn't enjoy it, as much as my parents wanted to convince everyone otherwise.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

This article was written in 1979; I was born in 1985. I saw some of this, including having cows, chickens and pigs during my early years, but I escaped the worst. My brothers are extremely close-mouthed about their experiences.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

Elmer spent some time looking for work at other gun companies in New
England, but the family didn't want to leave the Caroline hills.

Other than the worry, Ellen said, "we managed quite well. We had all the things we needed."

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

The hardest part Elmer's six months of unemployment was "the uncertainty about what was going happen,” she said. The family suffered anxiety wondering if the company would shut down permanently, and if they'd have to move.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

For family evenings, we play a game, have a snack and have some kind of learning experience.”

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

“We don't have a TV," Ellen said. "There's no time to watch TV, so the kids don't really miss it. The kids like to play board games, and they read a lot. They are outdoors a lot. They do a lot of sledding down our hill. The boys could take anyone for a nature walk, and not get lost.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

In the summer, the family swims in a state pond two miles away, and they cross country ski on skis they picked up at the Salvation Army.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

“We make sure the kids are involved in a lot of things – roller-skating parties at school, baseball teams, music lessons. They make their own cookies, too. If they want dessert, they have to make it. I’m too busy making bread and cheese,” Ellen said.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

“These things have to be done. The animals must be fed; the garden must be weeded. The boys don’t like to weed, but we find when we all do it, as a family, it isn’t so bad.”

Even with all the work involved in trying to be self-sufficient, the family takes time out for recreation.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

“One of the reasons we do this is that it gives the boys meaningful work, other than making their beds and that sort of thing,” Ellen said.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

He and Elmer get up at 4 a.m. to get the chores done before Elmer starts work at 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday. He works until 4:30, then faces another round of chores when he gets home.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

While Ithaca Gun was closed, Elmer played trumpet for the Binghamton Symphony Orchestra and the Tri-Cities Opera. But now that he's back at work he doesn't have much time for playing, either.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

One of the things Ellen doesn't have time for now is music, although she and her husband both have degrees in music from Ithaca College. She sold her flute for $1,000 to make a downpayment on their house, but she does have a piano which she plays when she has "a few minutes to spare.”

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

"There are more things to do than we have time for," she sighed. "But I enjoy doing all the things I do. It’s no sacrifice, not going to work. Sure, there are things I don’t like – like wading to the barn after a rain, but any job has some things you don’t like to do very well.”

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

"We're interested in seeing what we can do for ourselves," Ellen said. She also makes soap, which the family uses for everything but laundry.

"A can of lye costs 57 cents, and with it I can make a year's supply of soap,” she said.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

Elmer grew some oats, which he wants to roll to make oatmeal. and they raised some field corn for their animals.

They have apple trees on their property and have started to plant a few other fruit trees.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

"One boy took care of the baby, and the other two helped get in the wood," Ellen said. "It might be work, but we all enjoyed it."

The family also raises sheep, as a hobby, and they plan to try spinning some yarn.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

During Elmer's vacation in August, the whole family went to state forest land and cut down five cords of wood - a year's supply for $25 - piled it on their truck, and took it home

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

The stove's primary function is to heat the family's old farmhouse, although there is an oil-burning furnace in the cellar.

"Every year we use it less," Ellen smiled.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

In addition to buying foods for storage in bulk, Ellen also buys peanut butter, rice and yeast in large quantities

Although she has a gas cook stove, she could in an emergency bake bread and cook
on the old wood-burning kitchen range which was her mother's.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

She bakes bread about three times a week, four loaves at a time, as needed.

She also makes butter, from the excess milk and cream, a cheese "which tastes like gouda cheese," and a ricotta cheese for lasagna, which is a family favorite.

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

Ellen makes whole wheat bread from the fresh-ground flour, adding honey, milk, eggs, salt and yeast.

"I have all the ingredients for that loaf of bread right here, always,” she said, and the bread "has everything you need in it."

1 1

Rachel Fairbank @sweetsciencewriter.bsky.social · 22h

"Flour has a lot more vitamins, if you grind it fresh," she said, "but grinding is slow and noisy. She turned on the machine, which growled in protest, a mini version of the noise a flour mill makes when working.

1 1