[HN Gopher] Garden Hermit
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Garden Hermit
Author : polm23
Score : 153 points
Date : 2021-07-05 04:28 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
| Loughla wrote:
| Look, I get that they existed to be gawked at by the upper
| classes, and all, but. If anyone here is looking for a garden
| druid/hermit, I would be more than willing to build the barrow,
| as long as your estate is such that I never have to actually see
| you. Feel free to gawk all you want as I collect various plants
| from the area, just don't talk to me.
|
| In all seriousness, that now sounds like a very 'wow look at how
| out of touch rich people were' sort of thing. . . . That I
| absolutely could see being a thing today.
| motohagiography wrote:
| This is amazing. I don't know whether I want one, or want to be
| one. As an occupation for retired gentlemen, I think it would be
| very appealing.
|
| We sort of had one growing up, where the family had some land in
| the country and my parents let a very eccentric man live in a
| rennovated hippie school bus parked on it, and eventually he
| built a network of little huts that were each beneath the area
| threshold where a building permit would be required. He
| maintained the land and the things we built on it, like tree
| houses and ziplines over gullies (all farcically unsafe, but a
| kind of heaven for a 10yr old self and siblings). He lived there
| until they sold the land, and he moved in with his estranged
| brother on another piece of land, just the two of them, not
| speaking for years.
|
| It was certainly less genteel than described in the article, but
| this pattern hasn't disappeared. People I know with land have had
| long term tenants on the property, sort of Kato Kaylin long term
| guest characters, and as a retirement plan, it certainly beats
| being warehoused in a retirement home.
|
| If there were a deal where I could park an airstream on someone's
| back 40 in exchange for some minimal property maintenance and
| gardening into my late 70's and 80's, that sounds appealing.
| There would probably even be competition, so I should start
| thinking about how I might interview for such a role that I might
| prevail over the other ornamental garden hermits.
| AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote:
| I wouldn't wait for retirement, I'd do it right now. Sadly I
| didn't grow up in an economic class where I just happen to know
| people with large amounts of land.
| thatguy0900 wrote:
| In America you don't need to be rich. Plenty of areas where
| land is absolutely dirt cheap, as long as you don't mind not
| really living next to anything and building your own
| buildings.
| AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote:
| Sure, but as discussed the Garden Hermit gets a stipend or
| other support from the land owner, possibly in exchange for
| some kind of service. I could go buy nigh-useless land in
| Wyoming for a pittance, but there's a reason it's a
| pittance: it's probably unusable for agriculture, has
| little or no access to potable water, has no reasonable
| access to any infrastructure of any kind, etc. Basically, a
| much much more difficult living situation than the one
| being described by the article.
| prawn wrote:
| Is the rainfall there reasonable enough that you could
| collect what you needed to filter/drink and wash without
| being too wasteful? Are there large gas bottle deliveries
| that could handle heating and cooking?
|
| The hermitic relationship removes risk for the hermit
| buying remote land, I guess. Saves you being caught with
| somewhere that turns out to be a dud.
| shuntress wrote:
| You are talking about _homesteading_ [0] which is in some
| ways similar to being a "Garden Hermit".
|
| I think these similarities are mostly superficial. The
| key difference being up-front cost, sustenance
| (food/water/shelter), and expenses.
|
| A hermit (as described/imagined here) on someone else's
| property would focus solely on gardening and basic
| maintenance while enjoying the luxury of _not paying for_
| landscapers, electricians, builders, plumbers, etc (and
| enjoy the time spent _not doing_ all of those jobs
| themself).
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homesteading
| rio_de_mierda wrote:
| This seems like a good fix for CEOs who want people in the office
| because they enjoy watching the ants scurry about.
| twirlock wrote:
| Somehow this feels related to shroomjak.
| tperrigo wrote:
| I'm reminded of The Sidley Park Hermit in Tom Stoppard's
| beautiful "Arcadia".
| codezero wrote:
| The modern version of this must be Twitch.
| riccardomc wrote:
| I am from the region where Francis of Paola[1] lived. He's
| mentioned as the first example of Garden Hermit in the article.
|
| He's regarded as a very important religious figure in my region
| and home town. I am quite sure a lot of more conservative people
| would find the idea that he was an attraction for rich people
| utterly offensive.
|
| I find this very fascinating because as I grew apart from my
| catholic upbringing and started questioning things, after
| visiting Francis' alleged hermitage, I could never shake the
| thought that it didn't seem very remote, secluded or
| uncomfortable...
|
| [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Paola
| kylecazar wrote:
| I've wanted to write a screenplay about an ornamental hermit ever
| since I came across this very article last year.
| njacobs5074 wrote:
| Is this the origin of garden gnomes? :)
| cmpb wrote:
| I imagine today's hermit would spend most of their time on their
| phone/tablet.
| sysadm1n wrote:
| Or phablet
| TheMerovingian wrote:
| Or working from home.
| Razengan wrote:
| The home is the work.
| Brendinooo wrote:
| I'm always interested in how societies have depicted and
| accommodated oddballs throughout history. Though I'm not sure if
| this is an actual example or if it's just a contrivance of the
| super wealthy.
| pacaro wrote:
| Hermit-in-residence doesn't sound so terribly different from
| artist-in-residence or writer-in-residence.
|
| It seems like more of a framing issue, "garden hermit" feels like
| an eccentric ostentation, writer-in-residence feels like
| philanthropic patronage
| __coaxialcabal wrote:
| This is the subject of a painting by artist Hernan Bas, "The
| Ornamental Hermit".
|
| https://thelonelyonedotnet.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/bas17...
|
| The concept raises questions about power, class, voyeurism,
| contemplation, and loneliness. Reminds me of this story (pardon
| the source)...
|
| """As for the contracts, they were usually very rigorous. The
| most famous arrangement between one such hermit and an aristocrat
| called Charles Hamilton illustrates the strict conditions under
| which a hermit was supposed to act:
|
| (A hermit must) continue on the Hermitage seven years, where he
| shall be provided with a Bible, optical glasses, a mat for his
| feet, a hassock for his pillow, an hourglass for timepiece, water
| for his beverage, and food from the house. He must wear a camlet
| robe, and never, under any circumstances, must he cut his hair,
| beard, or nails, stray beyond the limits of Mr. Hamilton's
| grounds, or exchange one word with the servant.
|
| Unfortunately for Mr. Hamilton, the only known hermit that agreed
| upon these conditions lasted merely three weeks at his
| "workplace." One day, he vanished from the estate and was later
| seen in a local pub, probably enjoying his freedom with a pint of
| beer."""
|
| https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/09/13/the-life-of-a-19th...
| paulpauper wrote:
| Need to get me one of these
| otikik wrote:
| Finally, my answer to "If there were no computers, what would you
| do for a living?"
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(page generated 2021-07-06 23:01 UTC)