LETTER- It's easy to live simply

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but no one has to essentially go into exile like Heather and Logan Ward, the couple in the [August 9] cover story, "An uncommon past time: The hardship of the simple life" in order to live simply, lovingly, and happily.

I ought to know; I've lived a simple, delightfully happy life for years without all the bells and whistles that virtually everyone else feels obliged to embrace.

You get the feeling that the two people in the story had no willpower or self-control if they couldn't manage to extricate themselves from the enslaving trappings of the modern world without going to such extreme lengths. I hope readers won't feel they need to follow in this couple's footsteps in order to live better lives.

Marlene A. Condon
Crozet

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