Americans have a bit of a reputation abroad for ignoring the fact non-Americans exist and are people. This sounds like an example.
If you never need anything from the outside world and the outside world makes you feel unsure or bad about yourself, it makes emotional sense. I hear China tends to be the same way.
Rural Alberta. Not really. Prices of gas have gone up a bit, but not enough to change life. There's enough family doctors to go around in this pocket, even if they're questionable.
In Calgary they have water shortages, because they road-salted their water mains into oblivion. Canada in general has housing and family doctor shortages, although Calgary actually has a glut of apartments right now.
Really? There's one yard near me that I'm pretty sure got put in when a was a kid. Although Canada's definitely not a subtropical steam room, and I doubt it's walked over much.
The vegetable garden suggestion isn't bad, but it depends heavily on you liking gardening.
Clover or (edit: if you can establish them) wild plants are a decent answer for low maintenance vegetation. Pavers or gravel will look a bit dire but they do the basic job of providing walkable space.
Artificial turf is nice. Somebody might point out it's plastic, but this is an application where you want it to last forever.
You know, I've never touched anything including booze, but I've come to wonder if guys that spend as much time as possible knocked out on drugs might have a point. Happy and numb to the universe, including things like if you're on a dirty mattress in a flop house, sounds okay.
There seems to be a point of diminishing returns with immorality. At some point you just end up a hated outcast, so you have to apply sparingly. Unless you're an ultra-rich landlord's son right as your country is sliding into fascism.
Wall Drug is so notorious I've heard people complaining about it in Canada. And not even the bit north of it.
As the story goes, anyway, they've put signage up teasing it over and over again for quite a distance, but then you get there and it's just a drug store.
If you have thin bird skin, I wonder if it could actually cause a nasty burn.