An interesting book series review

S.A.'s Book Review: Laura Ingalls, Revisited

Have you ever wondered how you will react if your children are starving and light-headed from malnutrition and you have no food left?
Have you questioned your resilience to life’s opportunities if you are continually beat down by nature and circumstances?
Want to know how to make a smokehouse out of a hollow tree? How to provide heat when there is no wood left to burn? Crop failure? Wild bees?
When I was a child, Laura Ingalls Wilder had already published her saga which included practical homesteading information wrapped inside a series of books. Her books for children were the story of her growing-up years in America 145 years ago. She began this autobiography when she was over 60 years old. She realized a pioneer and frontier way of life had ended, and she could tell the story. Laura’s life spanned the era from post-Civil War to the modern age. She serialized her story in the third person, told through the eyes of a little girl named Laura. As a child, it took me several books before I understood that the author was the Laura of the books. (My parents also had to tell me that Alice fell asleep and was only dreaming when she saw a rabbit run past her tree proclaiming that he was late, late for a very important date and then pop into the rabbit hole. I got smarter and more practical as the years passed.) Laura was a tiny bit naughty -- occasionally slapping mean children on the face -- and had, in her own mind, ugly brown hair instead of her sister’s lovely blond curls. My father would go to out-of-town conventions from time to time and my present, upon his return, was a new “Laura” book.
If you only know Laura through the television series, “Little House on the Prairie,” then you don’t know Laura. That family program only faintly resembles the Laura books by the use of the title of her second book, Little House on the Prairie . Eventually, people called the book series the “Little House on the Prairie” books. Characters were even invented for the television series. While television is entertaining, the book series and the television series are two different creatures.
Ma and Pa Ingalls had four daughters, and these girls worked! They were not entertained to keep out of mischief. A leaf, a stick, a hanky, a corncob, and plenty of imagination could provide hours of enjoyment on a tree stump. And they obeyed when given orders, which could make the difference between life and death (encounter with a bear, fording a flooding river, fighting a chimney fire or wildfire). The girls watched over each younger child everyday while the parents did farm work. Each daughter had daily jobs called chores and they were expected to be a part of the family and do her part to help the family survive during treacherous times. For us, "treacherous times" translate as their "daily life."
The family was responsible for their own food, and they had to work for almost every bite. Their diet included a lot of corn, using sacks of cornmeal traded for furs that Pa had trapped, but occasionally fresh ears and hulled corn. During The Long Winter, my favorite book, the family and the whole town is malnourished, out of food, and starving to death. No trains can get through in order to deliver needed food supplies to the prairie town due to an extremely harsh winter and snow that blocks the tracks. Particularly read this book if you are considering moving to the American Redoubt and have never lived in the northern tier, i.e. snow country.
Laura and her family worked hard and they were not afraid of work. Laura lived from 1867-1957, ninety years. The childhood privations made her into the survivor she became and did not destroy her spirit or health.
These books were written for children. I read them as a child, I read them to my children, my grandchildren have begun the series, and now I reread them often. I teach in an urban elementary public school and introduce my class to Laura by reading one of her books aloud each year. Laura’s lifestyle is completely foreign to my students. However, in light of the world situation now in 2012, the books are more relevant than ever. I encourage you to acquire the set of books and cherish it. The Laura books are written in the style of our mentor, Jim Rawles. His book Patriots has been described as a handbook encased in a novel. The Laura books are how-to books for living in a primitive world without our ready access to modern conveniences and Wal-Mart.
Laura’s life spanned the period from right after the Civil War when panthers roamed the northern Big Woods and her mother cooked over a campfire on the open prairie, through the Great Depression, both World Wars, construction of the Interstate Highway system, invention of the automobile, and atomic bombs. She lived long enough to experience modern life such as running water, indoor plumbing, rapid transportation, antibiotics, washing machines, clothes dryers, and air conditioning. Her life was the essence of adaptability.
How did the Ingalls family spend their days? They were almost completely independent of a monetary system; they bartered and traded their way along life. A single penny was almost a fortune. They simply lived and lived simply, existed, and thrived, finding happiness and contentment on the life road they chose with faith, among family and a few friends in virgin land. These true pioneers had itchy feet, yearning for new, less crowded horizons with neighbors miles apart and sufficient wild game to hunt. They stopped moving west when Ma finally put her foot down and said, “No more.”
Laura proved to be made with great resilience and the ability to adapt to a changing world. These books are an incredible resource for individuals with interest in prepping for a changing future. Laura survived malaria, scarlet fever, and starvation.
I’ve listed her books with some of the crucial information bulleted that can be found embedded in each book. When you read the series, your outlook will be changed. These books should be cherished and passed down. You will find the same themes running through each book: family as the basis for existence, importance of community and faith, simple recipes for simple foods, the joy that music brings to life, and an appreciation for the natural world.
Hopefully I’ve convinced you to purchase the Laura series, read them to yourself, your family, and learn from the practical lessons. The descriptions of flora and fauna in the untamed Midwest take your breath away. Many, many people, both children and adults, have grown to love Laura and her writings. Vacationing families still visit her homesteads and home sites throughout the Midwest in Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Missouri. She has had fan clubs since she began writing. Her inspiring story is classic and enduring.
There are dozens of other books written about Laura’s life and family by various authors, but they were not written by her, simply about her. The “Little House” books number only nine. Some other books about Laura and her growing up that round out her story that I have read and can recommend are: The Little House Cookbook by Barbara M. Walker; Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane, Laura’s daughter; A Little House Sampler by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane; Laura’s Album compiled by William Anderson; and On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Enjoy!
Little House in the Big Woods
• · How to keep needles from rusting
• · Collecting maple sap
• · Making maple sugar
• · Gathering honey from wild bees
• · Making butter
• · Cheese-making with a calf’s stomach lining (rennet)
• · Pouring and molding lead bullets
• · Gun cleaning
• · Building a smokehouse from a hollow tree trunk
• · Harvesting and stacking oat sheaves
• · Making straw hats
• · Treating massive numbers of wasp stings
• · Gathering wild nuts
• · Nixtamalization of corn (preparing hulled corn)
• · Making a salt lick
• · Cooking varieties of squash and vegetables
• · Preserving various foods for cellar and attic
• · Insulating a house and barn with stones, dead leaves, and straw
• · Family and community entertainment and recreation
• · Personal hygiene and grooming
• · Housekeeping practices
• · Salting fish in barrels
• · Root cellaring
• · Braiding onions
• · Pig butchering
• · Making sausage and head cheese
• · Using a kerosene lamp

Little House on the Prairie
• · Fording a rising river with a team of horses
• · Outdoor cooking with cast iron cookware
• · Traveling cross-country in a covered wagon
• · Where to position a homestead in relation to a creek
• · Hand tools essential to homesteading
• · Building a notched-log cabin
• · Picket lines for horses
• · Importance of music for happiness and contentment
• · Importance of a good, faithful dog (watchdog/guard dog)
• · Why not to camp in creek bottoms (malaria)
• · Latch string to open/close a door
• · Importance of neighbors
• · Reusing bent nails
• · Chinking cracks in a log cabin wall
• · Building a stone fireplace with river rock
• · Constructing a stick and daub chimney
• · Log splitting for floors, roof, furniture
• · Preparing rabbit fur for clothing
• · Digging a well, testing for natural gas in the ground
• · Milking a wild cow
• · Drying wild blackberries
• · Recipes for various cornmeal dishes
• · Treating malaria
• · Chimney fire
• · Making a willow rocking chair
• · Fighting a prairie fire
• · When government makes rules

Farmer Boy
• · Abundance of food and simple recipes

On the Banks of Plum Creek
• · Grasshopper plague
• · When crops fail
• · Life cycle of a grasshopper
• · Minnesota blizzard
• · Getting caught out in a blizzard and surviving
• · Haying

By the Shores of Silver Lake
• · Effects of Scarlet Fever
• · Feeding livestock during a blizzard
• · Grading and scraping plowed land
• · Making a road cut
• · Mob psychology
• · Which water birds are fit to eat
• · Lyrics to many old-timey, long-lost songs
• · Making a homemade checkers game
• · Living on salt pork and wild game
• · Family working together to succeed at life
• · Taking in boarders to earn money
• · Fighting mosquitoes with smoking fires

The Long Winter
• · Saving seed for spring planting vs. eating the seed to survive
• · Braiding hay to burn for heat
• · Grinding wheat in a coffee mill daily to make bread
• · Surviving starvation
• · Isolation in winter
• · How starvation and malnutrition affects the body
• · Taking extreme life-threatening steps to survive

Little Town on the Prairie
• · Skimming cream
• · Teaching a calf to drink from a pail
• · Plowing prairie sod
• · Hand-feeding a tiny kitten
• · Sewing on a treadle machine
• · Hand-basting seams, buttonholes
• · Using a chicken tractor
• · Saving a corn crop from blackbirds
• · Entertainment in a small community
• · Public schools/education in the 1880’s
These Happy Golden Years
• · Severe winter in South Dakota
• · Breaking horses to buggy and wagon
• · Tornado season on the Great Plains
• · How to dress in bitter winter weather

The First Four Years
• · Pros and cons of farming as a career choice
• · When a homestead is invaded by thieves
• · Folksy sayings about the weather
• · Getting from house to barn in a blizzard to feed livestock
• · Stacking hay
• · Home birth
• · Diphtheria with complications
• · Prairie blizzard
• · Prairie fire
• · Prairie tornado
• · Youthful optimism

Imagining a future

       The period is right now, like mid-2012.

            Like many human families, I am trying to anticipate, maybe even prepare where I live. After all even our ancestors prepared, like having a Naval Academy class of 1941 graduate early in February, since most anticipated a war was coming.

            And where I live, I would rather die of old age, rather than die from cold and hunger, or even being murdered by ravaging mobs.

            And then there is the stampede effect, like some precipitating event will set off many things that will probably adversely affect me where I live. Maybe it will be the recent storms in the new world USA, maybe it will be some event in Europe or China, maybe it will be some wild card mother nature event to include some kind of human plague.  Who knows?

            I guess I have lost trust, faith, and confidence in our various governments to help. Now we may be on our own much more than before.

            But for sure, we humans will have survivors.  Good on us. Whether the percentage is high or low, I choose not to predict, but I also still have to plan ahead from where I live.

            And what I hope for, and really expect will happen, is that the survivors will help establish a new world USA throughout the World. In this idea is also time, like all this will take about a century or more, but that is what I think.

            So many present forms of governments, like dictatorial, tribal, royal, and many other such governments, will fade as "we the people" assert ourselves.

            What a shame, since this was happening anyway, now much pain to humans will accelerate the process.

            So that is the hopeful future, in my imagination, for our human future.

By the way, wealth doesn't disappear, maybe be reduced, but it is still around. So keep working, and influence things from your end, as best you can.

Just what I sent my relatives

It’s hot here, too, like 88F in the shade at 1000 CDT. Since there’s no A/C like the old days (when there was also no A/C), we do have high ceilings, and fans, so we are doing OK.

At least it is better than we I lived in Okinawa the first time. And the Midwest seems to have it much hotter.

As to the heat, old dog Chloe is doing industrial level barfing in the house. Mostly it is phlegm (very slippery and difficult to clean up), vice something more solid. Anyway, I have kicked her out of the house, but she keeps coming back in to barf. I don’t know what’s worse, having kids or dogs? Of course the obvious answer is that most have both. Now I also have been sick enough to barf, so I can be sympathetic to humans, but the best I can muster is empathy for Chloe.

As to the Hemlocks’ electric plant, it is doing OK. Phase two “improvements” are still ongoing, but in fairness, my main contractor is at a Baptist type religious retreat in Georgia until next week. Welcome to Monterey. Just don’t get in a hurry, here. It will drive you crazy if you try.

Last, the Hemlocks has a new Weber grill and smoker, and it is being “seasoned”. Now I will have to make charcoal if times get hard, but I can do that, and Lord Knows, we have plenty of wood around here. I could even find salt pork at the local grocery store this morning, which is one way I use to help the seasoning process.

The end of the beginning

       I seldom invite myself into the political world, mostly because others, including pundits, write so well. So one can read pundits to their hearts' content.  I assume they get paid based on the number of required words in whatever post that they provide to their employer on some kind of schedule . And of course, some are better than others in both predicting, and just providing a nifty article to read.

            Yet, I also still believe in us, the common humanity. And while much change is going on, the result is new to our common future, whatever that is.

            My opinion today  is that some kind of unpredictable initiating event will set off the collapse of life as we know it. What is weird is that even I don't care to predict, confidently. It could be something simple, like human financial events in Europe, or even some king of mother nature event, like a serious volcano, or an asteroid hitting the earth.

            Anyway, even I am improving my local electricity making means just in case.

            Nothing green here, more like self interest.

            Yet in all this speculation is our future, to include our progeny's future.

            And in this idea, I am hopeful. 

            It's the getting from A to B part I fear, to include its impact on me, and my Family. This idea includes things like adjusting my food sources, including eating local critters.  Right now I would rather just go to the local grocery store.

            Yet the good news. Things are going to get better, including whom we pick to be our leaders to best solve our problems. Yep, we still want leaders, and are some are better than others.

The appalling reporting I see and hear all too often

            It's funny what can set one off.

            In my case it is the reverberation of a news report about Atlantic Ocean levels rising mostly along the Northeast USA coastline.

            Of course, it was reported as "true", and that it was due to global warming. Even the Voice of America carried it.

            No where could I find discussion of perhaps the land is sinking as a cause.  There are plenty of precedents for that happening, too. After all, the earth is always changing, sometimes in ways we like, and sometimes in ways we don't like.

            One obvious example is along the shores of Lake Superior in North America, where the north shore and the south shore lands are alternately rising and sinking.  The cause is most probably from something called "isostatic rebound". Generally speaking the Americans are losing land to the water rise, and the Canadians are gaining land from water recession. Such is my learning from a previous map project, since I don't live there these days.

            Similar things are probably happening in the Baltic Sea area, too.

            No wonder I take most news stories with a large grain of salt.

            Said another way, I discount a lot of what I read and hear, for good reason in my mind.

            Now maybe poor reporting has always been around, but my age 64 perception is that the problem is worse these days than say a half century ago.

            One practical effect is how to make good decisions with poor facts from poor reporting.  Such is one dilemma facing a common citizen in 2012.

Who is to blame for the sad state of affairs in the new world USA

       Is it the absurd levels of federal laws that bureaucrats have to implement? 

            For example, there is now a USA federal law about design of put put golf courses.

            Or is it the bureaucrats themselves?

            There is a third choice, like the congressional staffers asserting their influence, too. And their bosses voting their designs and budgets.

            And of course, there is the fourth choice, like the federal Congress itself, and even the federal Executive, too.

            So if things sound too incredible to believe or accept, perhaps that is just what seems to be happening these days.

            And then, I guess there is another choice to think about, too. Perhaps a century or even half century of dumbing down our education of our children (and now voters);  having our governments'  implement policies and practices that support the single parent Family (no wonder we have gangs that rape and pillage), and even using tax payer money to pay those who filch off of the truly poor, is finally coming home to roost. I personally know a fellow (age 41) who chooses to live off of the government benefits, vice being a minimum wage worker at Burger King, for example. He would be a good Burger King worker, if that was his choice.

            What really upsets me is the dumbing down of our children, who truly benefit by education for a solid successful culture, any culture or tribe.

            Now all these ideas are what we citizens have our governments for, and if they don't produce, then it is time to replace them by the vote, the theory being we citizens are still in charge of our fate.

            Along this line of thought, please remember a lot of our elected leaders are doing a good job. It's the crummy ones we ought to replace in deciding our future.

            I  truly believe in the idea of a United States of America.  But also, I am planning for the worse case, like every man for himself these days.  Mostly I will feed myself (from growing food) and my Family, and defend it, too, often from local riff raff.  What a sad state of affairs that I can even think this way in the new world USA in 2012.

            So who to blame?  Or just plan ahead, and sort it out later?

            My opinion is just to start to take charge wherever you live, and then let it sort out. Said another way, it is best to be a leader than a blamer. Most anyone can be a blamer.  Leaders live, blamers die.

            Go for it, like be a leader by example. One has to start somewhere.

Blue Laws

            The term is American. I was exposed to it circa 1959 in southern California after I was moved there. I liked being able to shop on Sunday, at the time, which was new, and developing. When I got there, there was no shopping on Sunday.

            The idea of blue laws is still alive and well in many places and cultures and religions.

            Basically,  Sunday was a day of rest, a day of worship for those so inclined, and a Family day for many people. Yep, the Family was a big deal back then, and to many people. Even the day of worship varied, but all humans did need time off from the daily routine

            And Saturday was the usual day to get it done after working all week (for most), going to school for children, etc.

            Blue laws were a way to "codify" it, like make it happen.  Cultures often do the same, too. Hence, examples of how to accommodate it abound. For example, one better buy their food or liquor at least the day before Sunday, because all the stores were closed on Sunday. And the intent was to promote rest and a Family day, which is often not rest as most parents know, but still different from a work day. The intent was not "negative", but "positive".

            Even where I live in East Tennessee getting a flat tire fixed on Sunday is difficult at best in 2012.  One better know one to get help in this effort, or wait until Monday.  Even counting on stores to be open on Sunday  is problematical at best. After all, it is Sunday, and a "day off" from normal drudgery.

            Now this idea is not just local to east Tennessee, or even "blue laws" anywhere.

            I hear in Oslo, Norway, much the same happens.  And even here in east Tennessee, the Mennonite religion incorporates Sunday as a day off. So I suspect it goes on in many places, but I just don't know because I have not lived there.

            So for our human future, always remember to do what you can to promote Family, in your way and local and culture.

             In this idea I think is a best future for we humans on the planet Earth.

The Book of Five Rings by Mushashi

       Now this book is hundreds of years old, but I prefer it to Sun Tzu's the Art of War, also hundreds of years old.

            And there are many other idealistic ideas and books that motivate so many of us.

            For example, think of "living off the land", or the "noble savage", or the "bushido code", or even "self sacrifice".

            All these ideas are really motivating, but numbers also count. I think presently the idea is called swarming, in military talk.  Again, numbers count, too.

            I am always impressed when a human minority group can organize itself enough to dominate a majority's thoughts and ideas.  Think of a tail wagging a dog. It happens, at least for a while.

            And in marketing terms, sometimes called propaganda in other times and places, spin is a factor, too. Said another way, call it a good sales pitch.

            Things always appear dimmest, just before it gets totally dark.  No PC here, "just the facts mam", in Dragnet TV series terms.

            So one can't live off of just wealth and good ideas, like the numbers eventually catch up. Other factors also count, like seed vaults, and security for my Family.

            So if you like reading, check out Mushashi, as he may give you other ideas for today's times, and your times and cultures and locations, too.

And all I want to do is feed my Family and live

       In colloquial English language, we seem to have killed, or are killing,  the goose that lays the golden egg. In this case it is the new world USA.

            Now thank goodness we have alternatives.  For example, I choose not to be a serf, but rather a new world USA voting citizen from east Tennessee. Now if that takes my time to just fight for this idea, so be it. What's the old time expression...for lack of knowing what to do, we do what we know. A lot of that seems to be going on, today.

            So times may get hard, and thankfully, it will all sort out, like the traditional new world USA friction between urban and rural. Bottom line, good ideas count, but so does being fed. And where I live, I think I can be fed thanks to my labor, and enough land and seeds already stocked.

            Now, in my political opinion, a century of progressive and liberal thought has failed, mostly not due to ideas, but funding.  Now we get to pay the piper these days, so to speak, including where I live.

            In the meantime, I have an advantage, like I live in a rural area. Even now I have fresh clean water, and a waste water system, all gravity powered.

            Now that will probably help my Family, and my future, since even I will fight for the new world USA, to include eating to live.

On the nature of military service in the USA

       We should be pleased as new world USA humans, is my bottom line. Most polls I read or hear about say much the same, like many other USA people think the same way.

            First the human aspects, then the business aspects, and then the professional aspects.

            As to the human aspects, military service seems to be a younger person's advantage.  Mostly it is dedication to country.  Other factors also play in, like happiness, a desire to serve,  pay, and even retirement as an incentive to stay in. Most importantly, and as an ex recruiter, I learned in my way over time that while I may recruit a person, I also want to retain his or her family. That's a big human deal, to me at least. In that regards, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, or so was my dilemma.

            And on the human side of things, statistics I trust suggest an awful lot of sharp humans join the military, don't like it, and get out after their obligation is done. The results include that our USA country benefits by their presence, and in their way, and over time, where ever they return to.

            One last human factor that also benefits our USA Country. All those in the military are mentally, morally, and medically able to serve. Now that is a good deal for both the military, and the USA Country. Last time I checked, about two thirds of us didn't make the cut. Hence this military "group" is not too shabby in many ways, to include leadership in their own places.

            Now for the business aspects. Mostly, to me, it is the retention efforts, like retirement benefits. In my time I was also going to bail out at ten years, but the retirement benefits kept me in in spite of all the crap I had to put up with. Now that was a personal decision, well calculated at the time, or so I thought. And the benefits were not that great, though now in hard times they do seem better.  And I am watching like a hawk (I am now age 64) just what the present generation of political leaders do to my "promised" benefits I believed in decades ago.  Bottom line to me, we are on our own.

As to the professional part of the military job, I can report I always thought I was well trained. That's a big deal in terms of trust and confidence. Now I did have to perform, like use my training. In other words, I did pay attention during my training time and used it later. One could say I applied myself.  More importantly, I was also taught, and believed in ideas like integrity, and honesty, especially when in leadership positions.  Now that is a big deal these days, or so it seems to me, and should be always, to include raising a Family.

Forrest Gump type stuff

       Most of us can reminisce.  And so can I, and you, too.

            I have seen a lot of change in my time, born in 1948, but when I think back to my grandparents, I think they saw even more change in their time.  Think going from horse and buggy to driving and flying and later going to the moon. Add in public electricity, and good clean water and waste water  systems,  human political turmoil, like wars, and I am impressed about their change and reminisces.

            Either way, it is kind of fun to tell stories to younger generations about your experiences in your lifetime.   And so can I, and you.

            I can remember...

                                    The Cuban missile crisis, and pretty much kissing my tail goodbye. I lived about a mile from the Pentagon at the time.

                                    LBJ saying he won't run for President in 1968, and thinking  RFK was gonna be the next President, though he was later assassinated.

                                    MLK was also assassinated, and I also went jogging in Atlanta, just to make a point. I was going to GaTech at the time. The campus cops warned me about my bad judgment.

                                    The bomb shelter craze in the late 1950's.

                                    The first time I was shot at, like trying to kill me. It was in the Philippines, by the way, not Vietnam. That got my attention, like saying to the battery Gunny, that "SOB" is trying to kill me. Nothing like the crack of rifle shot going by your head to get your attention.

                                    One of my favorite movies is "Jeremiah Johnson", circa 1974. At the time I saw it, I was on an LST on the way to rescue Americans in Cambodia.  Later the State Department pulled us back, and other Americans  did the deed, later. Anyway, the movie made me homesick, even if I was gonna die in the next few days.

                        Girls did not "put out" as much as these days. To get pregnant out of wedlock was terrible, like a shame. Even the boys knew this, too, and honored the cultural standards at the time. Even though we all had "sex", at least it was in the way at the time. Even I used the baseball system to brag to my male fraternity brothers.

                        Children from marriage was a big deal, to me then, and now.

                        Now my own stories could go on forever.

                        I bet your stories can also add to your kids and grandkids' education.  Now that's an advantage old people have.

                        Even you can be a Forest Gump type, in your own way and where you live,  of course. Yep, you too have knowledge worth sharing with younger types, mostly in the stories you share, and in your own way.

Flour

       As one who is  becoming increasingly worried about the possibility of going hungry in the new world USA, I am amazed as to how important flour, and breads made from it, are important to our being fed "habits and routines".

            Now there are many variations about "breads", to include "pasta" in the new world USA. But my bottom line, is that breads are also important to living, much like meat is, too. The local game is looking better than ever, if times get hard. Even chipmunks can make good snacks!

            What prompted this post is that today I am using a high tech Japanese rice cooker to make Italian meatball alfredo, with some rice flour pasta noodles thrown in, plus some cilantro (Mediterranean and Latin America derived), and chopped American onions, too.  What a country is the new world USA.

            Half the world eats rice, so most Americans who have grown up on wheat, are only half clued in. And there are other variations , like corn and barley. Even beer drinkers like mixing in other grains to ameliorate the taste, like using hops (a grain).

            So is taste, and human enjoyment  from eating things that taste good, a bigger deal than just getting good sustenance where you live, and eat whatever grain you may consume, again, if times get hard. Add in those that consume alcohol, too.

            Now being a Marine, I rehearse about everything. After all, my parents (and my schools)  did not teach me everything, and books only help so much, too.

            My vote right now is for sustenance, vice taste, but that is just my opinion and education.  Even the local chipmunks can make nice snacks, though the local flour that comes from where I live always appeals to me, even if times get hard.

Time for another change

Time for another change

       Mostly it is a change in politicians in our governments, in general. Now some politicians are doing pretty good jobs, so we don't want to throw out the baby with the dirty bath water.

            There is a trend of federal executives from both national parties simply saying what laws they will, or won't enforce, to include something relatively new called "signing statements". Recently, our present federal executive, and a hired minion, have de facto "ruled" on a new law, or a policy, or practice to them. And I thought our legislatures passed laws, signed by executives, and enforced by oaths was the way we ruled in the new world USA.

            Perhaps I am too naive, like oaths and words mean things to me.  Wedding vows also come to mind. Inaugurations are more than mere ceremonies.

            So in my timeline, certain individuals ought to go through the impeachment process, and be impeached. Now this is a slow and deliberative process, to include political calculations I think, but must be done. And in the meantime we have election processes.  All these things take time, but so be it.  And if politicians don't want to go through all this impeachment turmoil, or even put off impeachment hoping that elections will do the deed,  then we voters can replace them, too.  This will also take time.

            So in my mind, all this may take a decade or so, but in a republic as old as the new world USA, a decade is not too long for the future of our Nation, and our Families and children. After all, they expect pragmatic action by the present voting public, in my opinion.

            Today's good news in that his kind of change has already started where I live in rural east Tennessee. Now I can't say for places where I don't live.

            And I am confident the muddle through process will apply in many places. So be it.  At least the change process has begun, and again, in my timeline, will take time, like normal.

The coming civil war in the new world USA

       Lord knows I hope it doesn't happen.

            After all, many in the USA believe in our Constitution and the rule of law.

            Apparently, many USA citizens and the present federal leadership's hired minions don't.

            Now this is an idea worth fighting about.  What a shame if this even happens. Even today I started clearing fields of fire, a military term that might help me if times get hard, like having a better aim at local scoundrels who try steal my growing food in the garden. After all, I've got to eat, too.

              What set me off was a "ruling", edict if you will, by the federal executive apparently usurping the legislative authority of our congress. While I personally agree with much of the "ruling", I also agree with the sole power of the congress to legislate laws, albeit with a veto power of the executve as written in our Constitution. Now the federal executve got away with this in Libya, but maybe not this time.

            What's a shame is twofold, to me.

            One, and most important, is our Congress is a big deal, like should be paid attention too. The Constitution says so, plus  this is a normal way for people to express their vote and preference in going forward. I suspect most people would rather be voting citizens than loyal subjects. Said another way, I suspect most people want to decide their own future vice some dictator or king.

            Second is "this is the new world America", like the old world is "passe" here. Hence any group who aspires to ruling the USA without paying attention to the Constitution and the rule of law will set me off to something like a civil war. We have a better deal, now lasting over 200 years. The alternative, to me, is the old world.

            So what do we do?

            I would suggest vote, and let things sort out.

            In the meantime, I will finish my field of fire labor, and work towards my hydro electric plant "tune up", which is basically just trying to figure out how to maximize what is here.

            So no civil war here, I sure hope.

I finally got set off

       What got me going was Madonna showing her rear end during her current foreign tour.

            Like I even care.  Obviously, she thinks this is important, maybe even shocking for a 50 + old gal to do such a deed. And I am age 64 to even say this, like I am not even interested in her. Fear of STD's even comes to mind.

            What I am interested in, and spend some time in doing, is trying to learn or write down rural skills that may keep me alive, really keep my Family alive, if times get hard.

            So I wish Madonna luck, with all her money, to help her Family survive if times get hard where she lives. Unfortunately,  she can't eat money to her sustenance advantage.

            So now I wonder if many people who have rural type skills, and standards and expectations, are not better prepared if times get hard. My guess is that is so.  Raising yard chickens comes to mind. Clean air and running clean water is also a big deal, at least to me, an old time Marine.  I don't want to get cholera , for example. Said another way, perhaps people with these skills and standards can better promote their Families than even Madonna.

            Anyway, only time will tell. And for sure I do not want to see society degrade to see what's on the other side.  That's a little too naive for even me; like  the USA Speaker of the House saying we should vote for a national law to see what is in it, and then see what happens as a result. I would rather be in charge, and decide our future in another way, albeit a more slow deliberative process. After all, as well as our ancestors have done, maybe we can improve on their work.

            So, anyway, Madonna keep your shorts on.  I, and we, have bigger fish to fry.

Good luck in life

       I got a chance today to prove something to myself.

            Basically, I was making in my high tech Japanese rice cooker (magnetic induction heated and maintained) something I call Monterey Shrimp Scampi.

            All the ingredients appealed to me, including Scampi Sauce with an expiration date of February, 2012.

            Well, I thought about it, and went ahead using the Scampi sauce, since all was going to be boiled anyway, and the Scampi sauce had been stored in the dark, and I figured the boiling would kill any bacteria and viruses, anyway.  And none of this would have had prions in it, also.

            Then I extrapolated to today's times.

            Now all of us know we will not live forever...that's a given. But I also think we all want the best for our children, and their progeny, too.

            So when I suspect some amateur and lightweight group has captured federal political power in the new world USA, then I get worried, mostly about my kids and their kids. As for me, at age 64, I am more than ready to "trip off" any time.

            So, and in the end, good luck in life.

Bungee cords

       I have an advantage of growing up in America before bungee cords became normal, like we did not have them, or at least I never had them. I am age 64 to put things in perspective.

            The first time I met a bungee cord was thanks to my father in 1959, who had returned from a military tour in Japan, and brought back both Japanese bikes, and bungee cords.  In my case, I was a newspaper boy at MCAS El Toro (now gone),  and both the bikes and the bungee cords really helped me be a newspaper boy in this part of southern California at the time. Anyway I was impressed with bungee cords, especially in how they helped me as a newspaper boy, like safely tote large stacks of newspapers out to my  Marine customers in the barracks they lived in.

            Now, having had some bungee cords delivered to me today,  I think most Americans in our culture think bungee cords have been around forever.

            Well, my report is that that is just not so.

            So our culture is not always what we know about, at least to me. Yep, I like bungee cords benefits.

Change we can believe in

       This is what I believe is going on in the USA.  And I have some guesses about the rest of the world, too.

            1)  A third party is arising in the USA. There are many precedents, too. This arising is more a movement than some other kind of short term effort. By movement, think of the hippy movement from decades ago, as an example.  Now even today many believers of the status quo will attempt to define this movement (including as a Tea Party), but they are simply out of touch. Just what the name will be, I do not predict, but I am confident it will be full of what are called present day democrats, republicans, and independents, Americans all.

            2)  The two national USA parties are in decline, and will fall off the horizon in the next two decades. The focus should be the country's prospects, not the political party's prospects. This idea extends to all levels, like local, county, state, and federal. After all,  I seek safety (like police and fire), clean water and waste water efforts, and help when we get sick, and national defense, all as priorities, to me.

            3) A century of progressive and liberal political leadership and practices and laws has failed in the new world USA.  Ideas like spending money to show good intentions are beginning to pail by the ideas of results.

            4)  All other forms of governments, like tribal, royalty, and even dictatorships will decline after much friction, and the ascendency of we regular citizens will arise. Parliamentary governments are a toss up to me, right now. And I don't think of myself as a serf.

            5)  After a century, the media types will no longer be able to advance their politics on to the rest of the population in the next two decades. The independent citizens will simply "shop" elsewhere when they lose trust and confidence.

6)  After two centuries, the respect in thought and hiring derived from Ivy League (New England)  academics will decline (they simply screwed the pooch). Now being educated is a big deal, for those who practice the idea, and many others will benefit from that idea.

7) Formal religions for humans will decline.  Though in the same vein, being religious is still alive and well, and some kind of revolution in organizing worship will most likely occur.

8)  Definitions of the USA poor will change.  Being "poor"  in the new world USA will no longer become a political and voting advantage.  The truly poor will be helped, but the filchers and lazy people will suffer, as they should have it happen to them.

9)  And last...
            Our human success on this earth finally needs balance, like less babies and humans.  I predict most humans will pick up on this idea, and figure it out in their own way and own culture.  This idea has nothing to do with the present day global warming  political fad, but more to do with common sense, where ever you live.  After all, we want our kids to do well in their life.

Bottom line.  I am pretty hopeful. And we humans are doing it, too.

National debt (western style)

       It still bothers me that so many people assume we can borrow money to our heart's content. And these people do have good reason to think so.

            My simple logic is those with money will loan their money if they think they can make money on the loan.  I call it a trust and faith idea. That is conventional wisdom, and it has been working for decades.  And then there are also the elected government methods to band aid the whole borrowing thing, which seems to be helping to, especially if they can print money, as in wealth.

            And all I want to do is try make my own Family happy, and they be provided a chance to succeed in their life. If they fail, then that is their problem.

            It especially disturbs me that my USA grandchildren may not be able to buy a home in their lifetime because they have to work just to pay the interest payments our present generation is imposing,  like that is a big chunk of their change and life's problems.  Now, even I know what I would do in their circumstances...default. Now imagine the problems that will come out of that friction. Right now that is probably coming.

            Now one can suggest that one debt problem is best traded off for another later problem; but one can also say it is time to pay the piper. I am from that school of thought, the pay the piper school of thought. And paying the piper will be a difficult time full of friction, but sooner or later, it is going to happen. I still prefer to be a citizen, rather than a serf, and in that vein, go forward.

            Now one alternative is to stretch out our "payments" over time. Like the last century of western progressive idealism is a good idea, but maybe we need to pay for it over time better than what we have been doing? Now that is a voter decision, and there are many other alternatives, too. And if the voters choose a way that fails, then the other alternatives will take hold, like the investors have a say, too.

In the end, I still think we humans are in charge, where ever we live.

Yippie ki-yay cowboy

To put things in perspective, the local electric  plant is already making electricity, like something between 1/2 amp and 1 amp, depending on my “tuning” setup.

Now how to distribute this electricity is the discussion presently in this phase two, which is still going on.

First the good news. The higher priority clean water and waste water setup with the RAM is working just fine off of the lower two (out of four) springs. That’s traditional. Right now the upper two springs are dedicated to just making electricity.

Now there is an 800 foot vertical drop to help make more electricity, but I am still resisting that due to maintenance and security issues that are important to me. Hence the present setup and tuning, which basically just uses the local springs and pond.

One obvious consequence is that I may have to change my standards, like perhaps I can’t extend the shelf life of basic food stuffs like I want to do (using the local 7.2 cu. ft. freezer). And using this Hemlocks electricity to do other things, like keep my eneloop batteries charged, is also in the mill.

Anyway, this post is just a sitrep about phase two.

Thoughts from the Hemlocks

       The Hemlocks is in rural east Tennessee, as in Putnam  County.

            The Hemlocks presently has plenty of clean spring water and waste water stuff, and more than a modicum of food to eat before we have to grow our own food from seeds we have, kind of like our ancestors did. So if the poo poo hits the fan, like my public electricity goes off for a long time, then I think I and my Family  will survive OK. It will not be a fun experience, but we will survive.

            I think our ancestors worked hard to make things better for their progeny.  They were smart in their own time, too. Now I am beginning to wonder if some now apparently present day influential political USA leaders want to take us back to this form of living? Yep, we can survive, but do we want to?  As in throw away all the ancestor work which has gone on before? And do I get a choice in deciding which way to go? Said another way, do we humans want to advance, in our own way, or mildly accept some other persons way, well intentioned  I am sure.

So in today's world, I will just plan ahead, as best I can, and go the rural east Tenneessee route;  after all the obvious human caused catastrophe's may occur.

Lord help us if some kind of mother nature event also occurs in the meantime. Now that is another factor, too.

And all I  wish for is to make my Family happy.

Don't take the bait

            By the title I mean don't believe much of what you read, or see on TV.

            Now at age 64 I have seen, in my mind, more than a few trends, and today's USA news is much more skewed than normal, like it often comes across as propaganda.  Whether my perception is mine alone, or something else is going on, I can only point out my perception.

            Two things seem obvious to me.  One is what news is even covered varies quite a bit.  Second is that when news is covered it too often seems to be as much opinion as just raw facts.

            Since much of what is reported all too often as USA or World news originates in the NE regional USA, perhaps the skewing is just regionally based. It also seems to be lazy reporting, like taking someone else's report and just "reverberating" it without any real investigative work going on.

            Either way, reporting of the news is serious business, as it often affects the decisions of our leaders, all who too often who come across as lightweights who are suited to believing some of "this news".

            I almost long for muckrakers, since I always thought at least their underlying reporting was original, and usually based on real work.

            Since I have time to read and listen to the various news, including foreign news reported by foreign sources, even the news out of Syria these days is like night and day when comparing USA news vice foreign news reports about the Country. Yet USA decision makers will most likely be making decisions based on this propaganda, at least to me. If I perceive this about my leaders, then it is time to replace them with some others I trust better.

            Now this kind of thing has probably been going on since humans rose to dominate the earth. But, and again, it seems to this poster that the degree has risen to a propaganda level these days, and I still prefer the decision makers be the people and our elected leaders, well educated and informed I expect at a minimum.

            So, don't take the bait. Vote based on your criteria, and not someone else's.

Things in perspective

       Many of us react to events, be they societal, or our own Family.

            Most of us have leadership positions, like raising a Family, or up to things like school boards, and local and state and federal and even world positions. The principle is still the same.

            It is a skill to be able to put things in perspective if you are a leader. For example not having a job is a big deal, but most people do have a job. Or our small percentage share of homosexuals who want to get married through the church, but they are a small factor. Or some foreign threat may affect my Family, but then maybe not.

            Like I suggested, being able to put things in perspective is a big deal for leaders, like going forward in time.

            After all, as always, we always have problems to solve. Being able to put things in perspective is a big deal.