casual apocalypse

Food is more than just sustenance.   Food is art.   Food is an expression of love.   Food carries the memories of a culture.   Food is the center of many a social gathering. Food is worth so much more than the mere calories and nutrients it provides.   And that’s nice and all, but come on, the most important bits are the calories and nutrients it provides so that we don’t, you know, die. A lot of the food that I cook for my family follows the Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) model.   We have a family health issue that led us to that diet and it’s been helpful. But beyond that, it is in line with our other goals.   That said, I’m not a vegan or even vegetarian.   I will probably order what seems to be a vegetarian option when eating out, but I’m not going to ask what kind of broth the soup was made with.   If I go to your house and you’ve cooked a pork chop for me, I’m going to eat it and like it. I also do eat refined foods.   I use dates to sweeten things and nuts to replace oils.

Recently I was discussing the future with a friend and having fun with all the optimistic thoughts one tends to have when discussing the future these days. And my friend remarked "well I'm not concerned about growing food. I know I can grow food." I chuckled because I used to know that I could grow food. After all, I'm good with plants and although I historically lacked the attention span to keep my garden going enough to get a good harvest, I had the concept down. If I suddenly NEEDED a harvest I knew how to make it happen. Then one year I decided that I was going to actually grow some food. I don't remember what it was exactly that made me suddenly interested in actually producing a lot to eat from the yard but it probably doesn't matter. What matters is that I produced the most important thing ever that year: the harsh realization that I had no idea how to grow my own food.  It's really common to think that food production isn't a big d

There have been a lot of images in the news lately showing people going about their day wearing masks. This makes for good, heart pumping, fear inducing content here in the US. Even as an article urges calm, a photo capturing a sea of cloaked faces raises alarm to those of us not used to seeing such a sight. But what some people don't realize is that casual mask wearing is fairly common place in parts of the world. As you well know, the illness causing all the hubub is Covid 19, or the Novel Corona virus that took Wuhan by storm this fall and winter. It seems to be highly contagious and just like the common cold, without vaccine or actual treatment beyond supportive care.  It has infected thousands of people on multiple continents and is currently estimated to have a 2.3% mortality rate.  (Although considering how mild the symptoms seem to be in some patients, it’s probable that there are people infected who don’t even know, making the mortality rate lower.) Now, a case

Your cousin Ned and some of his buddies are in the woods.   They’re shooting cans and talking about how long their beans and canned rabbit are going to last if kept away from light.   There’s some dispute on the matter but one thing that they all agree on: these monthly training sessions and the fact that they hiked in this general area several times as kids is going to make them a superior fighting force compared to highly trained US Marines who are sure to someday be the enemy because ….. um …. uh …. maybe they’re coming for our beer. Ah preppers.   Whether its zombies or right wing terrorism or left wing terrorism or the hand of The Almighty, preppers are going to be ready for crisis with dried milk and a cup of crazy. Prepping isn’t new, but it’s less extreme forms are gaining in popularity.   Climate change and all the subtle changes its’ causing already are making more and more people think about what might not be available that they might want on hand.   I’ve been a

At times, the topics I cover might seem a bit scattered.  So I'm going to spend this first week introducing my line of thinking.  I think that there are a lot of interwoven components to living intentionally with an eye for pessimistic optimism.   I’m going to try to make the case for the relevance of Prepping, Gardening, Travel, Home Education, Food (Recipes, Fermentation, Preservation), Homesteading Experiments, and Strong Communities. After this first flurry of boring mini essays you’ll be subjected to a random smattering of whatever we’re up to within these categories. See you soon!