When Will They Ever Learn?

"When will they ever learn?" is the refrain in a folk song that was popular in the 1960's. It would be a bit more accurate if it was when will WE ever learn?

This song was brought to mind by a conversation I had with a young woman in Barnes & Noble Tuesday. She had tons of stats at her command and was just as passionate as I was back in the day about conversevation. I tried to gently point out to her that we made a start then and if we'd kept on the path of alterternative sources of power we most likely wouldn't be having the problems we have today. I'm sure, of course, that we'd have some problems or the other that being the nature of existence. We didn't need to be repeating this particular set of problems caused by escalating oil prices. If we had continued developing our technologies for using solar, wind, geothermal, wave, water, and garbage conversion as energy sources we'd be far ahead of the game.

Instead, when oil prices stablized, people immediately went back to their old dependence on the substance and refused to pay the, then minor, extra price to develop and use alternative sources of power. We not only didn't move forward to develop these technologies we actively moved back in some cases. We need to keep in mind that while there is still a sufficient amount of oil available it isn't infinite. Solar and wind power may not be infinite either, but when we have problems with them energy will be the least of our worries.

Meanwhile there is the refrain, "What can I do?"

Here are some things I did back in the 1970's when one night I went to bed to gas at one price and woke up the next morning to discover it had doubled. Ah yes, gas has NEVER, EVER gone back to the price I saw that night on my way home from work.

Walk if at all possible.
Ride a bike.
Consoladate any trips you have to make in your car.
Plant a garden.
Use the mantra our grandmothers used in the 1930's:
"Use it up, make it do, do without."

Things you need to consider; if it isn't safe to walk in an area then don't. There really are places you should not be on foot. The same consideration applies to bikes.
If it is safe to walk, but you think you can't haul whatever you are going to get back in your hands then think about getting a basket on wheels, or use a small garden or child's wagon to carry the stuff.
Got a big dog?
Teach it to pull a cart to carry your supplies.
An additional benefit--the dog will not let someone take your cart while it is parked outside the store and the two of you will become even better friends as you work together.

If you live in an apartment you can't have a garden. Or can you? If you have friends who have a house with land see if they might be willing to let you use some of their yard for a small garden. If they already have a garden offer to help them work it.

Start a container garden. Tomatoes, peppers, chives and a lot of very expensive herbs can be grown in pots. This has the added advanage of cleaning the air in your living space.

Lazy Trainer's Tip

Free your mind by getting some of the old Foxfire books written back in the seventies and reading how others have faced the current problems and overcome them.

Oh yeah! I'll write up instructions on how to teach a dog to pull a cart and tell you where you can buy them.

New Old Fashioned Way?

I chuckled as I read an article yesterday about a brand new way to save money on grocery bills. It seems a community in Kentucky is renting space so apartment dwellers can grow their own vegetable gardens.

I thought such gardens were new in the seventies, but a friend’s mother put me straight on that with stories of Victory Gardens during World War II. When she claimed that was new her mother said renting a spot for a garden was common in Europe and had been for centuries.

The idea of renting or leasing a bit of ground in order to grow food is probably as old as the concept of humans living in cities. Any idea that has been around for that long is probably a good one.

Besides assuring a supply of food, gardening is healthy exercise. Instead of paying money and time for a gym experience you can use those resources to take care of part of your food supply, get exercise and save money. It’s hard to beat a deal like that. Better still you have a pretty good idea of what is in and on the veggies and fruits you are consuming.

Back in the seventies we really went all out for the organic lifestyle. We bought land and in addition to a garden and orchard had dairy goats, rabbits, chickens and ducks. Our freezer was full and we usually bought staples such as flour, salt, sugar, spices and various cleaning supplies.

Over the years we got away from all that keeping only a small herb and salad garden. It is amazing how rapidly the garden expanded as we got into the latest round of increasing costs of living. I am going to add here that it held off longer than I expected.

I began moving us away from gas guzzlers just before 2000 because I realized it had been quite awhile since we’d had fuel prices increasing exponentially. Each time we needed a vehicle I tried to make sure we got whatever had good mileage. I noticed friends who’d lived through the seventies or thirties were doing the same thing. I predict that all my friends going through this for the first time will recognize the signs next time and have survival modes in place.

Lazy Trainer’s Tip

During this cycle of increasing prices it is a good idea to learn how to make the best use of all resources, but especially that of time. Time is the one thing we have a finite amount of and need to be stingy with. Don’t spend it on things that are not important to you.