Monday, December 29, 2008

worrywart woes

I am my family's worrywart. I can and do worry about most everything. Something that I think about off and on is the economy, and how it will effect my family and way of life. I am lucky, because I have learned to live very frugally. My kids wear a lot of hand me downs, or clothes from Value Village. I like that when I buy something that has already been used, I am not contributing to some poor young girl in China having to work 14 hours a day for a dollar. I mean, it is almost as impossible to get something that is not from China, as it is to buy food from the grocery store that isn't made with high fructose corn syrup or sugar. That is another tangent.....

Anyway. The snow storm that we had last week made me think of a recent conversation with my brother Josh. My step father Dick asked him what he thought about all the new 'energy efficient' cars that are coming out. Josh said that it doesn't really matter, as soon as we use up all the gas, we are all going to die of starvation. Well, most people will die of starvation, and it probably won't be him or Dick, but he pointed to Edith, and said it will be them. Dick said he is crazy and why would that be, Josh point out that pesticides are made with oil, etc, etc.

Of course, Dick just thinks Josh is crazy. I don't. I agree with him. I went to the grocery store during the storm and half the store was empty. With no truck able to get food to the super markets, they were running out of stuff. That was just after a couple of days. What happens when big companies like Albertsons or Safeway go out of business, or what about it we run out of gas to ship the food. Only the rich will be able to afford it. The rest of the people will need to learn how to live off a garden.

How many people do you know that know how to garden? What about how to can the stuff afterwards to use throughout the year? Who even has a yard big enough to grow a garden? How about living without electricity? Heat?

I feel blessed in the fact that I can do most of that stuff. Living in Mexico off and on has given me an appreciation of the luxuries that I have in the US, but I don't really mind living without the luxuries. It can be annoying - like the house in Puyallup that we never us the heat, just firewood, but do able.

1 comment:

John M. Green said...

Hello Joan. Interesting blog. I read with interest about food during a crisus. A few years back my foster brother Ron and his wife Tammy, gave us a months worth of food storage. It cost them $27.00 per person. The only thing lacking was water. It consisted of some rice, powdered milk, wheat, and a couple other items. It all fit in a very small box. I would never have thought that I could have a year supply of food for both Phyllis and myself for $648.00. Something to think about. The church has been encourenging it's members to garden for well over 50 years. My stake has a program for apartment dwellers. Those of us who own homes and have yards big enough have been asked to let the appt members to have a garden spot. What a blessing to them. What a Christmas gift that just keeps on giving.