THE NEXT STEP

What is going to happen? What stange and twisted path will we find ourselves on? Will there be war and bloodshed? Does mankind have a chance to survive? Big questions to tackle.

I see a major food crisis coming on. I see people all over the planet going hungry and not very happy about it. Discord and discontent will cover the earth. You crossword puzzle fans can think of the name Eris and know of what I speak. I don't know what will prompt this lack of food. I know there is a disease called Ug 99 that is attacking Wheat right now. And you let this planet run out of wheat and there wil be hell to pay. The blogs and the mainstream media say that we have the lowest grain stockpile of the last 25 or 30 years. There is no wonder that we are stockpiling rice. People don't want to go hungry.

I have listened to my friends in the organic food movement go on about the dangers of monocropping for many years. The first thing they will point out to you is that if a pestilence comes along that eats a particular crop then a huge concentration of it will attract them like crazy. We should really get our business together and produce our vegetables and grains and meat locally. So much safer and healthier. You can know what you are being fed if you have it growing close to you.

So I caution you to think and realize that food shortages and fuel shortages are a likely part of our future. We very simply live in an oil based economy and it is going to cost like crazy. Grow local, buy local and eat local. It is the smartest method I know of for keeping food at some sustainable level. I still remember Bobby Flay and his admonoition to EAT AMERICA on the food channel back when I had TV. And I went to the grocery store and it was true. There was anything you wanted in there. Little towns had live Lobsters for sale. Ain't gonna happen like that much longer. Too expensive. The shipping lines of travel are too long. You gotta get it at home.

If we can overcome the fuel and food problems then we are much farther down the road than we were a few months ago. I am hoping to have a damn good harvest of beans and corn and tomatoes this year. All local grown and started from non-hybrid seed. That is the ideal. We shall have to see what reality brings us. Sometimes our ideal and what we end up with are not the same thing. But we try. And sometimes we succeed. But it is not easy and there are problems and irritations.

You wonder what lurks behind the curtain of the future. You are constantly planning for the future but you don't know what it will bring. What little twist in the road will cause us a problem? Will it be the weather? Will it be the government? Will it be foreign affairs, of which we have no say in first place? Will it be rioters or freebooters? Hard times bring hard solutions. Not everyone is prepared to make hard conclusions work. But they will have to be done or we will find our butts in a sling. So stay flexible and attentive. You might have to make a quick turn in life.

I think this next step is probably survivable. I am not saying it will be easy but it will be managable for those who focus on such matters. I don't think the nukes are coming out this year. But I don't think they are too far off.

I do know that I am getting a lot of readers these days and little or no comments. No emails. Just lots of reading. I would appreciate getting some comments. I would like to get some emails. I never said I knew it all and didn't need some inspiration. All your communications will be appreciated to the maximum degree.

Stay alive!

Michael

mboone@rtccom.net