Depression and Drought Are Kissin’ Cousins

It was hot today, it was hot yesterday, damn hot. I’m talking mean, serious, hardcore, skin itching, shave your head hot. I hid inside all day. It’s still May, and we’re behind 4 inches on our May rain, we’ve been about 4 inches short every month since I’ve been back, and this has been going on for years. Winter and spring are supposed to be the rainy season, by June we’ll hit the dry times already way behind. I worry about the earth here, the stretch of peanut and soy farms between here and everywhere are in serious danger of a dust-bowl disaster.

Does Economic Depression always come with drought, like it always comes with the heaping collection in the Big Man’s soft palm? Is this an as yet undefined season through which we human mammals must stumble and struggle for a time never pulling together the pieces? Dry grass, dry pine barrens, dry creek beds, wind blowing red clay dust across the highway, stray chickens feeding in the ditches, men walking desperate miles, wild boar’s ruining the corn, and everywhere are whispers, “Where are the jobs for an honest man? There’s more folks hungry than’r fat, and there’s a hot wind blowin.”

Maybe I’ll go read some John Steinbeck now.

Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes.

…

And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.

A Swim In The Night Pond

There’s a little pond at the back of the pasture, it’s lovely, it’s loud with frogs, and last night an owl was about while I danced and bathed and dreamed. This morning I was thinking, what’s the difference between a pond and a lake?

Evidently it’s not a difference in size or water flow, like I thought, but a difference in life. (I think I like the idea of geographies that are defined by life.) In a pond, plants can potentially grow all across its surface or below its surface this is called a photic zone. A lake however has an aphotic zone, a place the sun can’t penetrate, a place plant’s can’t grow. An aphotic zone is usually determined by depth. Ponds are typically shallow to allow light to pass down deep enough for plants to survive. There’s no standard size for lakes or ponds, they’re usually determined by their composition, both biotic and abiotic. Life defining land! I love it!

Isn’t geography interesting!

Off Grid Alabama

BIG question; so I live in South Alabama, 36426 is the zip if you want to zone it. Here’s the thing, how do you live off grid? Lets really assume that we’ve all fallen off the grid, there’s really a dissolution of society to the extent that we can’t ever buy any food, ever again, so what do we do? What food do I grow, not only for the summer, fall, spring, what food? How do I do it? How do I smoke all the meat I need for winter? What food do I grow in the fertile seasons to sustain? Lets talk about seed saving, lets talk about community involvement, lets talk about how to mow a field of hay without gas, these are the questions I’m interested in. So lets have it; I want THE farm plan for survival for OFF GRID South Alabama.

AND; I want it without politics, because at this level all there is is dirt right, so this isn’t about survivalist fantasies, this is a slow thoughtful question that I would really like considered and answered as honestly and helpfully as possible. LIFE!

Amazing Horror Fiction Podcast

I love music, I listen to music all the time. It is rare that you will ever see me without my white earbuds poking out of my sweaty t-shirt. I can often be seen dancing in my garden, I will never be embarrassed to dance, MUSIC is blood as far as I’m concerned. There’s only one thing I may like as much as music, or good cheese, or acorn fed, thinly sliced, smoked Spanish pork, or okra pickles, or kissing, or good beer, or swimming…, GOOD STORIES! To that end let me introduce you to Pseudopod! This is an amazing podcast of horror stories, most of them that I’ve heard so far are of the Lovecraftian, turn of the 19th century, “Weird Tales” variety.

They have a cute disclaimer on the top of their website that Warns the listener, but to me the stories are less bone chilling  than exceptionally well crafted goose-pimple inducing.

WARNING: This is a podcast of horror fiction. The stories presented here are intended to disturb. They are likely to contain death, graphic violence, explicit sex (including sexual violence), hate crimes, blasphemy, or other themes and images that hook deep into your psyche. We do not provide ratings or content warnings. We assume by your listening that you wish to be disturbed for your entertainment. If there are any themes that you cannot deal with in fiction, that are too strongly personal to you, please do not listen.

The readers are masterful and the host Alasdair Stuart wraps up each story with a brief bit of erudite commentary, which sometimes is the best part. If you ever get tired of dancing I suggest you head over and give ‘em a listen.

P-I-S2.0 (Space Is A Moral Vacuum) 3

P-I-S2.0 Part 1

P-I-S2.0 Part 2

The Event: Genna; Survivor

“If an NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) event occurs in your city the Department of Homeland Security recommends fleeing counter to wind direction when able to do so in a manner that is safe for you and others who are mobile. FEMA will be on hand as soon as possible to assist you. Should you require immediate care please make your way to the closest hospital. Should there be no hospital in your area or in the event you are unable to move DHS recommends you stay calm, try to text or SMS your location and status to family members outside of the event zone.”

The emergency weather radio squawk repeats, with an occasional disruption, three short bursts of buzzing static, crisp pop then the announcement catches, sometimes at the beginning, sometimes in the middle. “The radio is breaking” she thinks. Genna has no idea how long she’s been down here, she can’t move, there’s a board over her leg, the remnant of the staircase under which she was hiding is now a rubble tent over her body, a tomb. She can’t see anything. She gave up her blind, grasping search for the flashlight she was holding prior to the collapse. “How long ago?” she thinks, then drifts off again, “I must’ve hurt my head,” she thinks, then another wave of calm oblivion washes over.

Genna wakes suddenly, her cell phone is ringing, somewhere…, she can’t tell where, not in her pocket, that she can reach, but there’s only the numb, constricted muscles of her legs. The phone is everywhere, like a pool, buzzing and ringing in all the dark corners, far away, then next to her head, she tries chasing the sound around the tiny space with her hand. Tears tickle her nose, she coughs, surrendering to sobs.

A Day In The Bush!

I spent the day, the same way I spend all my days, but I took pictures this time. Today I cut about 600 lbs of mulch, part of my project to grow as much carbon as I can and pile it on, heap it on. Down here in South Alabama rain is harder to come by everyday and as I see it, it is now my job to sequester as much rain and organic material as I can, and so far my gardens are doing best when I practice this simple  dictum, “Mulch, all the time, every day.” Enjoy the slide show please!

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As I was out in the sun sweating like a…, well, sweating like a person in the sun, I had a thought, how do all these permie people have time to go to conferences and workshops? It’s all this Bunny can do to get done with his chores by dark! …and tomorrow? I gotta do it all again; don’t get me wrong, I ain’t complainin’, just wonderin’, and I got nothing but love for my permie people!

SierraLei Blog: File Under Yum! FATTY-FAT!

OH S&^T!!!!!

This person liked my post today on slow food squash curry lunch. So I went on over to her blog to see what she was up to and OMG SQUEEEEEE LIKE A TWEEN GURL! Her photos are making me fat as I type; foodie overachiever extraordinaire!

Here’s her blog

The picture is a reeses cup cheesecake cupcake!!