Bags-O-Flour and food storage

I posted a while back about Food Storage. It's something that is very important to us. We are not yet to a point where we could go without commercial stores, but we are moving that direction. I'm not talking about being free of them for everyday needs, although we are certainly reducing our dependence on them, I'm talking instead about getting to a point where if there were a catastrophe, or food shortage, or monumental rise in food costs for a prolonged period we would be less impacted than we would if we were like every "normal" family out there. I don't want to scare anyone, and honestly I'm not scared myself, but I am cautiously pessimistic. That is to say I don't have enough faith in the current economy and global stability to not hedge my bets.

One of the primary things that goes hand in hand with having food storage is eating it. If you store a basement full of whole wheat, beans, rice, oats, etc. but you live daily on wonder bread, take-out and Big Gulps, your setting yourself up for failure in my opinion. We eat a lot of the foods that we store on or in our regular diet. Beans and rice are regular dishes around our house and many of the other foods like oats, flour, sugar and the like are of course regular additions to almost everything. We spent a little time with a borrowed wheat grinder this weekend grinding about 40 lbs of whole wheat flour that A~ will be starting to incorporate more into our diet as well. We placed it into 10 one-gallon zip lock bags and are going to store it in the chest freezer for later use. This is not the optimal way to use your flour just for the record. It will have some minor nutritive loss from sitting ground rather that grinding fresh, but it will be minor, and since we don't yet have our own grinder, we are at the mercy of the kindness of our neighbor.

Another component to this food storage formula will be a our 100ft diet. That's right, the garden! What better activity can we all incorporate in our homes than some sort of freedom garden. Grow things that you know your family will eat through the year, and preserve what you can for later. Try a couple of new plants too, but in limited quantities. Biodiversity is a necessity in a healthy garden, but you don't want to take up a lot of your growing space with something that you may not like. Particularly if your on a small suburban lot such as ours. Next year you can expand if you like it enough.

I began this post with a little bit of doom and gloom; a necessity, I thought, to make my point. I hope you get the point that yeah there may be some instability in the world, and yeah there's a good chance it'll get worse before it gets better. But this blog isn't about the bad things that might happen, it's about the possibilities that we CAN make happen. It's about making the possibilities...Realities. They won't happen overnight, but they will come if we decide that they will, and truly believe in them. One thing is certain though. Do nothing, and you will get exactly that in return.

Be well all. Tomorrow should be a very good post for you chicken lovers out there. Ooooo... the suspense...Till then.

P~

Food Storage guide. - A fairly comprehensive guide to starting a family food storage program.

Here Chick Chick Chick....maybe soon.

Ok, I have a bad habit of sometimes talking myself out of things before I really look into them because "I already know the answer". But I do have one very good asset; my wife.

I've wanted to have a couple of chickens here at the house to raise for eggs. If not to completely supply them then to supplement what we use. Also so that we know directly where our food is coming from and to provide the healthiest for our family. I looked into the city ordinances for the suburban area where we live, and in my "expert" opinion, we were not allowed to keep any. (You know, because even though I'm not a lawyer, I think I'm totally qualified to analyze the city ordinance legaleze.)

So now enter the wife. Always trying to look out for me and make me happy, she takes the immensly logical step of calling the city and asking for the ordinance expert. Turns out, that we can after all have chickens, but only two. For now anyway. Timing is everything.

As it just so happens we were told by this ordinance expert that this Tuesday at the city counsel meeting they will be discussing and taking comments on a motion to modify the code to allow up to 4 hens. I plan to be there. And hopefully I can get a couple of others to do the same.

I've said it before and I will again. I completely believe that focusing on a thing and truely believing in it will bring it too you like a magnet to steel. Focus on the way that that you picture a thing being and the solution will present itself. Very simply, a positive outlook is really the best tool for realizing our goals. That and a really great spouse of course.

Wish me luck with the counsel.

P~

Well that was a bust.

The sourdough bread that we tried this weekend rose nicely, and was forming into a well rounded loaf, when life stepped in a changed our plans. A Christmas event at our church came up that we weren't aware of and we were out for the evening. By the time we came home it was too late to cook it, so I crossed my fingers and waited till morning to try to knock down, second rise and bake the bread. Well, fingers crossed or not, it didn't work. I didn't take a picture of it because this is my blog and I don't have to yuck it up with a picture of an ugly flat gooey loaf of sourdough if I don't want too.

I did get into the garage and got the start of the bows going. I was making good progress with the form of the first one. The handle was coming along and the upper limb was taking shape, when... SNAP, busted it. I was testing the flex and I guess it wasn't as flexible as I thought it was. So strike two.

While being a lazy butt Sunday afternoon and watching my Chargers come back to beat the Titans in O.T. I started working on formatting and rebuilding the laptop, and nope, strike three. The disk would boot and begin to prepare to allow me to do what I needed to, and then BSOD. (blue screen of death.) Actually it wasn't the true BSOD, but it wouldn't allow me to continue, so I'm still working on it.

In the mean time, while I'm trying to get things working I figured that I ought to at least get on here and act like a blogger for a night. Moral of the story, sometimes things just don't go the way we want them too, but you keep on trying. We picked up a packet of a special San Francisco sourdough starter this week, so we may be trying again this weekend. I changed my plans to build the bows from all oak, due to it's inflexibility, and have made some good progress toward my new design which uses 1/2 inch PVC as limbs. And as for the computer, I'll try a few more tricks and if all else fails, call Dell and see what options I have available to me.

Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.
~Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

Turn Off, Tune Out, Be Happy (Today)

Well here we are, Today. What did I learn? How has is benefited me?



Today:

Well, today I think I’m the happiest I’ve been in my life. I was never truly miserable mind you; after all I have a beautiful wife and children, a new home in a good neighborhood, and a challenging job with people I like to be around. Today however, I am focusing on those things and on the positive, possible things in my life. I feel challenged by myself to think and learn and grow. My health is better and I’ve lost nearly thirty pounds with no dieting, just a more healthy diet and active living. I have built a small but loyal group of readers and friends that I enjoy chatting and learning with. I’ve also learned that what I consume can truly have an impact on my happiness. More does not mean happier and easier does not mean better. Spending time and work to grow a garden really does make for a better salad, and the time it takes to bake really does make better bread. Of course we need things, I am realistic after all. It’s the pursuit of things as a goal in themselves that I’m talking about. There are so many people out there that are not able to have some of the basic things like shelter, clothing or regular meals; perhaps instead of throwing out that “old” coat we could donate it to someone who needs it. Few things increase our appreciation of our blessings and of the things we have, thereby increasing our happiness, like sharing with others. Slowing down and simplifying our lives can bring us so much fulfillment it’s hard to quantify it. I hope I’ve been able to shed a little light on my own journey and that perhaps it will help some of you to reflect on yours. I leave you with this…



Happiness is being where you are,

Take stock what you have and appreciate it,

Focus on the good and the possible in your world, and how you can increase it,

Slow down, participate in life and stay challenged.


Namaste
P~

Turn Off, Tune Out, Be Happy (The Descent)

“My name is P~ and I’m a recovering pessimist”, that’s how I ought to introduce myself. I know this sounds silly on the surface, but really it’s not, it’s the truth. I was fortunate enough this year to have a number of events come together and enough clarity to make some decisions that have opened a door for me to more happiness than I even realized I was missing. I’ll start at the beginning, as I see it, of a slow and creeping descent into gloom and unhappiness. I didn’t realize it was this at first, but as I reflected on it, it became obvious to me.

The Descent:
After September 11th I, like so many others, began to check in on the news regularly to see what was going on, if there were any developments in the investigation or any survivors found. This was the gateway event so to speak. Soon after, I found talk radio. I knew it existed of course, but had never really listened to it regularly. I started tuning in during the mornings to see if anything new was happening and to get the latest from the day and evening prior. Those morning tune-ins turned to all day listening and before I knew it I had it on during the drive to and from work, on the garage radio, while I worked outside, pretty much constantly. On top of this I would watch the different cable news outlets at night, and would actually TIVO some of the opinion shows that I didn’t have time for. I found that even though each host, whether on radio or television, had a slightly different way they would put the info across it was still really just the same information. I also found myself parroting the positions of many of the hosts, even when I didn’t fully agree, because I did agree with part of it. I substituted thinking for listening, a dangerous proposition; can you say mind control? Now that I was fully addicted to the hard stuff and binging all day long, the inevitable symptoms that follow any addiction followed. Need, paranoia, anxiety, anger, you name it. Really, I’m not exaggerating. I needed it and felt like I was going to miss some crucial event if I wasn’t tuned in. I started getting angry at the opposing side, many of whose positions I still disagree with mind you, but I took it too far I think; badmouthing different positions and not even spending the time to familiarize myself with them. Finally I found myself feeling afraid, almost paranoid, of “The things that were going to happen”. I do think that there are a lot of things to be concerned with, peak oil, food/water shortages and wars for example, but I was obsessing on them. There were other things causing me unhappiness as well. I’ve wanted to be in a place where I could have more land to work. I’ve often dreamt of “returning to the land” so to speak but reality and circumstances seem conspired against this. I would actually find myself feeling incredibly depressed at times and not wanting to do anything because I was focusing on this thing that I never felt I would ever be able to have. Things in general for that matter were a cause of despair. Why can’t I have this or that when I want it so badly? Life isn’t fair is it? I’ve written before about happiness; about “being where you are” and not focusing on where you wish you were and I believe that to be one of the best pieces of advice I could give on the subject. What I didn’t realize however, was exactly how much my consumption could be tied to it. I had become stuck in a rut of consuming dire news, disdainful views, and lofty wants that were continually letting me down. The more I focused on what would make me happy if I had it, or how things should be, the more discontent I was with what I had and how things were.

At this point I was pretty low. I felt full of fear, and discontent. I know my sweet wife worried about me and ask if everything was OK. I didn't to be like this, it just crept up on me. Tomorrow I'll tell you about The Recovery.

Till tomorrow.

P~

Sometimes life is cruel

I've been making a concerted effort lately not to complain but I have to say that life is sometimes cruel. If you read this blog at all you know that we have been dealing with trying to put in hardwood floors to help with our sons asthma. This has in essence thrown our house into chaos because we have half our flooring torn up, and half the new flooring put down, only a portion of our stairs finished and none of it sealed yet. During this time, we had our cheap driving car die. So I begin driving the truck the few miles to work on the hot days when I just don't want to ride my bike. Then the Radiator hose of the Truck blows. OK I'll just ride the bike for a couple of days until I can get it fixed, no problem. I get the hose fixed, and the A/C quits working two days later. Again, oh well, I can deal with it. Another week goes by and our other cars maintenance required light goes on. Now this weekend I get news that my son from my first marriage is in a bad situation with his mom, and may need to come live with me. This is not bad news mind you, but it does bring with it it's own sets of issues.
I want to state for the record that I will not give in to life's cruel hand. This blog is about the possible and by golly it is possible to get through this too. Somehow these challenges are here to strengthen us. I don't know how, but they are. My wife and I are united and in that state we just can't be beaten. Believe me, life's tried before! When you have these moments or periods in life cling to those you love, ask for help when necessary, and above all believe and know that this too shall pass. We have all been given a wonderful gift to be able to make real that which we truly believe in, sometimes we just have to go on faith.
P~

Re-focusing

I was thinking yesterday that I have… how should I say this… evolved, in my goals for this blog since I began writing it. A reader, Heather from Nashville, called me out on a previous entry that I had made early on, I think it was my second or third posting ever, and made me revisit my objectives and take a look at how I want to “do business” here.
Early this year, I decided that I wanted to begin to actuate a lot of the changes that I had been mulling around in my mind. Changes that included, eating healthier, reading more rather than vegging in front of the TV all evening, spending more time outside either working in my yard or just enjoying nature and pursuing my desire to share my opinions with others via a blog (which I initially set up on Myspace to see if I would actually continue it). I attacked these goals rather intensely as I have a habit of doing, and the early posts on this blog reflect that. What I mean by this is that at the time I began to write, my mind was very much in a mindset of focusing on my frustrations with a lot of things. I found myself beginning to become a very pessimistic person. I didn’t realize it until I started to think of things I wanted to write about and the first things to my mind were basically just rants about this or that. During this process I began to see that I got much greater satisfaction from looking for and focusing on the positive things in my life, than I did by complaining or being negative about the things that I did not have or did not like. I found great satisfaction in keeping record of not just my ideas and accomplishments, but my feelings about my family, and my optimism about what is possible in life. It was at this time that I moved to Blogger.com and renamed the Blog “A posse ad esse” a Latin phrase meaning “from possibility to reality”. I have since that time made a concerted effort to maintain a positive outlook towards anything that I deal with in this blog.
My hope is to move you to care deeply for whatever it is that you are passionate about, to remind you of the simple things everyday that make me smile, and to share possibilities as I see them when I see them in an effort to move people to come together on things where perhaps they are closer than they know. I have said before and will say again, I am not trying to change anybody’s mind, but I am trying to open it just a little.
Thanks for your time and comments.
P~

father; Father

I have to again give credit too No Impact Man. He has a knack for asking the questions that seem to get me wanting to say things. The following is a response to his blog entry for today. I again wanted to share it here.

I am a parent of three boys. I also believe in God. Since becoming the former, my appreciation for the later has greatly increased. I love my kids with everything I have in me to love with. There are very few things that I would not do for them. But I have learned that the only way sometimes for them to learn a lesson is to make a choice and to learn from that choice. This doesn’t mean that I will let them jump off a bridge to learn that it will kill you, but it does mean that sometimes I will let them misuse something they care about to learn that it will break. I’ll also let them argue with each other, sometimes incessantly, because I know that when one of them is hurt or in trouble they are there to help them up or to protect them. I will allow them choice, and I will allow them “suffering”. I will, however, nurture them, love them regardless of their choices, and help them to repair any damage they’ve caused. These are lessons I learned from my father, and I hope my children will learn from me.
It is common to refer to people as “playing God”. Doctors can keep people alive when perhaps they shouldn’t be, or even create life through science and technology, but giving life is only half of the equation. God doesn’t just give life; He helps you to learn how to appreciate it and to preserve it. He gives us free will to make choices, and I believe he steers us toward the right ones if we let Him. How does this relate to the planet? Well, I believe that some of us are waking to the fact that we’ve been allowed to misuse it. We’ve exercised our choice, and we are learning the lessons. Some have started to repair the damage as best they can; perhaps while others have not yet learned that any damage has been done. Some have suffered floods, famines, heat waves, while others have come to their aid. Because somewhere deep down we know we’re brothers. We’re related to each other. Maybe not by blood or birth, but something ties us together. This is why I have hope. These are the lessons I learned from my Father.

Reflections on Virginia Tech

Amidst the 24 hr news coverage and analysis, try to keep from being overwhelmed. Hold your loved ones near, love them and enjoy every minute together. To the families of the fallen students in Virginia my thoughts and prayers are with you. More often than not, my words are insufficient. I offer this;

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.
- Matt. 5:4

Happiness

Everyday, every one of us is searching for something. It’s something that often seems just around the corner. We just know that it’s something we can “get”. We almost have it, or we know we will when ___, you fill in the blank. What is it that consumes so much of our lives? What is this elusive thing that we all crave?
Happiness. When was the last time that you really felt happy? Not just alright, or okay but really happy? I guess before I can go much further I need to explain what I mean.
Most of the time, I am pretty happy with my life. I have a beautiful wife, great kids, and live in a nice home. But is that happiness? For that matter what is happiness? Is it a long term situation or one that comes and goes like the wind? I have tried to define happiness many times in my life. As a child I thought happiness was getting what I wanted when I wanted it. Later, in High School, I thought happiness would be making my own decisions and charting my own course. Yet later in life I thought happiness was something that came from what I had; cars, job, money, fun. Looking back on it, the one common thread I see for myself was the constant association of happiness with some thing “out there”, something that I didn’t have or didn’t have enough of.
I guess to define happiness one would need to define what happiness is not. Rather a Zen perspective I know, but bear with me. Let’s assume that happiness is not something that’s conveyed through acquisitions. We can also accept as fact that happiness is not a constant state of mind, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation would we? The dictionary defines “unhappy” as 1) Sad or sorrowful; and 2) Not satisfied; displeased or discontented. Either way the unhappiness or state of being “not happy” as I see it is from not accepting the current situation. I was not a great student in school; I wasn’t a dunce mind you, but I had an aversion to homework and this landed me in summer school more than once. During one summer of pre-algebra, I was lucky enough to have a teacher who imparted to me the phrase that I have referred to more times than any other. "Happiness is being where you are." This simple thought has over time grown on me and become very much one of my core beliefs. When you are wanting, wishing, hoping or just thinking about the things you want that you don't have, or the places you want to be that you are not at, you are not being where you are. When you live in the future, or dwell on the past, you are not being where you are. These are, for me anyway, the times that I am the most discontent or unhappy. I try to not indulge myself in this thinking too often, but hey, I ain't perfect. Remember that thought though, and hold it in your mind on those times when you can feel the blues creeping in. We all have some blessings in our lives. Whether that is health, family, passion, or profession. Happiness is being where you are. Hold dear each moment you have, and when it passes, enjoy the next.
Namaste.
P~

Thought for today

..."now things have changed and I'm happy
I got a women that I love and three boys that call me pappy
Got the good Lord up above
I'm in a country that I love
Now, what more could a cowboy ever need."
-Chris Ledoux

Thought of the Day

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
~Buddha

I'm in denial...

This is the weather picture out here at 12:57 pm today. The weather folks say it's gonna snow tonight; I have decided to live in denial. I refuse to believe that it's gonna snow. I love winter snow mind you, but this is spring and I am ready for flowers and green grass and blue skies with little puffy clouds. I can picture it, I want it and I will not acknowledge other than it...
~P

Positive outlook.

I was told by an old friend of mine recently with reference to politics that he wants "ANYONE but Bush!" in '08. This got me thinking that besides the obvious fact that it will be by default anyone but Bush, based solely on term limits (which is a topic for a whole other conversation), but that this was an incredibly pessimistic way of looking at our future. Let me get to the root of this phrase as I see it.
To me, saying "Anyone but Bush" is making far too simple a requirement of anyone hopeing to be the Commander and Chief of our great country. Our country was founded and rooted in hope, and possibilities. Our forefathers knew what was possible if men were left to be free to decide, and if they had hope for a better future for themselves and their families. To not look for a candidate, regardless one's political leaning, that offers hope and can outline the possibilities as they see them; to only look for someone that is the antithesis of the current administration, can only lead to disappointment. How hard is it to imagine a polititian that knows people are only looking for "Anyone but..." to tell you exactly what you are telling him you want to hear. They wouldn't be required to be a thinker, or to have any plan for the future, only to aspouse a disagreement with the current. If the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, do you just keep jumping the fence, or do you take a little time to find a good gardener to green up the side your on? Or better yet, get your hands dirty and work to green it up yourself!
I have made a decision to try my hardest to focus on the positive in this life. I get frustrated by things, and at times just plain hate the status quo. But I think one is always better served by looking for a positive solution than by complaining about the problem.
That's my opinion for what it's worth.
P~