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November 19, 2007 Newsletter
Thanksgiving Days of Future Past
I haven't posted in quite a while...in longer time than I had planned, but that's the way things work out sometimes...Thanksgiving is almost upon us! Happy Thanksgiving, and GO AGGIES!
But I got to thinking about the US economic crisis...downward heading dollar, sub-prime mortgage crash, volatile stock market, price of gas, prices of food, price of everything...and thinking that what kind of Thanksgiving will folks have next year if the worst fears of some bear fruit? Will there be 20-pound turkeys abounding for those who want one at a reasonable price? Twelve-pound, a more reasonable weight? Will they be GM-free? And the folks who want turkey for Thanksgiving--will they have a place to live? Will they have anything to be thankful for? Will the 2008 elections be a harbinger for disaster (if certain individuals--I won't mention names but you and they know who they are!--find themselves elected President) or hope (if Ron Paul is elected)?
So, in this vain, I decided to dredge up a story about a neighbor, who has since moved from here, whose wife (since deceased) got up one day several years ago, saw some wild turkey's out in the yard about a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, a shot herself one. Now, as I've said the community out here has covenants, but they are the best kind--very, very lenient, where you can pretty much do whatever you want on your own property as long as you don't interfere with your neighbor's property. I don't know if they broke any hunting law in the State of Texas, but, again, Texas hunting laws are more lenient than most and as far as I know Texas won't mess you over if you hunt on your own 5-acre-plus property. There are "no hunting" rules on the books out here, but truly it's a matter of "what the Board doesn't now won't hurt you" sorta thing. And, besides, who's to say you weren't shooting to scare nuisance javelinas or skunks or racoons or even a wandering mountain lion? As in: "I really shot a deer, but I told the Board I was chasing away skunks." And, no, POA Board, us Lagardes have never done that, so don't blame us. To scare away varmints, we use firecrackers, when appropriate. Don't worry. My husband is a certified fire fighter.
Well, she shot the turkey. Kinda scrawny. The wild turkeys out here, being in a land that really can't be called lush (usually, 30 inches of rain or less a year...this isn't East Texas you know!), do not get very large or very fat. So, she took out the feathers, processed it (she comes from Appalachia, was born around the Great Depression, and was dirt poor growing up. Since she ate things like this, she knows what she's doing), and cooked it for longer than one would have to if the turkey was plump and juicy. Wild turkeys are NOT necessarily plump and juicy! So, when she and her husband ate it, there was little meat, and the meat was very tough. Gamey taste, though.
So, shooting a wild turkey for food may not be the best option. The deer, on the other hand, are full of juicy venison, which, truth be told, tastes almost as good, and out here are definitely plump and juicy. Deer are very plentiful out here and well-fed. West Texas isn't like most parts of the country, climate and weatherwise. Right now in the middle of November it is in the 70s and at night it goes down into the upper 30s (on the other hand, a few years ago we had snow on October 7; on election day in 2000, we had a foot of snow on the ground; in 2004, we were in the midst of have a whopping 54 inches of rain that year! All rain, almost no snow.). In most years, the oak trees give forth leaves in late winter (February), drop off in May (May is a bad time for deer...no leaves AND no green grass yet due to lack of rain...most deer that get hit on highways feeding on the slight strip of green along the roads by cars occurs in May), come back in late June after rains, and remain until September when they lose their leaves again...and regain leaves in late October. (In other words, oak trees out here have two growing seasons. Say what you want about "there is no God." God provides for the animals out here...what He denies in rain He yields in vegetation!) And, if you must have pork...have at a javelina! Shoot one for the troops...er, the gardeners!
Speaking of which, our "buckets at the gate" guard is working perfectly...those critters have been seen chomping at our grass, but have not invaded the garden in weeks. And our garden is still out there, waiting for us to get our Thanksgiving "Green Gumbo." And here it is, modified somewhat by my husband from the original recipe posted on the Food Network site; look under Emeril "Bam" Logasse: Pick a potful of collards, mustard greens, chard, and turnips. Take all the time you need to wash the leaves (and turnips), and chop or cut them up into edible pieces. Get all the worms, dirt, and whatnot off the leaves; use the stems of mustard greens but not the turnips, collards, or chard. First, put olive oil, as much as you need, in the pot and heat it, then put skinned sausage, cut up, or ham hock into the hot oil, and cook it for a little bit, about 5 minutes, and then ad filtered water (or tap if you don't have filtered water) and continue to cook til it looks as if the sausage is pretty well cooked. Add onions and garlic. Then add the greens in this order: collards, mustard, chard, and turnip greens the last. Add more water. Then add cut up turnips, squash if you have it, dried bell pepper if you have it. Add as much more water as you need to make "the pot liquor" (as my Texas-born mother-in-law puts it), and finally add spices. The amounts of everything you are just going to have to estimate (or see Emeril's recipe...by the way, there is no okra in it!)
Reality: It's What Americans Need
When I think of the American people I can't help but picture the movie "Idiocracy." Sorry. While I don't think all Americans are stupid, I do think possibly a small majority are clearly willfully ignorant. I've taught in public schools, where most students consider ignorance a badge of honor, where smart students who get good grades are generally picked on and bullied (unless they also happen to be good athletes or very popular, which sometimes happens). Of course, I have only taught in districts where the majority of students are Hispanic (living in west Texas and all), but, before you call me a racist, I will also say that proportionally, Hispanic students tried harder (and were mostly a pleasure to teach in the border town of Presidio, my most successful teaching stint.). With few exceptions, my worst students were Anglo! When I taught one year in El Paso and had a few black students (whose dads were part of the Fort Bliss complex), a few of them did well, but the majority never showed up to class. My point? Just as in the movie it can be clearly seen that it is the less well endowed intellectually who have more children compared to the "smart people," it is clear just by shear proportion of people who willfully shun knowledge that perhaps in a few hundred years most Americans will give their plants "Brawndo" to make them grow, instead of water, because "It's got electrolytes."
So, why do many Americans (I won't say my usual "70% suspects," but it is, I believe, a small majority--you know, like the 52% who, according to Zogby, think we should bomb Iran--un-freaking-believable!) shun the acquisition of knowledge? Why do they not seek the truth, but instead just believe what the media tell them? And therein lies a rub. I don't believe for one minute that Americans love liars. I don't believe for one minute that Americans believe the media because Americans believe their government and its "official sources" would "never lie" to them...the more this country resembles the old Soviet Union propaganda machine, the less Americans will believe them. I do believe Americans are starting to wear bullsh*t detectors more often. But, when I taught math in high schools described above, I'd be in the teachers lounges hearing English teachers complaining their students couldn't pass the portion of standardized tests that dealt with distinguishing fact from opinion.
BINGO! So that, when Dick Cheney "thinks" Iran is developing nuclear weapons with no fact to back this assertion up, the American people--well, 52% anyway--believe he is asserting a fact, because, well, a Vice President ought to be in a postion to know, so they believe him. Since people like Cheney have claimed Iraq was responsible for 9-11 at some point, that is why a small majority still--after even Bush has refuted it--believe that Iraq had to do with 9-11! It is not that Americans love liars. It is that American can't tell when someone is lying, even if a large minority is convinced that someone is lying.
I think I know why: a large majority of Americans--including some who have some notion of the truth--live in a self-imposed fantasy land, where all opinion is fact...where fantasy is fact because reality is painful. So painful, which is why most Americans either take legal pain pills, illegal drugs, booze, cigarettes, and more and more are taking drugs for depression and are seeing "professional help." More and more kids in public schools are taking drugs for ADHD. Pre-teen girls may be forced, if they are in public school, to take drugs to prevent cervical cancer, which could damage health later. In other words, fantasy, by default, is being self-imposed on more and more Americans. And even at that, more and more Americans want to escape reality...even though they already have escaped reality! I daresay the only reality many have is their jobs, where in order to perform they must pay attention to detail or be alert in work to do a good job. And in going and leaving work, especially if driving a vehicle, reality must be maintained. It is when they get home that they escape reality and let the propaganda, whether the mainstream media news or brainwashing via television, soak in, along with the drugs and booze. But what if instead of brainwashing from TV or propaganda from MSM sources, the individual or family does something more reality based, such as: discuss family issues, play a board game, play cards, goes out to eat, makes up a game (for instance, charades or hide and seek), reads Bible stories (or any stories, for that matter), goes to the "family fun center" if available or bowling or miniature golf or roller skating or ice skating or the community pool...you get the idea. Stop isolating yourself in the fantasy land of TV nonsense (especially now with the writers' strike! Everything is a re-run!) or phony "news".
Like what you read? Then subscribe to the Something Happening Here Newsletter! I do not have a set time for it to come out, but I try to make a newsletter once a week or as much as possible with hints and tips on how to live better and more naturally on your rural remote land. From handling garden insects to collecting valuable resources like water and firewood to raising your children to dealing with neighbors, I believe my 25 years experience living on the land can help you make the most of your rural remote life.
Click here to read the first newsletter about how we fix out dirt driveway after rains washed them out, dealing with mice, and more. Click here to find out how to I used herbs and natural products to help with allergies, cold, and other respiratory ailments. Click here to read Part 1 of the "Gloom and Doom" scenario and here to read Part 2. Click here to learn the ten essential items you must have to begin your new life on your rural homestead. Click here to stop worrying about what we cannot change and change only what we can. Click here to find out how I dealt with culture shock after I moved from the big city. Click here for some different angles on the Ron Paul phenomenon. Click here to read about how to liberate yourself from "the matrix". Click here to test yourself to see if you are ready to move into the country. Click here to find out how the people will defeat the oligarchs. Click here for some tips on preparing for winter in the country. Click here to bolster your resolve in dealing with garden-eating varmints. Click here for a dose of reality. Click here for this, that, and the other on "the machine". Click here to learn why you should buy locally, and to encourage you to stop believing all the fearmongerers. And click here to find out why the National Animal ID System needs to be scrubbed pronto!
