Motivations

[frustratedearthmother]

Flour tortillas - @baymule That made me think of something. Along with having our own skills - having great neighbors is such a blessing. I've had an acquaintance for many years that lives down the road from us. We'd wave when they drove by or say 'howdy' when they walked past but lately we've become more than acquaintances - and I'm thrilled. They are a Hispanic family with a different skill set than my old white self has, lol. I found out that she loves goat milk, and she found out that I love tortillas! So - we now have a barter system in full swing.

 

[baymule]

Flour
Cut in some lard
a little salt
water to make a stiff dough

Knead it, pinch off some, roll into a ball and flatten it with a roller. cook in DRY hot iron skillet. Eat all the mistakes to hide the evidence.

You can find the recipe on the internet. @frustratedearthmother a Hispanic neighbor taught me how to make them when I was 30. Sometimes I dredge up old memories to make them. Get your neighbor to teach you how!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Oops, sorry I didn't respond here - but I did in my journal.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Does it count if my main fear is the fear of eating mass produced Tyson chicken?

 

[baymule]

 

[baymule]

@Beekissed you didn't get it wrong. You simply explained your motivation for putting back for the winter. People have grown so accustomed to going to the store and buying food that locally, is not in season, that they really don't know any difference any more. As gardeners, we have an abundance of produce in the season in which it grows, so we can, freeze or dehydrate the excess for our enjoyment in the winter. That's not so much out of fear as it is just being smart.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yes that is the serious response. I wouldn't say I'm motivated by fear either. I would do what I'm doing regardless of what's going on around me for the health of my family, to save money, and because well we enjoy it.

It's funny because for the past week or so I've been wanting to start a thread about motivations for doing what we do... And I saw this title pop up and I went oh someone beat me to it! Then I realized it was the opposite lol. I wanted to ask people why you do this. Why do you choose to go pull kids out at 2 am or butcher chickens (which is my least favorite job ever) when you can go buy one for $1/lb. What makes this all worth it? I know my answers.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

NH - we must've been typing at the same time, lol. I like your idea! What motivates me to keep animals and all the extra work that goes with it? Someone asked me that one time and my answer was "It's what I do". Again, there I go with the simplistic answer - but it's my truth. I do it because I love it. It brings me joy and sometimes it brings me a peace that I can't find anywhere else...

 

[k15n1]

Interesting conversation. I'm designing medical devices these days so fear is something that I've been trained to sharpen to a fine point. Not so much the emotion as making lists of hazards and the harms that could result. Put those in order by how often they happen or how bad the harm is, and you have a formal risk analysis. It's fear, in an organized spreadsheet, in the proverbial nutshell. Importantly, though, it's actionable, not terrifying.

The idea I started out with was a step back from that... the imagined causes of the hazards. For example, running out of food to feed your children is a harm. The hazards that result in no food include drought, flood, blizzard, revolution, war, economic disaster, etc. Those all CAUSE the grocery store to be empty. My original post was inspired by people who want to talk about the cause of those causes, which are several steps removed from actually doing anythingl

For example, someone says that inflation is higher than the CPI, so food will soon be unafordable and people will be in the streets, looting neighborhoods, so buy a gun now. There are so many distractions in that sentence that we could argue all day about it and forget to lift a finger to make any preparations. Lots of things can cause temporary food shortages. There's lots to learn about putting up and growing food. But if you get drawn into a war-of-words about whether the government is a fraud because there are different ways to measure inflation, no progress is made.

It's not that I don't want to know the motivation of others---just that it should not be a huge distraction. Obviously, if we're all adult about it, should be no problem. But there should be some balance between pushing our own idea of how the world works and enduring crazy posts.

I'm thinking more generally than this forum---I'm not criticizing anyone in particular. Out in the world, people basically form groups with common needs or common likes. One thing we like is people with similar world-views. I think the prep/survival community should be a need-based group rather than grouping based on favorite fantasies about the future. By focusing on needs, we can deal with and learn from a much larger range of people.

(I keep tripping over this damn soapbox!)

Someone should start a "What's your SS motivation" thread...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

SQUIRREL DNA

I love it! Dang! I'm hungry - but I've got some pecans buried in the back yard!