Actually, I was going to ask what people think would be a good place to send them just to get their feet wet. Sharon has some specific posts (some of these are scary if you haven’t thought about it) and where else? Any suggestions?

I’m seeing wispy smoke signals from economic reorganization in process. Goats are suddenly all the thing on craigslist here, goats for sale, goats for stud. Gardens are sprouting on lawns on the north side of town. Canning jars are no longer given away free.

It will be interesting to see what regional gas shortages do here. Our gas comes from a local refinery which is on the receiving end of the Alaska pipeline, after some messing around in Canada. So the most likely effect is some shortages of things which come from or through the affected regions. It will be interesting to see what goes missing.

Shira in Bellingham, WA

Last night was the first news story about it. Basicly saying it was our own fault for “panic” buying but not a word as to why it would take 3 weeks for this panic to correct itself and prices to come down. I even heard one guy (some “expert” from UT) saying that there would be shortage due to to Ike but that prices wouldn’t have gone up ??? I am no expert but I was sure I knew something about that supply and demand law. But what do I know from gas prices?

We are planning to batten down the hatches for the winter. I seriously doubt that we will be able to afford much heat this winter so the money goes to buying fabric/yarn for blankets and warm clothing. No hording of food but stocking up on favs. popcorn/pasta. Canning salsa and pasta sauce. Barukh Hashem for the Home Ec. degree that everyone mocked

I TOTALLY understand having fluctuations on available time for conversations here.

To get back to a previous part of our thread, more on topic here than the metaphysical focus that I adore discussing … If I understand you correctly, you see the group you were a part of having failed because the leader wasn’t spiritually-evolved enough. So do you have any ideas on how to work it so such a group has a more evolved leader?

I remember watching a series on a group that was re-creating an iron age village in England (a BBC reality show), and the problems they had with their leader’s abilities to lead. Soon after that I was homeschooling about the Westward Expansion of the US, and wagon trains along the Oregon Trail. Those wagon trains started off with one leader, but after crossing the first river they would have an election for the leader who would lead them the rest of the way. That may or may not work in a spiritually based society. I’m interested in your thoughts on that.

Fern

So I sent out an e-mail to everyone in my address book who lives in the northeast and southeast (looks like I should’ve included the midwest too, but there was no way to anticipate that), including my grandparents and whatnot. I tried to keep it light and kind of, hey guys, here’s an article on why there will be gas shortages in your area for a while, might think of keeping the tank topped off and limiting your driving. And maybe make sure that you have a few favorite staple foods at home (like popcorn and chocolate chips , and essential medications, since supermarkets and drugstores only have about a 3-day supply of any of their stuff. No panic buying, just, you know, be on the safe side.

And I’ve gotten exactly three responses back, two were from people here in NYC who were like, yeah, I know, this is getting nuts, and one was just a joke from a good friend.

Which means either that it got lost in a bunch of spam filters, or that people don’t think it’s a big deal, or that they’re embarrassed that their friend is overreacting and spamming them. Either way, I hope next time they hear some bullshit on the news about price gouging or the next time they drive by an empty filling station, they think, hunh, maybe there’s actually just not enough gas.

I’m pretty outspoken on this issue, but the number of really, really bad reactions I’ve gotten has made me a little gun shy. See, I’ve got this little problem with wanting people to respect me? I don’t even really care if they love me or think I’m cute (I’m not the most cuddly female out there), but I really like it when I get respect. And bringing this stuff up makes me instantly look like a loon.

It’s been interesting, exploring how resistant people are to the mere idea that things could get worse in the future. I’ve found that the most receptive people are women (sorry guys, just a personal observation, very small sample size) who grew up somewhat poor. People who have watched their parents deal with poverty or near-poverty are much, much more accepting of the idea that the state of the world is not “good and getting better”.

Best hopes for a sea-change in public opinion

I’m feeling both nervous and guilty for not having harvested more of the garden yet. There are fava bean pods all over the place plus some shell peas and a few beans plus all the kale, collards and cabbages. All three cauliflower got harvested and consumed as did most of the broccoli and two of the four kohlrabi (which are still sitting in the fridge waiting for something to be done). And potatoes! We haven’t dug any up but some of them are peaking out of the dirt and they’re good sized! Even some rather skwunty, beat up looking plants have some nice sized spuds. Go figure. The three cherry tomato plants have been flowering and fruiting to beat the band – over the last three weeks – so there are dozens of green tomatoes and more flowers. A few are turning yellow (these are Gold Coin yellow cherry tomatoes) and I’m now religiously checking the National Weather Service because we’re in the zone for our first frost. And in a race against hope, I’m watching the one good sized pumpkin on a Sugar Baby (I think) that’s a little bigger than a softball. Even with throwing something over it to protect from frost, I don’t think it will get to maturity. But I need to have a plan for what to do with the stuff I can harvest!

On the food storage side, I’ve been ordering and receiving bulk beans, rice, pasta and canning jars. Other places might have used canning jars show up at garage sales and thrift stores but not here. Craigslist and freecycle are full of people wanting to buy canning equipment and jars. I’ve dried a bunch of raspberries and some chard, kale and collards but not nearly enough for winter. I’ve canned a couple things but need to do more of that, too. Dang, I need to take a week off from work not just a Friday!

However, just today, the conversation at lunch with two of my coworkers was all about the collapse of the financial sector and how rising fuel costs are becoming a huge burden particularly on rural Alaskan villages. However for all their musings on what lower income people would do, I got the impression that they thought the two of them would still be able to afford to put gas in their cars because their incomes were good. I don’t know how much they’ve considered how fuel costs will affect everything else in their lives, they only seem to be focussed on gas prices. Neither of them have considered limiting their driving – and one of them commutes almost 30 miles down from a mountain and into town for work five days a week! I try to drop hints or things that I’m doing to cut my resource usage but I get the feeling they think I’m a bit daft. Worries me that no one seems to notice the gathering storm clouds.

Kerri in AK

I am not talking about a “bean-counter-in-the-sky” concept of karma, I am talking about the idea that the “we” here on earth in this “ecological crisis” ,the “we” who are co-creating this reality cannot be totally reduced to the outer domesticated primate (human) aspect of ourselves but that “we” are multidimensional “spiritual” beings participating together in a learning experiment/spiritual “school”.

The idea is that Gaian-DNA systems are archetypal manifestations of the Anima Mundi or World Soul and are nodes in the universal Life-Light matrix. “We” are multidimensional explorers. L8r

Fern