I've started researching reskilling, and there are festivals and expos happening around the country - pretty cool.  I've added the links to some of them to my favorite links list to the right.

Here is a list to start with of skills to be taught at a reskilling school or expo.

    Alternative Energy
    Alternative Medicine
    Animal Husbandry
    Aquaculture
    Ayurvedic
    Bee Keeping
    Bicycle Repair
    Biodynamic Gardening
    Bird Language
    Blacksmithing
    Boat Building
    Book Making/Binding
    Carpentry
    Ceramic Arts
    Cheese Making
    Composting
    Cooking (basics)
    Dance
    Fiber Arts
    Fishing
    Food Preservation
    General Repair
    Grey Water
    Hand Tools
    Herbal Treatments
    Indigenous Healing Wisdom
    Jewelry
    Knot Tying
    Music
    Native Plant Identification
    Natural Building
    Natural Paints
    Orchard Planning
    Permaculture
    Plant Propagation
    Poetry
    Pruning
    Seaweed Harvesting
    Seed Saving
    Sewing
    Solar Cooking
    Solar Water Heating
    Story Telling
    Vermiculuture
    Water Catchment
    Wilderness Skills
    Woodworking
    Yoga / Meditation

What happened to 2011?  A whole year went by without my posting a single thing.  I guess I put my dream of re-skilling for Ecotopia on the back burner.

I think in some ways I moved away from it emotionally because living in fear 24/7 of what is going to happen was completely stressing me out.  I don't live in or near a Transition Town (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_Towns) so I'm not living in a mode of seeing what is coming as a challenge and an opportunity for living a better life.  I'm just living in the fear of what might happen, the chaos and violence that those books I read envisioned.

I've come back to this because I was writing out 10 Random things about myself on my Weight Watchers blog, and #10 was this dream, of creating a re-skilling school & agrarian ecovillage so that my life would be living and working in the solution, in the preparing for a post-peak oil, post economic crash world.  I pointed them to this blog, and in the process remembered that I had created it.

I have done some things over the last year that relate to this dream.  I visited Old Sturbridge Village a couple of times (http://www.osv.org/).  I also spent some time looking for land to buy in the southern Vermont/NH area, including close to Putney and Brattleboro, both of which are Transition Towns.  In the course of doing that, I thought more about this dream, about what kind of land I would need, about whether I could really do it.

I also learned about Flintlock Farm in Harvard, MA, where they are setting up a "Lost Arts" collaborative: http://www.lostartsna.org/

I've realized that part of me would really like to join up with an organization that already does this, rather than start out on my own.  I need to research more what is out there.

Am I crazy?

As I've written before, I've been very low key for the past few years about preparing for peak oil.  There are a number of reasons for this, including

- I work full time now.  From 2005-2008, I was working part time, and had a much easier time doing other things, even though I had less money.  I bought a wood stove, raised chickens and a rabbit, had a garden, read tons on the internet, went to conferences, etc.

- Even though it really looked like the crash was here, in Sept 2008, and even though I got laid off in Nov 2008, life seemed to keep going along.  I got unemployment, I was able to find a new job, the banking system stayed solvent.  All those things that I had read about didn't happen, at least not yet.  I didn't starve or lose my house, the truckers didn't strike and the grocery stores shelves didn't empty.  So it was easy to slide back into just going along day by day, and not worrying about the future.  So much easier than daily panic.

- When considering preparing for Peak Oil, the problems become apparent.  Stay or leave?  I don't have enough land for what I want, so I should leave, but I cannot because of family obligations, and I don't have the money to buy another place.  If I'm going to leave, then why bother doing solar panels, or a wood kitchen cook stove, or a hand pump water well or a compost toilet.  All of these will detract from selling the house, when I go to sell it when I can leave.  But what if the crash happens before I can leave?  Impossible questions like this make me feel like a deer staring at the headlights, unable to move, bracing for the impact.  So much easier to just not think about it.  They are questions I don't have answers to.

- In addition to working full time, I also have been part of starting a local food coop.  This is a volunteer effort that consumes much of my time, and even more of my brain cycles worrying about all the things I should be doing that I don't get to.  It is something I can do to prepare for what is coming, and doing it feels like I'm doing something.  But focusing on it has made me less prepared than I was before the food coop started.

- and finally, the thing most on my mind at the moment....One of the things I had intended to do, but haven't yet, is cash out my 401K.  I didn't for a while because while I was still married, that tax/penalty would have been higher.  And I was waiting for the oil prices to go back up (I knew they would) to regain what little I had lost (most of it was in cash, only a little in energy funds).  Now the divorce is final, but the oil price is going up.  Should I continue to wait?  While the money is in the 401K, its slightly hidden from the FAFSA application for college aid.  Once I cash it out and pay the penalties, it will be right there for FAFSA to give us  much worse financial aid package, because the funds are RIGHT there.  And most important, when I go to cash it out, I know I'm going to have to argue and explain with Fidelity that yes, this is what I really want to do, I know I have to pay a penalty, but I don't trust the financial system to still be around when I turn 55 (7 years, 2017)  or 62 (14 years, 2024) and the tax/penalty will be less.  They'll say I'm crazy (I've already talked about it a couple times, and the resistance has so far overwhelmed me).

I know there are many people out there in the Peak Oil community who have done this, and moved away from where they were to somewhere they felt safer to ride out the coming storm.   These people seem to me to be the confident ones.  They are sure of what they believe and what they need to do.  They don't care what other people think.   And that, I think, is the crux of it.  What I have done so far may seem a little eccentric, but people have wood stoves, and chickens.  No big deal. Even leaving my 401K with Fidelity in the cash funds was a little out of the box - they kept trying to get me to re-invest.  But it saved me through the crash in 2008, and I didn't lose half like so many other people did, including my own family.  Withdrawing my 401K from Fidelity feels like I'm crossing a line, declaring for myself and others, even if they don't know, that I truly am crazy.  I really do believe doing what everyone else is doing and leaving my money in the 401K is the wrong thing to do.  I'm stepping out against the tide, or stepping out of the box. Jumping over to the other moving sidewalk, over to be with the survivalists and all.  True, I see it as protecting myself, moving towards a more sustainable future.  But it feels like a line I have so far been unwilling to cross.

Are you out there?

Are you out there?

The one who makes my heart sing…

Who makes my pulse quicken, my body warm, my knees weak?

A man who isn’t looking for just a pretty face, and thin body and a hot date.

The kind of date that ends after one night.

Who wants someone with intellect, a thirst for knowledge, and a kind heart.

Are you out there?

The one who loves the outdoors…

Who exercises and takes care of himself,

Who loves hiking & camping & kayaking.

Who loves New England winter, spring & fall.

Are you out there?

The one who knows what is happening to the earth…

Who reuses and recycles, gardens & raises chickens,

And who dislikes anything with motors as much as I do –

Motorcycles, motor boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, airplanes, and cars.

One who loves to travel, but will stay local to be kind to the earth.

Are you out there?

The one who likes me for who I am…

Who admires my out-of-the-box thinking and my volunteerism.

Who accepts my moodiness and occasionally outburst.

Who doesn’t find fault in my house that needs some work

And who is ok that I might need him as much as I want him.

Are you out there?

I’m here, waiting, looking, wanting and needing you.

I’m here, with enough passion to make your knees go weak,

And to make your heart sing.

I’m here, with honesty and compassion,

Ready to dance with you off into the sunset. 

Dating during the Long Descent

Well, I haven't posted in a while. I go through cycles of being really into the whole EnergyBulletin world, and then phases of drifting away for awhile. It can be a bit overwhelming.

For a while I was reading about the flooding in Pakistan, because I've been so unaware of current events that I missed it while it was happening. I only learned about it from a reference to it in an EnergyBulletin article. And that was all so incredibly depressing - I mean a 5th of the country under water, and it all caused by a combination of climate change and a 100 years of Pakistan trying to tame nature with a huge country-wide irrigation system. It was so clear to me that this is what it will look like when the lowland countries in Far-East Asia flood when the sea levels rise when the ice caps melt. The numbers of people affected will be so overwhelming that here in the US we won't be able to comprehend it or imagine how to help.

After reading about the flooding, happening RIGHT NOW, I was unable to get back into reading EnergyBulletin, about things that will happen in the future. It just seemed out of touch with reality, somehow. And reading EnergyBulletin is how I stay connected to my visions of re-skilling for Ecotopia. So I've been "away" from thinking about all this.

While I've been "away", I've been focused on another area of my life that needs work. I'm single and alone. I was married for 15 years, separated for 6, and we've been officially divorced for 7 months. I'm ready to start dating. I made a meager attempt this summer, signing onto an online dating site. But I got discouraged and dropped off. I did meet another peak-oil aware single guy in a nearby town, but he wasn't for me. So a couple weeks ago, I decided to try again. This time, I signed up for more than one site. I've been reading up on different sites, how to write a good online profile, tips on getting back into dating after divorce, etc. The thing that is most tripping me up, though, is the topic of this blog. While I know there are a few people out there who would admire me for my goals and visions for a re-skilling for Ecotopia type teaching facility, the majority of men out there will think I've lost my marbles.

The truth is, I want to start dating, but I really want to find someone with similar values to mine. Someone who knows about peak oil, who believes these crisis-es are coming, who believes like I do that we need to prepare if we want to survive it. Someone who will admire my work on the food coop. And someone who might want to join me on my journey of not just preparing for the future, but being instrumental in helping others prepare for the future as well. I know its a tall order, but that's my ideal.

What I realized today is that I know what I want. I have goals and visions and plans for the future. I don't have all the steps laid out, like how to make the leap from where I live now to where I want to be living, but I know where I want to get to. This is huge, in the sense of post-divorce recovery. I'm not where I was five years ago, lost and depressed, not knowing what I was going to do for work or how I was going to support myself. And while I may not want to trumpet from the mountaintops in my online profile what my plans and goals are, I can at least have confidence in myself that I know what they are. My ideas and values may be a little outside the box (why should I bother mowing the lawn and spewing more carbon emissions in the air - not a very popular point of view in the neighborhood :) ). But they are all mine, and they are unique. And that's something I can be proud of.

am I prepared?

I've been reading a lot of fiction lately. The following four books I've read over the last few weeks, the first two I read last weekend:

Last Light, by Alex Scarrow  (here is the amazon link if you want to read about it http://www.amazon.com/Last-Light-Alex-Scarrow/dp/0752893270).  This is about a fast crash that occurs because some group blows up a couple mosques in Saudi Arabia, which causes wide spread war in the Middle East, plus bombs other key refinery points across the oil industry.  Set in London, with not just crash impact but also a mysterious-bad-guys thread.

Last Light, by Terri Blackstock (http://www.amazon.com/Last-Light-Restoration-Terri-Blackstock/dp/0310257670)

This is about a fast crash that occurs because of a EMP-like event - all electronics & electricity is down, in a suburban community where there is a killler on the loose.  This is the first in a four book series.  

One Second After by William Forstchen (http://www.onesecondafter.com/)

This is about a fast crash that occurs because of an EMP set over the US.  set in a small college town in North Carolina, not far from a few big cities. 

Crossing the Blue, by Holly Jean Buck (http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Blue-Holly-Jean-Buck/dp/0615241719).  A post petrol, post american road trip.  about a cross country road trip in post-crash, post-climate-change-flooded America which takes the hero & heroin through many different examples of post-scenario possiblities. 

Suffice it to say that reading these has definitely gotten me back to where I was when I first learned about Peak Oil.   I'm incredibly aware of how vulnerable we are, especially to food & water supply issues.  I'm reminded of something I read a long time ago on Energy Bulletin.  I'll have to paraphrase, since I don't remember the exact quote, or who said it.  If and when the crash occurs, many people will be caught unawares, even those of us who are aware of Peak Oil and the coming crises. 

As I said before, when I first learned about Peak Oil, I did a lot to prepare. And I stocked up on food, and got to know my local food sources.  But my food stocks have gotten back down to nothing.   I have heat (I ordered my cordwood, should come this weekend) and shelter, but the freezer is empty, my chickens are gone, and my garden is non-existent.  So I'm back to being completely unprepared for something happening.  I might be prepared emotionally, but that isn't going to put food in my stomach.  

I think that along the way, I've spent so much time dreaming about the ideal place for me to land - a farm or ecovillage, that I've forgotten that I'm going to be where I am now for some time to come.  And I've figured out that while I work full time to afford where I live, I have very little energy left over to raise my own food.  I know some people do, and I'm definitely on the lazy side, but I have to be honest with myself about what I can and cannot accomplish.  And if I'm going to stay sane, I can't expect too much of myself. 

So what I figured out over the last few weeks of reading this fiction, is that I have to come up with another way to have enough food on hand if something happens.  And I need to incorporate that food in my daily diet, so that it doesn't go bad.  Most of what I stocked up with in 2005 went bad because it was stuff that I would only eat if I had nothing else on hand.  So I need to plan better while I am stocking up, mark expiration dates so that I eat things before they expire.  And only buy what I will eat and have recipes to cook with.  This will be slightly easier this year, since I'll have fewer children to cook for and cater to. 

This will also help me save money and lower my carbon footprint.  Over the winter, I usually buy fresh vegetables every week from the grocery store that have traveled thousands of miles.   If I start buying fewer fresh vegetables from the grocery store when they are out of season and not local, and buy canned goods instead, I'll be learning better to eat in season.  I can even attempt to simulate what it would be like if I had time to can local produce for the winter, by buying canned foods that I know I would can or freeze - beans, corn, tomatoes, etc.   I know this may sounds simple or obvious, but it will be a big change for me.  I never eat canned vegetables - those were always what we ate, and only ever ate, when we went camping or sailing.

I used to think my only option was growing all my own food, and if I couldn't do that, then why bother at all.  But this way, I'll focus on local food and/or canned, and I'll be able to continue to support the local economy as well as start building up a larder that will make me feel more secure.  I may renew my purchases of survival gear as well - lanterns, propane for fuel, candles, etc.  I used to do that as well, and stopped after a couple years of nothing drastic happening.  

And I need to remember that I was well prepared when the ice storm in Dec '08 took out our electricity and communications for days.  I had a wood stove & cordwood, a cook stove & propane, lots of candles and a couple battery powered lanterns.  I also had airbeds for our guests who came so stay with us because they had no heat.  The one thing that I didn't have, and should probably be on my list of the first next thing to buy, is a generator.  They are expensive, yes, but if I'm going to stock up on anything frozen, I'll need a generator to keep those things frozen.  Otherwise its a waste of money to spend any money on anything frozen.  And a crank-operated radio, so we can get news without electricity.

OIC

I think I see now why I've been thinking about getting back to the many local efforts I was doing a few years ago. I've been following John Michael Greer's "Green Wizardry" course, and he has been blogging about compost and gardening as a key part of the Green Wizardry training. 


Another thing that I started back then, and have kept up with, is my worm bin. I bought it the same day I bought the rabbit.  The rabbit is gone, and I'm on my second pound of worms, but they made it through the winter and are doing fine.  My first pound died, mostly because I stopped paying attention to them, and stopped feeding them, and they ran out of reasons to go on.  That was last year.  This year, I opened up the worm bin to "harvest" some worm castings ( I was told this was key to keeping your worms going), and discovered I had a lot of worms in there.  I had been looking but couldn't see them because the light bulb burned out in the garage!  But they are thriving and doing well on weekly food scraps, and every so often adding some more newspaper strips (I hadn't been doing that the first time around either).  I also went to a Vermiculture class at NOFA, and learned a lot about them there. 


Someone even mentioned that if things get really bad, she had a whole book of recipes for cooking with worms....ich!