Some Random Thoughts For August 2007

God Bless Ron Paul
I asked a politically astute acquaintance if he thought Ron Paul had a chance of winning the next presidential election. He said no. When I asked why he felt that, the man replied that Paul has two strikes against him. First, he’s honest. Second, he sticks to his principles.

I’m not so cynical. I think Ron Paul has a chance. His candidacy is like a fresh breeze blowing into our putrid political system.

Granny Miller went to a Ron Paul Rally and wrote about it at her blog.

Granny Miller also posted Ron Paul’s Statement of Faith

I’m Running For My Third Term
This November I will be running to keep my position as a town councilman. I’m currently in my eighth year as a public servant in this capacity. Four people are running for two positions.

I quit the Republican Committee this year because I was fed up with the political system and didn’t want to be a part of it anymore ( I wrote about it here: Politics & Meeting Vice President Cheney). But I am not sick of political service on the local level. I consider it a great responsibility and I take it very seriously.

I do not intend to “campaign” for reelection. I’ve never done that. If the people in my community want me, they will vote me in. If not, they won’t. I’m comfortable with either outcome.

Spider Bite
Yikes! Michael Bunker got bit by a Black Widow spider!

I don’t think we have black widow spiders in New York. But I’ve been told we do have the Brown Recluse spider, the bite of which can do bad things to a body.

Here’s wishing you a fast and total recovery Michael.

Flies For Art?
I wrote a blog titled, FREE Chicken Feed awhile back. A man recently replied to it as follows:

Hello,

My name is Christopher. I know this might sound crazy but I’m a grad student at art institute of Boston. I use dried flies in my art work. My question is would you be willing to sale me some deal flies. Or do you know where I can get some? This would help me out so much to reach the amount of flies I need for my work. Again I’d be willing to pay.

Thanks,
Christopher
My email is irvinchr@msu.edu

Unsustainable America?
Barry Morgan over at Acres of Hope America hasn’t blogged much lately but he called me awhile back. He and Lynne have been busy with their ministry and their move from Florida to a rural section of Georgia.

I encourage you to read Barry’s most recent post. It is an article about where America is headed as seen by the Comptroller General of the United States. It is not an encouraging analysis. Here is a link to the article.

40% and Two Weeks
We had dinner at my mother-in-law’s house a couple days ago. My sister-in-law told us that a nurse came to speak to the TOPS weight-loss class she participates in. But the nurse did not talk about weight loss. She spoke to the small group of women about the anticipated influenza pandemic in this country.

The nurse told those in attendance that it is expected that 40% of the population will be infected. If that happens, schools, businesses and government agencies will close down. Services will not be available. The economy will take a severe hit. She urged them to prepare by stockpiling two weeks of food, water, and other essentials. Here's a link to a pandemic influenze web site

I get that ol’ Y2k feeling when I hear about things like that, and consider the specter of Peak Oil, and read the Comptroller General’s warnings, and.....

It makes me think of a freight train barreling down a long track, out of control. The train can't be stopped. It will derail and crash when it gets to the bottom. There are a lot of people on the train.

It's a simple analogy. That freight train is our industrialized civilization.

How do you avoid crashing with the train? Get off while you can. Then, after the crash, you do what you can to help those around you.

Farm To The Amish
My Aunt Carolyn says that the Amish are moving into northern Aroostook County Maine. They have bought two farms in the Fort Fairfield area. One is my grandfather’s farm, the one I wrote of in my book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian. The Amish are reportedly moving from New York. It is beautiful country up there.

House For Sale
My next door neighbor (who actually lives up the road aways) has officially listed his house for sale. It is described as a “4 to 6 bedroom home.” In other words, it is very large. It includes a “45’ by 55’ steel pole barn.” No acerage is listed. It says only, “Large lot includes stream and waterfalls.” I would guess the large lot to be around 8 acres.

Asking price is $136,000. That is lower than we expected it would be. If I had the money, I’d buy it, take the lower land that adjoins my property, and resell the house with a large yard. But I don’t. So we will see what happens.

The Ice Cream Business
I wrote a few blogs back about Marlene’s idea of making and selling ice cream at outdoor events in the summer. She checked with the health department and to our surprise, they had no problem with the idea. A 5-day permit would cost $30. There are some minor regulations to comply with but they are minor. I don’ know if we will actually do this because I don’t know if we can fit the whole operation in a small trailer pulled behind a Honda Accord. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Amazing Turkeys
I am thoroughly enjoying our turkeys. This is the first year we have raised these remarkable creatures. It won’t be the last.

On two occasions I have been feeding and observing the birds and witnessed something that I think is incredible. One little peep from one of the turkeys and the head of every bird cocked to the side so one eye was looking up at the sky. I looked up at the sky too, expecting to see maybe a hawk. But I saw nothing. Some of the birds went back to eating but every few seconds they would tilt their heads sideways and look up. So I looked again and really studied the sky. Then I saw it. There was an airplane, several thousand feet up, just a speck of white against the blue sky, silently making it’s way. That was the only thing they could have been looking at. Like I said, this happened on two accasions. Is that amazing, or what?!