There's something about walking next to gigantic power lines that changes your perspective on things. Not just because of the fact that they're as tall as three story buildings but that weird little buzzing sound from above really gets you to think about just how small you really are. How safe is it? Don't ask me I'm no engineer. I only ask because it is so different here from what the majority of the city is like. There are miles and miles of football-field wide cutouts of the forest housing these large metal structures that extrude out of the ground. It supplies large amounts of power to the surrounding community. A perfect representation of an important staple of society. Not only the physical aspects of such a monument but also what it actually provides. It would be quite ignorant for one to believe that electricity is not capable of benefiting man-kind. I just happen to be asking is it? And in what situations? What I do know is that the electricity coming from those wires is not being generated by the most sustainable sources.
The future holds two new nuclear power plants for the state of Georgia. Even if there are environmentally friendly means of generating energy. There certainly isn't enough of it. Guess it's time to call the power company and see if they're are any solar or wind farms being built. Is nuclear power safe? I don't know maybe. The most I've heard is that it generates lots of energy and they say they can manage the waste. I do know that the plants themselves don't last long; possibly 70 years and that's being generous because I thought it was 50 (correct me if I'm wrong). Not to say that solar panels and wind generators don't break down but they are comprised of fairly simple components. None of which relate to the word radioactive. Don't forget that they also practically pay for themselves after relatively short period of time. Might be another reason corporations/government don't like using them as much. Once that period of time passes it does not become such a high maintenance ordeal in the sense that all debts are paid off and the system no longer involves a bank, or loan, or investor. Something that would generate interest, the bill on top of the bill. Time can only tell if there is hope for sustainability.
2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29th 11:26pm
After that conversation it was apparent to me that I had found a place to start. Mr. Chanterelles and his family graciously welcomed me to their home and out of the handful of times that I've been there I have always left with much more then I came. There have been many things that we have discussed. Politics, spirituality, and of course organic farming to name a few. However it seems sensible to talk about the reason I went there in the first place.
Mr. Chanterelles first showed me around his farm, or what he commonly refers to as his garden. According to him he is a gardener. He uses no machinery other then a tiller (which gets extremely little use) and a lawn mower to keep the grass from suffocating the good stuff. If you ask me I'd call it some hXc gardening. Mr. Chanterelles pours his heart and soul into his land and it certainly shows. He has a pear tree, strawberries, blueberries (delicious!), figs (also tasty), okra, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, onions, melon, green beans, plus variations of them and much more. Not to mention the other things grown which I have yet to recall. So it's a pretty big garden and a great place to learn.
2010
Mr. Chanterelles first showed me around his farm, or what he commonly refers to as his garden. According to him he is a gardener. He uses no machinery other then a tiller (which gets extremely little use) and a lawn mower to keep the grass from suffocating the good stuff. If you ask me I'd call it some hXc gardening. Mr. Chanterelles pours his heart and soul into his land and it certainly shows. He has a pear tree, strawberries, blueberries (delicious!), figs (also tasty), okra, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, onions, melon, green beans, plus variations of them and much more. Not to mention the other things grown which I have yet to recall. So it's a pretty big garden and a great place to learn.
2010
Thursday, July 29th 11:26pm
For a while I've been making some great steps towards a direction that I actually agree with. At first I thought that if I want to work on an organic farm and actually survive I'd have to find someone willing to let me stay on their property. That, combined with the idea of "if you're going to move out then move O.U.T." made me want to find someplace far away willing to take me for some food and a little cash. Trying to go to a farm around here had always been ruled out because I was always trying to make sure I would get something out of the situation.
Finally I realized it was more important then that. It's supposed to be about finding the people and getting them together. Not about doing what I enjoy and profiting off of it. So off I went to the farmers market. Numerous times had I been here however never had I thought I would find anything worth the time. How foolish and naive of me. There are only a few people at the farmers market that actually do what you could consider farming though. A lot of people have small gardens or just make food out of their house. That narrows it down to a handful of choices as far as meeting people. It's not too difficult to see who's actually serious about organic farming. There's these things called CSA's and here in my town we have one. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. There's subsctiptions for 12 week periods. People pay up front for $30 a week and every Friday they go downtown and pick up a big box of veggies and fruits or whatever the farmers have to offer. It's a bunch of farmers who work together instead of your average joe with a table of tomatoes.
So I started talking to one of these CSA farmers asking if he needed any volunteer help. Long story short, he didn't. But this other man next to him handed me his card and shot me a crazy smile. I called him a few days later and talked to him and his wife. They seemed to know all about the farm crisis and how people can't even save their seeds because patents on GMO foods by companies by Monsanto. These were people I didn't have to inform nor convince. They already knew.
2010
Finally I realized it was more important then that. It's supposed to be about finding the people and getting them together. Not about doing what I enjoy and profiting off of it. So off I went to the farmers market. Numerous times had I been here however never had I thought I would find anything worth the time. How foolish and naive of me. There are only a few people at the farmers market that actually do what you could consider farming though. A lot of people have small gardens or just make food out of their house. That narrows it down to a handful of choices as far as meeting people. It's not too difficult to see who's actually serious about organic farming. There's these things called CSA's and here in my town we have one. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. There's subsctiptions for 12 week periods. People pay up front for $30 a week and every Friday they go downtown and pick up a big box of veggies and fruits or whatever the farmers have to offer. It's a bunch of farmers who work together instead of your average joe with a table of tomatoes.
So I started talking to one of these CSA farmers asking if he needed any volunteer help. Long story short, he didn't. But this other man next to him handed me his card and shot me a crazy smile. I called him a few days later and talked to him and his wife. They seemed to know all about the farm crisis and how people can't even save their seeds because patents on GMO foods by companies by Monsanto. These were people I didn't have to inform nor convince. They already knew.
2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Friday, June 25th 7:59
I want adventure. I want Mysticism. I want that sense that my life is/will be fulfilling. Is that too much to ask? Or maybe I shouldn't be asking. I should be telling, in a non-forceful way of course. Becuase that's the point of writing, to tell. To make everything you've done a dramatic, intricate, web of ideas that would make anyone pick up the story and actually read it to the end. But then again this isn't a story... This is the Truth.
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