I don't consider myself ancient....but I'm sure my "ancient" grandmother didn't consider herself as such either.
However, many of the skills and practices that we took for granted have now been taken over by power equipment, and someday folks may wish that they had learned a few of them from us before we left this place.
Therefore, I suggest it is our duty now to go into the schools, homes, libraries and community centers and share what we know before it's too late. After all, we weren't born yesterday!
I'm spending more than two months with my grandchildren in California after living alone for a good part of the last two years. Sharing my life again is literally an awakening experience!
Forget about sleeping in. Young grandchildren still like to greet each new day with unbounded energy and enthusiasm. It's hard to envision sleep when their wide eyes are urging you to join them in their games and romps.
And the food....well, just remember this: Don't mix more than one food item in any dish. Keep things simple. Don't waste those gourmet experiments on young grandchildren. They are the originators of "the simpler, the better." Witness my delicious chicken and homemade egg noodles dish with rice. Only I had second and third helpings. I couldn't entice either of them to take even one bite. I think that night they shared a puff pastry and fruit while I hung my head in defeat, retiring early like a child taking all her toys and going home.
So the next night, out with the frying pans for hamburgers and french fries. Now that's real food!
Yet even though we do differ somewhat on food preferences, grand kids and I both share a wonder for the environment. Now when we walk home from school, my grand daughter points out trash along the way for Granny to pick up as she scoots on her scooter. We marvel at bugs, at trees, the sand, rocks, the clouds, flying hawks and cows on nearby hills. We examine the snails and slugs and see the similarities of their bodies.
Since I've arrived, I would hope to say that my grand kids have assimilated some of my conservation habits, such as the joys of watching scraps turn into nourishing compost, drying clothes on a new clothes line, learning that cloth napkins washed along with other laundry is a wisher choice than paper napkins thrown away after every meal. The kids already know the value of recycling. Being California residents, their recycle bins are larger than their trash bins. Plus they save their aluminum cans and plastic containers to redeem for real money are various redemption sites in the region. They also notice generous bike lanes throughout their rather young city, along with wide sidewalks and numerous parks, also with recycle bins alongside their trashcans.
My grand daughter has had to listen to my conversation with the public works guy who sprays Round Up on every dandelion he finds. Gee, I was here more than a week before I could point out a stray weed here or there. The town had truly done a job on so-called weeds, while it waters the trees and other shrubbery throughout the city during a time when water is such a pricey commodity. That's not to say some efforts aren't being made to conserve. The city claims that it waters only with gray water, not the water that goes into people's homes.
Gas is more expensive here, but my grandchildren don't see too many of their friends biking or walking to school like my grand daughter does. As I head home after walking her to school, there's a regular traffic jam as other parents are rushing their kids to school. Of course, some are simply dropping their kids off on their ways to work. However, others just want to drive.
These last few weeks have shown me the importance of having grandparents around for our younger generation. I've even thought of starting a new nonprofit called the Granny Squad, of which members would filter out into youth groups and schools in their towns to teach skills and practices that are threatened to be lost forever after we're gone.
As Peak Oil and the threat of climate disruption are set to collide, our grand kids need us more than ever to share what we know of living in a "powered down" society, of using skills that draw upon elbow grease and sweat and group efforts to build and improve and plant.
One of my greatest joys was to see the enthusiasm in my grand daughter's face as she surveyed the clothes she hung out on her own clothes line last weekend. Now if every grand daughter and grand son could do the same, just think how much energy this country could save!
Grannies and Grandpas, the future is partially in our hands and more so in the hands of our grand kids. Are you willing to share the skills and stories you know with them before it's too late?