Learning curve

We've been learning alot of new skills for the past couple years, my husband and I. I've learned how to build a shed, raise and slaughter chickens, raise goats, tap trees, milk a cow, make soap, can fruits and veggies, heat with wood.

We bring to the table willing hands and faith that if one can read one can learn anything.

We've had a lot of failures and I have always been glad that feeding ourselves did not rely on my weird hobbies.

I grew up in the suburbs. Gardening was something you did on the weekends for fun. Food was to be found in the grocery store. Any thing over 1/4 mile was too long of a walk and anything over two miles was too long even by bike.

Bryan and I were born at the beginning of the long, slow, downward spiral of the American economy over the last 40 years. Remember when someone with a high school diploma could earn a living wage for a family of four?

I don't.

I was born in 1969. American oil production peaked in 1971. Where once our economy depended on making things (electronics, clothing, shoes), our economy is now plagued by legalized pyramid schemes (dotcoms, Enron, flipping houses, the service industry). Plus, we've gone from the biggest creditor nation, to the biggest debtor nation in the world. I don't think there's any coincidence there.

Generation X: Cleaning up after a party we were too young to attend.