Missive #615

Author Gene Logsdon—whom Wendell Berry once called “the most experienced and best observer of agriculture we have”—has a notion: That it is a little easier for gardeners and farmers to accept death than the rest of the populace. Why? Because every day, farmers and gardeners help plants and animals begin life and help plants and animals end life. They are intimately attuned to the food chain. They understand how all living things are seated around a dining table, eating while being eaten. They realize that all of nature is in flux.

A great book for those of us that are a little long in the tooth. The younger among us could also like it. Recommended.Gene Everlasting contains Logsdon’s reflections, by turns both humorous and heart-wrenching, on nature, death, and eternity, all from a contrary farmer’s perspective. He recounts joys and tragedies from his childhood in the 1930s and ‘40s spent on an Ohio farm, through adulthood and child-raising, all the way up to his recent bout with cancer, always with an eye toward the lessons that farming has taught him about life and its mysteries.

Whether his subject is parsnips, pigweed, immortality, irises, green burial, buzzards, or compound interest, Logsdon generously applies as much heart and wit to his words as he does care and expertise to his fields.

Obviously the first step down the path toward immortality is to put off mortality as long as possible. For the aging but active person, especially around the garden farm, that should mean, as a guiding principle, to resolve not to do today what you can put off until tomorrow. This not only will keep you alive longer, but will often result in greater efficiency.…
Most of the time, in most of the United States, the snow will melt if you wait a day or two. When one must get out, old people become very adept at easing the car out a driveway covered with six inches of snow. It requires an extremely delicate foot on the accelerator. Snow tires can handle shallow snow, and the second time over goes easier. The possibility for immortality is greatly enhanced with four-wheel drive. If you think you can’t afford that, keep a couple hundred pounds of ballast in the trunk and work on your foot–accelerator relationship. Better yet, at least for retirees, stay home until the weather clears.

The ibuprofen seemed to have worked and brought my sleeping heart rate back down to the range that I consider my normal. The feet were not nearly as painful when walking yesterday morning but I did not push it and did not do a second walk during the day. I have taken one more days dose of ibuprofen and will see how the feet feel today with a different pair of shoes. The soles of the boots that I have put ~3,500 miles on have become somewhat thin which may be contributing to the problem. The walk this morning will be a test.

Washington was, however, sure of many things. Russia could not withstand a long war. It has. Its currency would collapse. It didn’t. (Remember Field Marshal Joe in the White House chortling that “The ruble is rubble?” It wasn’t.) The Russian public would rise and oust Putin. It didn’t. The rest of the world would rally around Washington and isolate Russia diplomatically. It didn’t. The sanctions would collapse the Russian economy. They didn’t. NATO’s superior weapons and tactics  would crush Russian forces. They didn’t. Russia would run out of artillery ammunition and missiles. It didn’t. NATO did.…
This is why wars so seldom turn out as the aggressors expect. In 1914 Germany started WWI, and lost. In 1939, it started WWII, and lost. In 1941 the Japanese attacked America, and lost. After this, the French re-invaded Vietnam, and lost. Then the Americans invaded Vietnam, and lost. The Russians invaded Afghanistan, and lost. Then the Americans invaded Afghanistan, and lost. Then the Americans started a war in Ukraine, and are losing. Now they want a war with China. — Fredwitz On War II by Fred Reed