It is so much easier to NOT be a permie. Warning: irony ahead...

It is so much easier to NOT be a permie.
You get to watch TV, all the best shows on cable, satellite, dish, Tivo...everything, all the time.
You don't have to worry about where your food came from. It came from the store.
It's not NPK, it's NFL, NBA, NHL, all on NBC.
The lawn in green and tidy, just like everyone else's. There is no standing out in the crowd.
You never have to worry about a tick on your butt.
Press the button, heat comes on. Can it be easier?
Teflon pans are so easy to clean. When they wear out, just get another one.
You can have THE BEST hair. You'll need the Paul Mason Salon products: shampoo, conditioner, cleansing rinse, pre-mousse, mousse, post-mousse, and finishing rinse. Oh, and the spritzer. I just LOVE the spritzer.
There is no worrying about climate warming, or whatever that is.
Everything is electric: the clothes dryer, the hair dryer, the nail polish dryer, hair curler, iron, stove, can opener, carving knife.
Dinner is so fast and easy. It'll be here in 10 minutes.
Cabbage is so gross. Instead, you can have the Cobb Salad at Zaxby's with the Parisian Viniagrette, and the croutons come individually wrapped.
You don't have to spend your time milling wheat. Just get the Harvest Grain bread. It's made with grain so you KNOW its good for you.
You don't have to compost. You can just throw it away. They'll take it.
Permie people don't use fabric softener or deodorant.
Hugakaola
You don't have to scrub dishes by hand. Just put it through the dishwasher and press the pots and pans button. Run it a second time if you have to.
Chickens are dirty. They carry diseases.
If you want to be green, you don't have to burn oil for heat. You can burn natural gas. It's renewable.
I'm not worried about car emissions. My SUV get 16 MPG on the highway and it has Economode if I really need it.
Dirt? Get a Swiffer.
You can just leave the lights on. CFLs don't use much power.
It's a shame that farm is still there. It's an eyesore from the solarium of my condo. They should buy it and put in a wading pool.
I am saving the world. I use recyclable plastic shopping bags whenever I get the chance.
I'd buy whole foods but I cant eat a whole chicken. I get the Tyson boneless, skinless breasts so I don't throw away as much.
GMOs are good for you.
That fertilizer stuff washes right off. They do it at the store.
Don't waste you money on that expensive 'organic' stuff. It's just a marketing trick to get you to spend more. My BFF Tiffani told me all about it.
If the gas price gets too high, they'll just build another factory to make it.
Hemenway? I read For Whom the Bell Tolls back in Junior College.

That's funny, I was just ruminating on and writing about this today, in a different way.

There's a better way to live, and we haven't found it yet. None of us. Some of us are stumbling towards it, trying to navigate our personal histories and the trickiness of a new way (especially when all my friends have iphones). We're all working towards the good (just by being here and learning, you are walking a righteous path), but there's none of us perfect. I still watch TV. I'd bet you drive a car.

Change has to be grassroots. So we have to model a better way, and evangelize to the world. Build local food systems, local monetary systems, back local candidates. Get involved. Know your neighbors. Start taking care of ourselves and each other.

Teach your friends how to garden. Bring your extra veggies to the local market and try to barter with them. Then, bring those same veggies down the street to the soup kitchen, maybe eat a meal with some strangers while you're there. Offer yourself up as an example of how one should live, and live a life worth emulating. Talk to others about how they think the world should be, and let their ideas affect your own.

If we really want a sea-change, it must come from within. Your light must shine so bright that others brighten in its presence. And all of us who desire to live better lives must make connections, both locally and globally. It's good to know we're not alone, that we're not the crazy neighbor with a front yard full of vegetables and weeds. We are the vanguard of the future, and we should shout our intentions from our (living) rooftops.

But we can't disparage anyone's choices, and expect them to value ours. Humans have a preference for what makes them feel safe and comfortable, sometimes to the detriment of their better senses. Cultural norms are deeply engrained, and our particular society is plagued by the idea that what we can buy defines us. We're also undereducated, fed both food and ether that stupefies, and kept so busy making our daily bread that we don't have energy to think about anything but sitting down and drinking a beer at the end of the day.

So give people a break. But also give them homemade pesto, because it's easy to make and tastes great on pasta. Wear a pin that says, "Permaculture? Ask Me How!" on it. Wear homemade moccasins to the grocery store. It's a cliche to say 'be the change you want to see', but how else are things going to change?

Visiting family?

Can I get an amen ? Preach girl preach !!! Pass the plate while they're all fired up !

yep, i hear ya! i have my rant days, its all good.

on a side note, when i am out collecting leaf mould on the streets, and the kids ask what i am up to, ( inquisitive little buggers they are!) first they think i am mad, then, when i get on their level, they wanna help!

fifi, crazy enviro - mentalist in the making!.

I enjoy laughing at myself/ourselves - thanks for the chuckles, Ken!

sarcasm does not translate well over the internet.

A sarcasm font is desperately needed!

Ken , I know how you feel . After predators have reduced my hen flock , plum curculios have left me with blobs that look like peaches , yellow jackets moved in right next to the front door , and the Ruth Stout method kicks starts Johnson grass explosions I know how you feel . Today they will start clear cutting 140 acres of kentucky woods adjacent to my property in order to grow round up ready row crops . Oh , and I pulled another tick off my butt ! Sometimes a microwave pizza and an individually wrapped twinkie for dinner seems the way to go . Keep your chins up ! Contemplate the words of Wavy Gravy " If you can't laugh , it's not funny anymore . "

I'm not so sure that it is the grain that makes that bread so good for you.
I think it's the 43 other ingredients on the label that make it a complete meal.

Yummy !

You left out when you're a permie:

When your friends are dying their hair, you realize you don't get to pick new colors every month because your hair has yet to turn grey.

When they complain about insomnia or health problems, the closest you can come is, "I dropped something heavy on my foot" or "I forgot to duck when I walked under that low apple branch again." Because your health is pretty good and you aren't having any trouble sleeping (or getting up most days).

You don't get that thrill of excitement when a new restaurant opens in town because you know home cooking tastes better than anything you can order out.

You whiz through the grocery store with the small cart and leave before your kids have had a chance to taste many of the free samples, thus depriving them of free calories.

You have to ponder buying a new chest freezer to hold more meat; or a second refrigerator to hold all the milk your cow is giving, or think your home may need some renovations to make a humidity-controlled cheese cave.

Fresh ingredients are the best toys and you can't buy them; so relatives are at a loss what to give you for your birthday.

You miss your doctor because you rarely see him/her any more.

Playdates are always at your house because the kids like to play with the baby animals and pond and hike in the woods.

People you barely know start hinting the apples must be nearly ready now.

You start sizing up people's lawns when you drive past - how many fruit trees could they fit there? What kind of swale... totally missing the "are we there yet?" conversations you could be having with the kids.

think your home may need some renovations to make a humidity-controlled cheese cave

I was starting to think I was a freak!

I keep a map in the truck so that if I come across an orphan fruit or nut tree, I can mark it for later.

When I come across a pile of leaves, I hit the brakes.

When I see a pile of leaves, brush, or fallen trees, I knock on the door and ask if I can have it.

it takes all my strength to drive past the local hardware store when the sign says CHICKS ARE IN.

My cast iron collection weighs more than my stove, and 2 of my stoves are cast iron.

When people talk about TV shows, I have no idea what they are talking about.

I have never seen: Lost, American Idol, The Pawn Store...not sure what else.

After Thanksgiving at my brother's house, I take home a bucket of scraps.

I take out the trash once a month. It has no odor, ever. One barrel, 2 light bags, mostly plastic. I'm working on reducing this.

I bought a box of trash bags, 80 count, shortly after I bought the place in '10. Most of them are left. I use the trash bags that held the leaves.

I have no idea how much a dozen eggs cost.

I have a dozen jars on the shelf with a mushroom label. One for basil, one for oregano, one for rosemary...

I don't have A compost heap. I have 6 compost heaps.

I don't mow the lawn...until it's ready for harvest.

I view falling leaves as harvest season.

I keep an eye on the bull, waiting patiently for something to harvest. There he goes! brb

I pee outside, with intention and purpose.

I don't compost dryer lint. The clothes line has no lint.

I use plastic cups because I don't want to wash them, and I need a lot of plant pots.

Is there a tick on my butt?

I dont think it the least bit odd to have a container of worms in the garage.

Ken Peavey wrote:My cast iron collection weighs more than my stove, and 2 of my stoves are cast iron.

Hahahahahahaha!

i would kiss my latest frog but i don't want him to turn into a prince!