Observe our Environment

The older I get, the more observant I have become. Recently I have discovered that I can eat Cactus. It grows well in Florida. Around my home I have several large Prickly Pear Cactus. I tried the Tuna. They are delicious. I tried eating nopales. They are delicious. I originally planted the cactus to protect my windows from peeping toms. The bedroom windows face the road and I didn’t want anyone accidentally glancing in and seeing a nightmare shock. I am older and my body is anything but sleek, elegant, or something wonderful to look at. I chose Prickly Pear because you do nothing to grow it. You simply throw an ear on the ground and let it grow. Unbelievably I have one that is 15 feet high and 8 feet wide after only 5 years. The front porch has another Prickly Pear close to the same size.
This is the point I am trying to bring across. Many people are planning to face the upcoming disaster that will strike the United States. I was asked what is going to be the monetary unit. Currently, the answer would be Euro Dollars. The European market is much stronger than ours. The workers are much happier and kept better than US workers. When the global disaster comes, we should be aware there wouldn’t be any monetary unit. No matter how much money you have, it will have no value. Diamonds, precious stones, gold, or silver will no longer have value. What will have value are clean water, food, and shelter.
In my dotage I have becoming more aware of my environment. I have started studying cultures that survive simply and in harmony with nature. All of our current food products will no longer be available. You will not be able to stockpile food reserves for any great length of time since our foods are processed and will spoil after a length of time known as shelf life. We will have to once again grow our food without starving between the different growing seasons. One way to survive is to learn and understand the natural grocery store surrounding us.
I was talking to my neighbor today. She was proudly showing me a natural ground cover she had discovered. We had discussed ceasing the growing of English lawn grass and allowing natural drought resistant ground covers to take over. The plant she showed me was a succulent. She had a natural cactus appearing in her yard without human intervention. It made me understand instantly that nature is already changing because of the climactic changes. Florida is no longer a sub tropical place. It is turning into an arid land. We should start paying more attention to what is already happening around us. We should learn what natural foods surround us and it is not a frozen dinner or McDonalds.
With love,
White Calf Buffalo Woman