Crouching Tiger

This is my grandaughter's first photo of me, well not exactly, she took two others with my head cut off, finally I decided in order to get my head in the photo , I'd have to crouch. Hence, "crouching tiger".

It is a beautiful brilliant day here. My friend and I walked the dogs around the pond ,as we do most mornings, I brought bread for the flock of ducks who have taken up residency at the pond. The swans don't seem to mind.I'm not sure how they are going to survive the winter.

I want to go somewhere Christmas shopping. In Newfoundland, there isn't a lot of choice. I could drive to Stephenville, an hour away, but the stores are the same as we have here. St John's is too far away. It takes a full day to drive there. If I were living in New Brunswick , I could drive to St Andrew's, Calais, Bangor , St John or Fredericton all within an hour from St Stephen. Living on an island isn't all romance.

Lately I've been thinking that if we go into a big recession (or God fobid, a depression) we aren't going to be in a good position. We rely on the ferry to bring in most goods. Newfoundland doesn't have a large agriculture segment. We do have fish, but that is heavily regulated and hard to do in the winter.

I've been daydreaming about building a log cabin in Mackerel Point and designing it so that it is powered by solar and wind power. A friend of mine has done that with their cabin on the Northern Peninsula. It' s a lovely A frame house that is powered by solar panels and a small windmill. They have a wood stove for heat and a well. He hunts and fishes and picks berries. If worse came to worse they could live off the land. Unlike us city slickers, who would have to rely on food banks.

Any way I can't think about that it's just too scarey. Anyone my age has parents who lived through the Great Depression and still carry the scars. They manifest as "scarcity". A fear that there is never enough money, food, love etc. etc. It's hard to shake that fear. Hearing the news of a worsening economy, night after night, makes me fearful. In a way it's not a bad thing, We in the west have a sense of entitlement, that others would never dream of. We have squandered our wealth. We are so disrespectful of the environment. We turn our faces to other's needs, be it at home or abroad.

Getting back to a sustainable life style would be a good thing. Living simply and mindfully. Helping our neighbours, because we may need their help in turn. Returning to an economy that isn't entirely built on money.Trading, I'll trade you my fish for your eggs. Reclaiming control of our economic system. Disempowering the greedy banks who created this mess (and the government who abetted ). Living simply could mean reclaiming a sense of "communtiy". That municipal administration have more say over how our taxes are spent. Revamping the whole notion of Taxes. One should only have to pay tax once and have more say over where that money is spent.

And on and on. We need to change the world. There are are so many bright people who are able and willing to do so. No matter what happens, that will not change.We will always have people with ideas and ideals. At least I hope so.