Taping authors Keith Farnish (Time’s Up) and Kathy Harrison (Just in Case)

100603_keith_200.jpgToday we taped two lively long distance conversations. We retaped a conversation with Keith Farnish, since the earlier show we’d taped — our first using skype on a friend’s DSL line — had technical difficulties that made it unusable. Computer-savvy Keith gave us the fix for the problem afterwards. Today it worked like a charm — this time with Keith outdoors in the back yard in southern Scotland, where we videotaped our first birdsongs on another continent. Chipper!

As was the conversation. Keith is the author of Time’s Up: An Uncivilized Solution to a Global Problem. He brings us to the heart of the predicament we’re in … and his hopes for the future. His message is that we need to reconnect to the earth, to one another — and to see all the ways “the system” works to keep us disconnected. A system that benefits, actually, from convincing us we’re only consumers, barraging us with advertising, lying to us, distracting us with trivia. One way to step off the wheel is to limit the information coming in (and thus the propaganda and sales and lies). You’ll find many more treasures in our conversation when it’s produced. (Time’s Up is available free online.

Watch Time’s Up – An Uncivilized Solution (episode 175).

Our second taping was with Kathy Harrison, author of Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens. This vivacious and knowledgeable “middle-class mom” brings a sense of fun to the serious work of family preparedness. In our chat she focused on food preservation, providing some important perspectives to consider at the outset: where you live, what you like to eat, and the form of preservation that takes the least work and energy.

Following her suggestions fits right in with daily life, rather than being big project you need to mount (and never get around to). I like her emphasis on not doing it alone — just like our ancestors did — share the work, share the tools, and have a good time being together. I’d take her on my lifeboat in a flash — food aplenty and  homemade dandelion wine to top it off! [justincasebook.wordpress.com].

Watch Soccer Mom Prepares for the Unexpected (episode 203)

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