Monday, November 30, 2009

2012? Move to Imlil.

did anyone see the end-of-the-world flick 2012? i don't know about you, but it opened my eyes to millions of new ways to die that i need to be terrified about that i hadn't even thought of yet! forget firey airline crashes and mini meets lorry on the A-14, now i have exploding mountains, lava-filled crevasses, tidal waves, imploding supermarkets...totally depressing.

but like many apocalyptic films, it got me to thinking about what i would do if there was some sort of epic society-destroying event: i would die. probably of starvation or exposure.


but i know who probably wouldn't die: the Berbers. high in the Atlas mountains of Morocco, there lives a group of people who still don't have electricity in many of their village homes. and the public spaces have only had it since 2003. they grow their food, weave their carpets, build houses with sticks and stones, carry their goats around, and teach their children to do the same. they are, literally, living with one foot in the past.


they do have schools, a "modern" hospital, some access to telephones and satellite t.v., and a few motor vehicles between them, so it isn't the stone age. the children looked happy and chubby, like children should, shooting marbles or playing football. everyone was working at something, instead of sitting on their asses. i even saw a one-legged 20-something guy hiking up the mountain on a crutch behind his cement-carrying mule as part of a construction crew. these folks are hard-core.


i am sure that i'm noble savaging a little bit about the Berbers, but regardless of their relative quality of life to the modernities of Western Europe, they definitely would have a much higher survival prospect than i would on Independence Day. they inspire a person to learn to plant and harvest. gather and preserve. hew and mortar. weave and sew. unfortunately, that "person" isn't me.


sure, i try to keep an herb garden alive and i can reattach a button, but i don't envision heading out the the prairie Laura Ingalls' style any time soon. so my plan is to keep visiting these cultures around the world, with appreciation and respect for their knowledge, skill, and relative odds against mine while embracing the reality that although myself or my people may not survive in the long run, i sure have it good in the short one.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

flattered, annoyed

somebody stole my kickass jack o' lantern. and they didn't even have the decency to smash it to pieces in some gory, messy way in my front yard. so much for tricks.