Punchy.
After talking about it the other night I decided that I would be making a beer to be done by the time we have one of our family baby showers. I have been brewing my own beer for a few years now. I do not always have beer on hand that I have brewed, but I do like to make it and from time to time enjoy one of my own beers. We have toyed with the idea of naming it something fun. Your mom has thrown out Proud Papa Stout, and Dirty Diaper stout. I am not sure what to call it but I can already tell from the happy gurgles in the vapor lock that it is on it's way to being another good batch.
I like brewing my own beer. At Thanksgiving I like to get our turkey's from my uncle Lynn who raises them every year. In years past we have put some money into buying a quarter or a half of a Cow or a pig. To me, it is all about buying things and making things close to home. I would rather spend a bit more at a farmers market and shake hands with the guy who grew the produce I am eating than to buy my apples at a grocery store and buy them from somebody I have not met or know. This is not always easy, and it does not always happen, but I like it when it does.
I would rather bake a loaf of bread and know what is in it, than to buy one at the store, it does not always happen but I prefer it when it does. I know who raised my Turkeys, I know my uncle Lynn is not giving them growth hormones to make them bigger. I know the 4-H kid who is raising his cow or pig as a school project is learning how to, and one day, I hope I can buy beef from him somewhere where I can shake his hand when I buy the steaks or hamburger.
As much as possible know where your food comes from. It matters. There was a time when you did not get fruit all seasons, You could not get a slice of watermelon in December. Some would argue that we have progressed. We are living in an age where I can get fresh salmon in Utah. But one has to ask with all the progress do we look enough at home for things. I can get Fresh Alaska Salmon, but is that worth the cost to the planet to ship it to me the same day? Maybe it is, maybe not, but I feel that we have lost something when we stop getting things at home.
The day we can't build a piece of furniture, or make our own clothes, or any number of a thousand other things we become dependent on other people. I am not saying that depending on other people is bad, it has created a world where we are incredibly connected and that is a very cool thing. But the moment where a hole on the seam of your shirt means you have to throw it out instead of fixing it we have lost something that our grandparents and theirs before them knew. The minute we use technology but do not know how it works we have lost something vital.
Learn how to make and build things, learn how to sew and work with wood, how to bake bread and make food from scratch. It matters because as long as it is not an entirely lost art, you are doing something so save it, and that alone is worth understanding and doing it for.
-Dad
