Rest Assured, Everyone, I Was Out There Burning Petroleum Products Today
The strawberries have a home.
Some percentage or another of an acre in the upper field, prepared and ready to be planted into when the strawberry plugs get here. It's plowed and disked and the beds are ready. It was one of those late summer/and/or/early fall days that was just about perfect. The mountains shone green and the sky shone blue and the soil turned black and moist. Everything smelled good and there was a cool breeze and I was still plowing late in the afternoon when the sun got low and I got to watch my shadow riding beside me as I finished up. It was one of those days that gets about as perfect as seems reasonable to expect.
What was going on in the rest of the world, I had no idea. There was a question of whether there would be any gasoline anywhere, and what would happen if there was not. For me that boils down to market. Will there be market on Saturday? Should I burn what what little gas I have getting to market and back, or, should I sit tight? Will people be out and about in Asheville, or will everyone be hunkered down? That's why it seemed so strange to be sitting on the tractor all day watching deisel rise up out of the smokestack and curl into the atmosphere. But the strawberries needed a home.
There were doomsday scenarios being tossed about as I left the Wednesday afternoon market, with the end of the world being predicted as only it can be in Asheville. Random people appeared at market claiming there would be no gasoline available for weeks. Major cities in the Southeast would be dry by Sunday. Policemen were guarding gas stations. As a counterpoint, some predicted a return to normalcy as soon as the sun raised itself up in the morn. No one seemed to know for sure and I went to bed Wednesday night with my bets hedged.
There have been a number of phone calls today regarding our Saturday market. Should we or shouldn't we? Will you be there or not? A* seemed to be the final authority on the matter. She's the only one of us vendors who lives in Asheville, and I decided to rely on her judgement. We spoke once early, remained unresolved, and agreed to speak later in the day.
My question: Is life in Asheville normal and routine enough that people will be shopping for organic produce, or will people stay at home and conserve every drop of gasoline. It all hinged on this: how normal is normal?
There was a message on my machine from A* about five this evening. She said she'd call me later in the evening about market, but that she'd be out of the house for a while. She was going to a potluck.
Some percentage or another of an acre in the upper field, prepared and ready to be planted into when the strawberry plugs get here. It's plowed and disked and the beds are ready. It was one of those late summer/and/or/early fall days that was just about perfect. The mountains shone green and the sky shone blue and the soil turned black and moist. Everything smelled good and there was a cool breeze and I was still plowing late in the afternoon when the sun got low and I got to watch my shadow riding beside me as I finished up. It was one of those days that gets about as perfect as seems reasonable to expect.
What was going on in the rest of the world, I had no idea. There was a question of whether there would be any gasoline anywhere, and what would happen if there was not. For me that boils down to market. Will there be market on Saturday? Should I burn what what little gas I have getting to market and back, or, should I sit tight? Will people be out and about in Asheville, or will everyone be hunkered down? That's why it seemed so strange to be sitting on the tractor all day watching deisel rise up out of the smokestack and curl into the atmosphere. But the strawberries needed a home.
There were doomsday scenarios being tossed about as I left the Wednesday afternoon market, with the end of the world being predicted as only it can be in Asheville. Random people appeared at market claiming there would be no gasoline available for weeks. Major cities in the Southeast would be dry by Sunday. Policemen were guarding gas stations. As a counterpoint, some predicted a return to normalcy as soon as the sun raised itself up in the morn. No one seemed to know for sure and I went to bed Wednesday night with my bets hedged.
There have been a number of phone calls today regarding our Saturday market. Should we or shouldn't we? Will you be there or not? A* seemed to be the final authority on the matter. She's the only one of us vendors who lives in Asheville, and I decided to rely on her judgement. We spoke once early, remained unresolved, and agreed to speak later in the day.
My question: Is life in Asheville normal and routine enough that people will be shopping for organic produce, or will people stay at home and conserve every drop of gasoline. It all hinged on this: how normal is normal?
There was a message on my machine from A* about five this evening. She said she'd call me later in the evening about market, but that she'd be out of the house for a while. She was going to a potluck.
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