Useful Things We Never Learned in School

No husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes.  You'd think a lot of husbands would need to know that sort of thing; Tiger Woods would certainly have been better off staying home and helping around the house.

There are all sorts of other things not taught at Stanford, nor at any other college of which I am aware.  How to barter is at the top of that list.

We had a friend ask us today if she could buy some of our eggs.  We, of course, told her no, but she could trade us something for them.  "Why don't you sell them?" she asked.  Our answer?  "Because then someone we don't like, or who (more importantly) doesn't really appreciate our chickens might get our eggs."

Production was a very personal thing for most of human history.  In hunter-gatherer societies, you knew intimately everyone involved in the collection and preparation of every bite you took.  You also knew who made your shelter, who raised your kids, and who had your back when you were surrounded by sabertoothed tigers.

Somewhere along the way, civilization has devolved into worse than just a symbolic economy -- we don't really have a problem with using money instead of trading things, but we do find it emblematic of a larger kind of disconnect.  When most people spend just a few hours a day with their own children, when they have no idea how many days ago the eggs on their plate were deposited from a chicken's woozle to the impersonal mechanical egg collector, when they can't remember the last time they picked their own fruit, when they've never ground their own flour... there's something wrong.

So, we barter.  Our friend from today is going to help out with our painting projects this spring.  From another source, we traded for lumber this week.  Some of our friends leave us leaves (Some even anonymously!  Thanks, whoever you were!)  Some give us greens for the chickens.  We're always angling for some of Hugh and Linda's produce (and especially blackberry cobbler!)

The human element is missing from our economy; it won't be brought back by anything other than human beings talking to each other, and reconnecting to our economic origins.  We may not be able to get away from the almighty dollar at every turn, but know this:  if you want to 'shop' at Myrtle's place, your most valuable currency is your good will.

Happy farming!