When I first moved to the East Coast of the United States I was struck by the abundance. It didn't really hit home until I settled into Virginia how rich this table is laid, though. Having been born and raised in the Western part of the country where water is scarce and plant life of a different nature it took me some time to realize the bounty outside my very door as I settled into life here in these mountains. Once I began to really study what lay at my feet I was amazed the original [European] settlers ever left to venture farther west. They walked away from a virtual buffet of nature and a relatively mild climate to brave hostile environs only to find themselves living in much less hospitable climes. Having spent many, many hours out and about on horseback in the desert I know of where I speak.
Which is why I find this article interesting__if not overly obvious.
Anyone who has studied or attempted to live off of the land in any form for even the shortest of time will know you cannot do so off of one crop. It will kill you. Ask the Irish with their potato famine. There is no civilization, whether it be agrarian or nomadic that relies solely on one food source.
The Corn Kachina
Maize
Grass Seed for flour
Squash
Cactus Pods
Beans
The Pueblo at Taos
The Corn Festival
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130402152434.htm
ReplyDeleteVirginia and Colorado are my two favorites. They are very different though.
ReplyDeleteMine, too, Augie. And they are very different but both in the temperate zone which I find interesting. I like New Mexico, too.
DeleteIt took me a long time to find beauty in the starkness of the skinny treed north -- I was used to the lush abundance of the east coast -- the fluffy fullness of trees, the ease and plenitude with which things grew... things don't grow so well here, but what does is sturdy and fairly constant.
ReplyDelete__nods__There is a different kind of beauty. Matt and I were talking about it the other night. I miss the Colo. high country which I think in many ways is similar at least in treescape to where you are. It's mainly pine with some Aspen but mainly pine and the big open sky. But here it's an enfolding of nature, like an embrace. I've never been anywhere else that felt quite like the eastern part of the continent. I can't imagine what it was like back when things were unmired by industrial interference. The water full of fish, the forest healthy, game abundant. It must have really been a paradise in it's own way.
DeleteVirginia makes me think of ocean and fish. Tasty fish!
ReplyDeleteI would agree with most of what you say. Here, at least. And I'll let you know when I don't. You probably already know that.
ReplyDeleteAll the places I've lived had their beauty of one form or another. Same for abundance, there is some almost everywhere. Unfortunately, population can be far too large to be supported from what is available naturally any more. And going to the store is far, far easier than going out and gathering, or even raising enough to support some if all our needs. And as we pretend to know, "variety is the spice of life" and, in fact somewhat of a necessity for health and vigor. Be that all as it may, I enjoy my laziness and display it whenever possible and much prefer doing my gardening at the grocery. Well, mostly.
MT C
Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteMust be getting better at this. Only took me five tries to get that posted. Maybe needing a new prescription can be helping. Those puzzles always get me.
MT C