If you read any of my earlier posts about The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, you'll remember that I was feeling a little unprepared should some apocalyptic event throw us into survival mode. I consider myself to be good at a lot of handy things. For example, I can knit, I can cook, I can bake, I can garden (flowers and vegetables), I can mow the lawn, I can read, I can do athletic things, and the list goes on. However, what I've realized is that NONE of those things is going to come in handy if we're one day left without any electricity or ways to communicate. So, I decided that this summer I am going to learn more useful survival tactics.
Now my dad, he'd survive. He is a fishing maniac who spends hours upon hours day after day rowing his boat up and down the reservoir trolling for massive brown lake trout. I've gone with him several times, and caught a fish once. But fishing would not help me to survive, because you see I have a severe allergy to fish and seafood. My skin itches and swells, hives develop, and in some cases my throat has been known to close. So I carry enough Benadryl to drug myself into a coma if taken all at once, along with an Epi-Pen. Relying on fish would not be an option for me, and that's assuming that the water sources wouldn't be contaminated with whatever caused the desperate need to survive. So fishing is out. My dad is also a successful hunter, both with a bow and rifle. I am not one of those people that winces when someone says the word "venison", because I am actually quite fond of the stuff after growing up on it. Simmer some cutlets in cream of mushroom soup and serve along rice and you've got yourself a tasty meal! But I don't know how to hunt. So I'm adding that to my list of things I want to learn how to do this year, you know, just in case. I should also learn how to gut the animal properly and then cook it. Otherwise, there is very little point in leanring ot hunt.
Lastly, I want to figure out and identify plants in my region that are edible because let's face it, I wouldn't be able to garden asmost likely I would be on the move. It is highly likely that people would get crazy and start looting and killing in order to survive. I know this because I watched the movie The Road by Cormac McCarthy and I gave a similar assignment to my students, encouraging them to come up with ways to survive: most groups declared they'd loot people's houses and stores and become cannibals. Very nice. One group consisted of three Boy Scouts, and they had a very plausible plan in place. I'm glad they'd survive. Anyway, so my husband keeps mentioning The Venus Project, so I took some time to look it up on wikipedia (my go-to source for quick information even though many will argue its validity) and I found it to be an interesting movement. I learned that the creator once revealed in a fiery argument that the purpose of The Venus Project is not to change today's society because it really isn't feasible (Who runs our country? Filthy rich people. Who wouldn't want to see money become a thing of the past? Filthy rich people. So we're screwed there.), but to leave a post-apocalyptic society with specific instructions about how to create a better, more advanced society without using money. I like the idea.
There are also links on the site to the Zeitgeist Movement, which if you haven't watched the Zeitgeist movies (I believe they are still free to view online), you might want to. I've only watched the first one, and not the part about religion. Prepare to have your world rocked, your values shaken, and your current beliefs thrown right out the window. A positive is that you'll start to listen to that voice inside you, otherwise known as your soul, as it tells you everything you've already known about Who You Are and what you want to do. I'll include the links at the bottom for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy and feel free to comment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Venus_Project
http://www.thevenusproject.com/
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
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