God Bless the Ranchers, God Bless the Farmers

Uncle Bubba was driving through central Florida headed north. For a man that has made the trip many times over the past nearly 20 years, it’s an oddity. It is definitely a case study in how mans’ greed and ignorance can ruin the environment as well as another man’s livelihood and lifestyle. Where it was once vast rolling green vistas of pastures and prairies, it is now a vista of shingled hip roofs. Fighting traffic and following ineptly poor drivers trying to get back to the country is nearly futile. There are miles and miles of highways and county roads that wind through what used to be ranch land. Now it’s just a cancerous growth of neighborhoods; a blight of cookie cutter homes and strip mall storefronts and gas stations. Myriads of fake grand landscaped entrances to second-rate developments appear for mile after mile. Uncle Bubba pulled out a detailed map of Florida and figured that, discounting wildlife management areas and parks and wetlands, one is never more than 2 miles from a road throughout most of the state. So have no fear if you should get lost, you don’t have far to go to find someone to give you guidance. Every so often you may round a curve and see a few lazy cattle grazing amongst their white cattle egret friends. In view of a few scattered palms or some old growth oak trees, they are sandwiched between developments where a rancher is trying to hold on to a dying business and lifestyle. You see, a man that makes it his life to make a living from the land has a different agenda. It only behooves him to take care of the environment and keep the things of nature in go working order for the long haul.

This says very little for the man whom chooses to be a developer as a profession. It’s painfully obvious that their god is money and their goals are shortsighted. Any thought of the future generations doesn’t enter their one track minds. Having an eye for esthetics, Uncle Bubba can easily point out the shoddy workmanship in the acres and acres of houses. It’s obvious to the trained eye that these homes are not built to last; rather they are built for a quick profit.

Shame on the rest of us that sign on the dotted line; we can’t wait to have our new home built and to hell with the land that was once a pristine wetland; after all, it was already stripped and plowed over, and we just bought one little spot. To hell with the rancher or the farmer who is dedicated to producing food for our tables. We don’t need them anyway; we can get our food from other countries cheaper. Who cares if it’s raised in sub-par standards with unrestricted use of chemicals and pesticides? Who cares if the livestock are mistreated and diseased? Who cares if we put our own families out of work? In Bubbie’s view, it is just this limited and expendable mentality that has created this once wonderful nation’s current disappointing condition. But then again we all know it, we just don’t care.

Lets Go Green!

Let's go green? Ha! You selfish son-of-a... In the light of the new revival to go green it has become the fashion to reuse and recycle and renounce. Isn’t it sad that we have to be sold on the idea that going green is good, only because its fashionable. What? you say. I am going green because I care about the environment. Really. So the ad campaigns and celebrity endorsements had nothing to do with it? Are you so lost in your own delusions of self importance that you’ve failed to notice that we have had to have a television channel dedicated to going green to make you feel good about yourself? Of course you realize that all of this marketing requires environmentally damaging energy to produce.

In Bubbie’s view, we should have never been un-green. God created us; He created the green earth. He gave us dominion over the earth with all of its sustainable resources to keep us alive indefinitely. He gave us intelligence, which no other creature has. And with our intelligence we are able to interpret and manipulate matter. So we are creators, just as God created us. So then, that is how God created us in His image. He made us all creators. To be able to interpret and manipulate matter can only be for our benefit or our detriment. Why would we want it to be for our detriment? Why would we want to destroy what God has given us? Why would we take the green earth, which is supposed to sustain us indefinitely, and ruin it so that we will all eventually perish? What is the point? But if we live in harmony with the earth, we use it resources to sustain our lives, and we use our intelligence to replenish what we use, then we are using our creator-ness in a responsible way. The only thing outside of our own sustenance is to take care of one another. That is our purpose. We are creators, we are to survive, we are to take care of one another and love one another. It is our motives that are in question. In Bubbie’s view, we should be green because we love our creator and His creation, not to brag to our peers how wonderful we are to reuse and recycle.

2010 Yobabytes Part 2

To expand on Uncle Bubba’s comments on knowing too much, he offered these points in our conversation. Consider email, texting, tweeting, facebook, myspace, etc... within seconds we can know anyones’ business. We can know their personal data that they voluntarily post like their birthday, address, schools they attended, etc... We know about they’re relationships, no matter how nasty or embarrassing. We can know all about their antics at every party, no matter how nasty or embarrassing.

We carry our cell phones everywhere, all the time. We text and tweet and check our email. We are constantly in touch and believe everything we read. We voluntarily contribute to gossip about our selves since we only write about what we are doing and what we think. Admit it, we only really care about what we are saying and not what someone has told us; not unless its juicy gossip.

Now consider your grandmama’s day. The folks of that era lived their lives in private behind closed doors. It was taboo to air their dirty laundry in public. Words were chosen carefully and actions were judged on their merit. The person in their immediate company was their primary focus. They had the time, and took the time to get to know someone; and with much invested they cherished long and meaningful relationships. Remind me again why that was bad?

In Bubbie’s view, life is to be lived and shared. He ain’t no more scared to skin a buck as peck on a computer keyboard; that’s just part of life today. But he values people and the quality of the time spent with them.

2010 Yobabytes Part 1

Uncle Bubba has been scarce lately. I’ve looked for him often but to no avail. This usually says more about me than Uncle Bubba; it usually means that I have become too inadvertently distracted and time has slipped by. So this morning, when I wasn’t expecting any company, there was Uncle Bubba on my doorstep. Like the father of the prodigal son, I welcomed him with open arms and apologized for staying away for so long. In typical Uncle Bubba fashion, he saw no need for a fuss and wondered aloud at why I make such a big ta-do about nothin’.

I think it was no coincidence that he showed up at a point when I was thinking about the new year... 2010 of all things. Didn’t y’all think we’d be farther along in things by now? I thought we’d be living a lot more like the Jetsons, with computerized automation machines in our homes and we’d be all flying jet powered cars. Anyway, at these few days after Christmas it’s hard to not ponder what the new year might bring and feel somewhat simultaneously nostalgic. In chatting with Bubbie over a couple of hot cups of coffee, we agreed that in contemplation of the state of our union and the state of our society, one doesn’t get all warm and fuzzy. In the words of Uncle Bubbie, “I look around and wonder what the hell is going on? We’re goin’ to hell in a hand basket!” Its not difficult to echo his sentiment recognizing that causality postulates that we now know too much. Yobabytes of information! We know so much that most of what we know has little to do with relevance or truth.

Think about our sources of information; gossip, cell phones, smart phones, text messaging, email, TV, computers, magazines, newspapers, books, and the internet. There is so much data available to us, it has become information overload. And most news is useless. For example, why do we need to know that an 80 year old lady was hit by a car in a town 200 miles away? Because it was a hit and run and they are searching for the perp, or there is some purpose as to safety and a lesson learned perhaps? But that is seldom the case; if you pay attention, much of the “news” is just random stories with no relevance to the betterment of the community. Today we heard that a trailer burned down on Christmas leaving a family homeless, but no information on how to help them. So much of the news is just story after story of bad news with no relevance to society’s advancement.

Think again about our sources of information; gossip, cell phones, smart phones, text messaging, email, TV, computers, magazines, newspapers, books, and the internet. Each one of these items documents information originating from a human source with an innate agenda. There is nothing wrong with that; its only important to remember that nothing is truly objective. Its been proven that most “experts” on any media outlet is more than likely an expert in talking for money, not necessarily an expert on any one subject. In Bubbie’s view, we’d test a well to make sure that our livestock are not drinking contaminated water, yet we’ll so eagerly draw our news from contaminated sources poisoning our minds. As his mama always told him, “There’s 2 sides to every story; and somewhere in the middle is the truth.”

Bacon!

It was a cold December evening with a bone chilling drizzle falling like drops from a large showerhead. Uncle Bubba went to his favorite market, no doubt looking for some comforting cuisine to warm the cockles of his heart buried beneath layers of cotton clothing. In his quest he bought a small package of bacon thinking of sharing the aromas and robust flavors of a hot breakfast of bacon and eggs with Sweet Pea. He smiled warmly thinking of gazing into her sweet sleepy eyes through the steam rising up off his cup of black coffee. Ah, yes Bubbie thought, we need coffee and he strolled off toward the coffee isle, bacon in hand. Let me tell you what that delicious bacon was not; it was not processed by grinding the small pieces of pork belly into an emulsion and, adding a cure mixture that includes chemicals such as sodium nitrite which is added primarily as a color fixer that turns meats a reddish, fresh-looking color. The emulsion is cured for a predetermined period of time and thereafter placed into molds and slowly cooked at varying temperatures. The molded cooked product thereafter is chilled. In an alternate process, the small pieces of pork belly are cured prior to grinding into an emulsion. In a further embodiment, the bacon product is chilled after curing and packaged for marketing. Mmmm… Doesn’t that just some so good?!

No, Uncle Bubba’s bacon was cut fresh with the dark brown cracklin’ still running along one edge.

If you have never had real bacon, it looks like ham in color and texture. And its cut thick, at least one eighth inch if not more. When frying you can hear the cracklin’ crackling, calling and cackling out over the rim of the frying pan to your belly, “Get ready baby ‘cause I’m coming to getcha!” Shrinkage is not an issue unlike the shriveled up slivers Oscar Meyer delivers and the whole house doesn’t stink to high heaven. The bacon Bubbie bought was lightly smoked and the flavor is mild. As it accompanies a couple of fried eggs and toast from the kitchen counter to the breakfast table, the scenery is beautiful; the aroma enticing. As Bubbie enjoys that crispy bite he wonders why we stopped expecting all of our food to be fresh and healthy and naturally tasty. In Bubbie’s view, its time to get back to natural foods and use our common sense. Mmmm… Now that’s bacon!