Talking of transformation, I've just signed up for another workshop. In keeping with my new lifestyle, I've registered for a Food Preservation Workshop. That's right, cannin' and jammin'. I'm thinking of taking my 13 year old daughter, Lauren, but I'm too afraid of her teenage mood swings to tell her yet. I might post it on her Facebook page or Tweet her or something. When I called to sign up this morning, I was told I need to bring "an apron, cutting board and a paring knife". This evoked another "Oh f#*k" moment. I don't own an apron, I do have a cutting board but it's marble and weighs about 1000 lbs and I had to Google paring knife. Should go really well.
It's interesting though, when I talk about my newly acquired skills from various obscure workshops, it's met with mixed reaction. My friends, the ones who know me really well, display reactions on a sliding scale...from smirk to uncontrollable outburst of hilarity. But others are excited, this lifestyle change doesn't appear to be as ludicrous as I feel when I talk about it. There is a real change of attitudes out there. The people who attend the same obscure workshops as me aren't what I thought (with the exception of well maintenance seminar where we were the youngest by 3 decades). There's a real movement of late Generation Xer's and Y's out there recognizing the need for change. The general feeling is that we need to preserve old fashioned skills and be equipped to provide for ourselves. Of course, this group is peppered with some crazy. I have listened to theories about the Zombie Apocalypse! Oh well, whatever the future holds for humanity, I'll be ready with my excess jars of jam and canned tomatoes. See you at my place!
