• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup seeds, nuts, or other add-ins. (I use 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 3 tbsp flax seeds)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey or agave nectar or a combination of them all
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 tbsp nut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• salt to taste (a pinch or two)

In a large bowl, mix the oats with your other add-ins . In a small saucepan heat the oil with the syrup or honey or agave nectar and molasses and add the vanilla, cinnamon, and salt with the nut butter. Heat until blended. Stir syrup mixture into the oats until everything is well coated. Spread mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (something shallow with sides is good). Cook in 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes (or until nicely browned), stirring every 12 minutes to ensure even cooking. I find that this cooking time varies depending on the weather, so keep an eye on your granola if you are not a fan of too brown granola.

After it’s all cooled, you might want to add chopped dried fruit or raisins. We’ve used raisins and dried blueberries. I imagine you could add shredded coconut or other dried fruits.

I eat it with lots of fresh fruit and plain yogurt. The kidlet & partner enjoy it with soy milk.

The great thing about it is that the recipe is your hands and you can alter it to reflect your preferences. You can adjust the amount of sweetener and fats to cut calories. If you’re feeding a lot of people you can make more or vice versa. You can add different flavors depending on your preferences. And once you have the main constituents in your pantry, the cost per serving is fairly inexpensive. Happy eating!

(Photos later)

See photos here.

I hope, of course, nothing like any of these scenarios will strike in our lifetimes. Perhaps something awful could happen, but collectively as a society we will be able to deal with it well, minimizing strife, loss of life and other hardships that might follow.

But maybe we won’t. What would I do then?

That question, when I ask it to myself, induces a raw sense of urgency that otherwise is completely absent. And why shouldn’t it be? After all, we live in a world of plenty. Shelter, food, water, clothes, sunshine, music, and safety abound. We are surrounded by the fruits of industry: buildings, roads, cars, entertainment, fresh fruits, low prices, cheap fuel, technology, iPhones, parties, and a million other desires and treats at our fingertips. What… me worry? Indeed, often there seems little sense in expending any effort fretting about some dark day that may never come. And usually I don’t.

But occasionally I do wonder if my nonchalance may one day prove foolish. OF course it is short-sighted to have only enough food to last me through next week; just enough water to make it through the weekend. I’ve no generator, no spare fuel, no cupboard full of dry goods. The question is whether I’ll ever have to pay a price for for my levity?

Especially after reading xtina’s latest post on gardening, I am reminded of the web of interdependence that I take for granted daily. I blindly accept the proposition that all the comforts and conveniences we enjoy today will always be there. And yet, it is obviously not so. Just last month, my colleagues in Charlotte were in a constant state of anxiety as the local gasoline supply dried up. People literally could not find gas, for weeks on end. It wouldn’t take much to disrupt our supply chain and render some essential resource difficult or impossible to aquire.

So what can we do about this?

My conclusion: become a survivalist. Methodically procure key provisions necessary to survive, without shelter, for a month or two. Water, food, and toiletries are obvious. Batteries, flashlights, matches, candles, are other essentials. To some degree this is merely common sense. Whether one labels it such or calls it ‘survivalism’ is largely a product of degree, I imagine. Should I consider things like self defense, a safety shelter, or, say, a stash of seeds and agriculture equipment?

I am not yet prepared to commit to the more extreme tenets of survivalism. But I do intend to make some common-sense provisions so that, should something catastrophic happen, I won’t be caught completely off guard. Perhaps over time I will endeavor to learn new skills and procure more serious equipment. But first, how about some water jugs and canned beans.

–

There are metric crap tons of survivalist info on teh interwebs, and I have no idea which ones are of any use or not, ergo the dearth of links here.

This business of setting goals, and focusing on the big rocks is not something to be taken lightly. It takes focus. Currently, there are two categories of goals that are occupying synapses on my cerebral cortex:

1. Household Necessities
2. Higher Callings

Which ones do you think are in the ‘Big Rock’ group? Yes, the Higher Callings. But thus far I have not been able to focus on them, as the Household Necessities are in the damn way: a stack of framed photos in the foyer; an unused turntable I need to flip on craigslist; the unplugged teevee that must be donated asap; a pile of dirty laundry; and a bunch of other similar, petty distractions.

As long as these chores little pebbles remain unfinished scattered about – and quite visible in my apartment – I am having a helluva time navigating to the hall of Big Rocks. Can’t seem to do it. But rather than complain, I’ve decided I’ll just start small (how counter-7 habits of me, I know).

So there we have Goal No. 1: The next 48 hours (work hours excepted) are dedicated to clearing my immediate environment of clutter. Immediately thereafter I will move on to developing my set of Quarterly Goals, followed by an action plan. Also, at some point I might acquire the bible of GTD.

I really want to develop the ability to create for myself and my loved ones because I don’t see what I want out there.  Once I figure these abbreviatiosn out I hope that I can forge ahead and challenge myself  Just copying them out has given me more insight.  Before they looked like ‘#^E#(*D E&#&(UW ^#&*&(JD’ but now the glimmer of their meaning is becoming more apparent, so maybe we’ll have some advancement sooner rather than later.

So after breakfast, we began. This is where frustration crept in. I was placing some of the woodwork around the windows, trying to visualize their placement and attempting to see how to proceed. Wade saw what I was doing and came over and moved the piece a half inch to the left.

“What are you doing?”

“That goes there.”

“No, it doesn’t. It goes where I had it.”

“That’s not how you explained it to me.”

“Yes, I did. It has to go there because…”

Let’s just say that it got heated. We are both new to what we are doing. We both have different ways of processing information. I collect information, I process, I plan, I visualize then I synthesize the information, tell Wade what I have learned and in the case of powertools, Wade executes. Well, this time the information, which is complicated and layered, transmuted in the explanation and from my mouth to Wade’s ear became a little…off.
For about 20 minutes there was tension, some raised voices, resignation, surrender, and compromise. We came to an agreement on how to proceed and got down to business. Wade brought our the router to finish the woodwork and I got out the primer to paint the raw wood of the windows and I painted and painted, eventually Wade came in and joined me in the painting.

Eventually Lucas returned home. He had a full 24 hours. Saturday he went to a dinner/dance and Sunday morning we went a wedding. By the time he returned he was tired. He laid in bed for a while, but then was ready for his favourite treat, a blend. Shortly thereafter Nanna and Nonno arrived to cllect Lucas and he was off again.

Eventually I finished painting in the bathroom and Wade ran off to go to Hell Depot to collect some final piece of ephemera to ensure the correct operation of the router and I stayed home to collect my thoughts.

Sometimes I pick the name of my entries based on what music I am listening to, or a book I’m reading or some piece of thought that becomes lodged in my brain. I picked the title of this entry because I was reading an article on life, the universe, and everything (no link, sorry) and I could not get that phrase out of my head. In aw ay it was related to our woodwork issues, but also to life in general. What can you make out of an omelet?

Before Lucas’ bath and bedtime, we watched the classic Chaplin classic, The Kid. Lucas dug it and so did we. Then he went bed early and we relaxed for a few child-free hours.

Ever since Lucas could hold a pencil, crayon, or a pen, we have encouraged him to draw, write, and express himself. Sometimes he is totally into it and sometimes he just wants to eat the pen. He can draw a line and call it an ‘i’ or a circular thing and call it an ‘o’. Yesterday I taught him how to scribble. OK, I dint really ‘teach’ him, I just encouraged him to do what he does and gave it a name. Months ago I decorated a little table for him and painted the top with some chalkboard paint and gave him basket of sidewalk chalk and it’s come in handy for these days when he can’t get enough drawing. Today he covered the whole table with his scribbles and he would draw something and then tell me ‘moon’,'big moon’, ‘i’, ‘o’, or ‘scribble’. Of course, I was amused and enthralled by his creative output — much as I am amused and enthralled by all that he does.

I was thinking about it and trying to come up with something to write about for today (as I mentioned I am joining in with the madness) and it struck me that this month of compulsory writing are my scribbles. I am learning how to express myself with my tools, learning that writing is about sitting down and writing, not just thinking or talking about writing. I am finding my voice and practicing my ‘i’s and my ‘o’s and my ‘moon’s. The kid and I, we are just alike.

so many projects agoin’ on here at the casa of wex. sometimes we have completion, sometimes they drag on and on and on.

this project alluded to several months ago has reached completion and has even been enjoyed for several weeks. The timeline from concept to completion was about 6 months. The result is a one-of-a-kind colorful table for the wee one. He likes the child-size chairs very much and draws on the top every day (as well as other this, but hey, it’s just chalk.)

one down, four hundred and fifty to go.

to conclude, just before i strolled into class [10 minutes late] i received a call from daryle. guess what? he wants me to redesign his web site. wooooo hooooooooooo!! another client! hahahahah!!

ps. make is cool but why did they make it so i can’t read it. that is dumb, man.