Paratus Familia Gear

We are very pleased to announce that we now have T-shirts and moral patches available!

Both shirts and patches are emblazoned with the iconic Wolverine (long known as the symbol of survivalism) on a background of Military Green.  We love this stuff!

If any of you are interested in purchasing either the shirts, the patches or both, you can click on this link or click on the picture of the shirt or patch on the right-hand side of this blog - they will all get you to the correct page.

And, remember, the remake of Red Dawn is supposed to hit theaters next month - have your gear ready!

Thoughts From a Russian Immigrant

What follows is an article I came across in a North Idaho newspaper.  The thoughts expressed where hauntingly sobering and eloquently stated.  It is something we all NEED to read.  The writing is on the wall, folks.  

I contacted the author, and with her permission, am posting this missive on these pages.  Listen to the voice of experience - she speaks the truth.

_________________________________________

I was asked to write this column, and truthfully, I have been seeking a way to tell people my views before it is too late. So here it is - hopefully worth a little more than 2 cents.

These past 20 years in the United States proved that the fairy tale land I've heard about is still the land of opportunity. This is the country where everyone has a chance for a good living, if they work at it. In the country I came from we worked hard, but to no avail. The system did not reward the hard work, it favored those who sought well-being by becoming a part of the system, manipulating the system, or becoming Communist Party members.

When I came to the United States in 1991 I couldn't wait to get my "green card" to be able to start working. Neither my lacking English nor my inability to drive could stop me from getting a job. I walked! With my master's degree I was proud to get my first job in America at McDonald's. But this letter is not about me, it is about my concerns about the direction this country is heading.

Since most of my life I lived in a country where socialism was at a very mature stage of 70 years, I experienced, firsthand, the way of living under such a system. Young American people have no idea how unfair and inefficient it is. They hear these loud slogans of fairness and sharing, but they do not take time to learn why the idea DOES NOT work. I experienced it on my own skin for 26 years.

I am not here to talk about politics and advantages or disadvantages of one economic system over another. I just want to share some of my memories of growing up all the way to my adulthood in Russia.

Looking back through a prism of 20 years in the United States I am starting to understand the reasons why those colorless pictures with gloomy faces flash through my memory.

Working hard in Russia was a way of living; it was necessary for simple survival. There were no opportunities for government assistance unless one was totally disabled. Actually, it's not true. The whole country and every citizen was on a "welfare" hand-out, only we still had to work to get paid. The amount of our wages was just enough to barely make ends meet. We would not get paid, if we did not have a job. Obviously, all jobs were government jobs with standard low wages. One could achieve a slightly higher wage by obtaining some kind of higher education and hopefully getting a job as a manager somewhere. However, all good positions with "benefits" were taken by Communist Party members and people who knew people.

Important to understand that due to standard wages across the board as there was only one employer - the government - people usually tried to look for jobs with "benefits" to better their lives. Benefits in Russia implied opportunities to bring home something extra besides low wages, like a gallon of milk if you worked at a milk factory, or a loaf of bread if you worked at a bakery. So, when I was making my decision about my career, I chose to stay in the food industry and pursued a degree in Management of Public Catering.

My family lived in a small Siberian town, more like a village. Everyone in the village had to grow fields of potatoes and different vegetables that we preserved in large amounts for the winter. In the summer we also lived off the forest. I loved picking berries and hunting for mushrooms.

Twice a month, if we were lucky, a truck with supplies would reach our village. We always knew what everyone would have for dinner that night. Not many people owned a refrigerator those days. So, if the truck brought chicken, we had to enjoy it that night. Every family in the village had a fair share of the sausage, sugar, apples or popular condensed milk cans according to their family size. Often we had to give up our portion as we could not afford to buy it.

Other items we were looking forward to arrive were shampoo, socks and underwear. Yes, shampoo was in deficit. Not a certain type of a shampoo, but just a shampoo of any kind. As for socks, I learned to knit socks, when I was 12. Our old neighbor lady knew how to make yarn, so I groomed our fluffy dog and gave her the wool. I had socks for everybody in the family, but it did not work so well for us in the summer. Eventually I learned to knit almost anything. It was much harder to deal with the underwear situation, as we had no stretchy fabric to make it from.

The reason I share these memories with you is to show what kind of life can be, when government controls every aspect of your life. Since there was no competition to produce more or better, or less expensive goods, industries had little concern in producing quality or a variety of products. They had to produce quantity, however, to keep their workers somewhat in shape. When I first came to America I was overwhelmed to the point of frustration with selection of vegetable oil brands, for example. Later I understood why it is so great to be able to have a CHOICE.

When my father, at age of 36, had a stroke and after a few weeks in the hospital we were told that he needed to go home, as he was incurable, we were dumbstruck but had no choice, nor did we have the right to seek another opinion. We had to accept the fate, as we were assigned to the only clinic in the area according to our residence. After suffering for eight years, my father passed away at 44.

The socialistic regime did collapse, proving that it does not work. You might ask why people did not stand up for themselves sooner?

Well, first of all, they could not rebel due to the fact that Russian people have never had the right to bear arms and therefore they all were totally defenseless. All we could do is scream out our frustrations at a kitchen table.

The other reason is Russian propaganda machine was state of the art. People knew about the outside world only what they were supposed to know; they have been fed lies for 70 years and our children were raised by the government, brainwashed with images of baby Lenin since birth.

There was an important celebration in first grade, when each student was presented with a special star that had a face of Lenin when he was a child. We were proudly called "Oktjabrenok" after the October Revolution. At age 10 we all were honored with a red scarf that we could proudly wear from that point on and call ourselves "Pioner" (a pioneer). At age 14 we had a chance to become a Komsomol Party member, a necessary step, if you plan to become a Communist Party member later on. It was highly encouraged and presented as a high privilege to achieve it. Komsomol was the Communist Party's child.

If we continue the route set about four years ago, the life I briefly described above will be a reality in America. It won't happen very fast and won't be in such a severe form. The government in Russia had control over all industries right after the 1917 Revolution. Here, in the United States, the control will be taken peacefully through a number of steps, like raising taxes on businesses, implementing regulations to the point of making environment so unfriendly for businesses to exist, that people will stop any kind of entrepreneurship. They will be looking for government jobs. But the result will be the same - deterioration in each and every way of living.

It's heartbreaking to see how unaware people are willing to give their freedom away for government hand-outs, which lead to dependency, cripple people, kill their spirit of reaching for the stars and eventually annihilate the sense of responsibility for their own lives.

And the last point I need to make: There obviously is a need for some social programs in a society. Any civilized society needs to provide support for the less fortunate, like people with disabilities, who cannot provide for themselves. And this country has an abundance of such programs.

What is admirable about people in this country is how compassionate and giving Americans are. Not because they were told by the government to give, but because they want to help. How many nonprofit organizations, not subsidized by the government are in the United States? Think about it. And I am not saying that Russian people are not compassionate or not giving. It's not true. But when we are all equally poor, we have nothing to give.

Luba Wold is a Coeur d'Alene resident.

Two is one.....

As most of you know, we heat exclusively with wood.  It is a wonderful arrangement - there is nothing more bone penetrating than wood heat.  However, it does have its down sides.

Our wood cookstove is very large, with a huge firebox.  We easily stoke the fire at night and let it simmer, ready to ignite into flames once the vents are opened in the morning.  This does mean though, that our house can be very cold first thing in the morning!  It is not at all unusual to wake up to temperatures of 52° or even 47° in the kitchen.  Sir Knight and I shiver our way through a pot of tea while the house slowly warms.  By the time the children get up, the house is usually a more tenable 60° to 65° - but those first few hours are most definitely invigorating!

One of the most challenging drawbacks of not having a backup to our wood cookstove is the inability to take short excursions away from home in the dead of winter.  Because a lack of heat would cause all of our pipes to break, we are married to "Little Shouse on the Prairie" during the coldest months of the year.

We have considered, off and on, alternative heating sources.  None of our options were particularly pleasing.  Nothing electric was viable.  Natural Gas was unavailable and we didn't really want to cut another hole in our perfectly good wall to vent a propane stove.  And then it came to us.  A vent-free propane heater.

A number of months ago, my brother built a get-away cabin and installed a vent-free propane heater that hung on the wall.  He plumbed it into his propane tank (drilling a hole less than 2" through his wall) and hooked it up.  He loves it!  It does a great job heating his little cabin.  It has an oxygen sensor (so it will shut down if it senses there is not enough oxygen in the air) and a thermostat, so that it can be set and will only light up if needed.  The cost was significantly lower than a direct vent model and it took up very little space.  After talking it over, Sir Knight and I decided a vent-free propane heater was the perfect alternative heat source for our little shouse.

Now, as much as my brother loves his little heater that hangs on the wall, I wanted something, well, a little more romantic.  The one that caught my eye was in the Northern Tool catalog and had rave reviews on-line.  Amazingly, I found the exact model I had been looking at on our local Craigslist and scooped it up for less than half the price of the  one listed in the catalog.  After picking up all parts necessary to hook up the stove (and too many tears to count - a long story), we were ready to fire it off.

Oh, what a beautiful sight!  Our stove lit right up and immediately began filling our living room with cheery heat.  Now, when the weather is cool enough to need to take the chill off in the morning, but not cold enough to need a fire, we have another option.  When the winter winds howl and the cookstove can't quite cut the cold, we have backup. If we run out of firewood as spring looms near, we can make it through.  Two is one and one is none!

The Working Home

If you have known me for any length of time, you know I have a thing for houses.  I always have.  When I was a little girl, I spent hours exploring every nook and cranny of my Great Grandparents Craftsman style home in Seattle.  I loved tucking into the cozy breakfast nook, nibbling on toast with marmalade served on Grandma's breakfast china.  Grandpa's study was especially intriguing, with an attached bathroom, in which the shower was barely tall enough for a child to duck under.

As I grew, so did my fascination with houses.  I would dream of having my own home one day.  I spent hours pouring over home decorating magazines and many more drawing house plans for my future abode.   Before I moved into my first apartment, I had decorated the whole thing in my head.  When it came time to actually move in, I knew just where to put everything.

During our first few years of marriage, Sir Knight didn't know what the house would look like when he came home.  I rearranged furniture like most people changed their clothes - daily.  I was obsessed with my home and making sure that everything was "just so".  Never would I have had anything in my house that I didn't believe to be beautiful and in keeping with my current "decorating" style.

Communications hutch (in the bathroom!)

Tactical gear behind the bathtub

Forklift batteries (in the bathroom!)

Our lives evolved.  I quit work, became an at-home mom and bought a milk cow.  Our focus changed from "entertaining" to "being hospitable".  As our family dynamics changed, so did our home.  What I used to think was beautiful, became pretentious.  Things that I had once considered sophisticated looked out of place against a backdrop of milk cans and butter churns.  Our lives were changing, and with it, our home.

Years piled upon years and we found ourselves in a "shouse" in the middle of the prairie.  The girl that had once collected home decorating magazines and house plan books found herself in a shop with no defined rooms, no running water and no flushing toilets.  As I struggled to create a hospitable, inviting home out of a garage, I learned that beauty and function could co-exist comfortably within the confines of most anything - even a "shouse".

Industrial sewing machine between the living room and the kitchen

All the guys like the reloading bench in the living room!

As our family became more "home-centered", our home became more "family-centered".  We have found, that as survivalist, homesteaders and entrepreneurs, our home has become a hub of industry.  Everything that we do is centered in our home.  And this is as it should be.

Winemaking nestled up to reloading

Fabric storage next to the stairs

As Sir Knight I and lugged his reloading equipment into the house to set up in a corner of the living room, I realized that if the grid goes down, it won't just be my home that is filled with the tools of industry, it will be yours too.  Like the days of old, when the kitchen was filled with milking pails, cheese presses and wood cookstoves, our modern kitchens will be transformed into efficient food processing centers.  Rather than big screen televisions and Playstations, our living areas will house reloading benches and spinning wheels.  Clothes drying racks and grain grinders will compete for space with stored foods and canned goods.  Our homes will lose their modern face and array themselves in the beauty of utility.  In the event of a TEOTWAWKI situation, our homes will cease to be our masters and instead, become our servants.

Basket with wool and drop spindle (for spinning wool)

Basket of yarn for knitting socks

Even now, when leafing through a home decorating magazine, I find myself coveting the beautiful homes pictured within the pages.  I dream of a living rooms without a reloading benches and industrial sewing machines and a bathroom devoid of forklift batteries. I dream of walls and doors and wall-to-wall carpeting.  And then I go home.  I walk through my front door, am welcomed into the warm embrace of home and realize its value lies not in paint, flooring and textiles, but in the beautiful strength of a humble, working home.

My working kitchen

Product Review - Guest Post

As I have mentioned before, I have a love/hate relationship with one Mr. Joe Nobody.  When Sir Knight reads his books, I end up carrying a 25# pack on my daily hikes.  When Mr. Nobody recommends gear, it ends up strapped to my 1st line gear.  To be sure, these are good things, however, when my calves are screaming as I scramble up a hill out of the woods, due to the extra 25# I am carrying, you can be certain that I am mumbling something about Joe Nobody under my breath.

And so, I present you with a product review written by none other than Joe Nobody himself.  And if you were wondering, yes, this flashlight is now attached to Sir Knights first line gear (thanks a lot Joe!).

Five years with a Sidewinder

Back in 2007, while kicking back with an Army Times magazine, I noticed an article that featured their choices for the best products of the year. One of the winners was a unique-looking flashlight, manufactured by Streamlight, and branded the Sidewinder (like the snake).

Now for a lot of the fellas, a new flashlight can be one of those testosterone-influenced impulse purchases, like pocketknives, tools, and MOLLE pouches. I happen to suffer from this affliction on occasion.

I just had to have one and forked over $60 or so. It has been one of the best investments I’ve ever made. I purchased the light for tactical purposes, but I believe it to be one of the finest torches available for the prepper as well.

All of the basics are covered by the Sidewinder. It’s waterproof, shockproof, clips or attaches to just about anything, and has a rotating head for aiming, thus offering hands-free operation. The lens cover is described on the Steamlight website as “indestructible.”

The light is generated by LED bulbs, so battery life is good. My model also generates infrared, red and blue light. Red light doesn’t degrade the human eye’s natural night vision, which can be important for anyone trying to operate in low light conditions. The infrared bulb is used with my PVS-14 night vision monocle in extreme low light situations.

Everything about this unit is built for low light usage. The battery cap is tethered, so you won’t drop it in knee-high weeds at zero-dark-thirty. When installing fresh batteries, the positive/negative indicators are raised so you can feel them with your finger.

The on and off button also serves as the dimmer switch and is large enough to engage while wearing gloves. This critical control is recessed, making it difficult to accidentally turn on – something that might get you killed in certain situations.

My Sidewinder has been through 120-degree desert heat and subzero cold. It has been beaten against rocks and survived sand storms, a blizzard and numerous rainstorms.

Mine uses AA batteries, which are common with several other electronic devices in my kit. My Aimpoint optic, PVS-14 and laser rangefinder all use these same power cells. I have a small, roll-up solar battery charger that will recharge this size battery in a few hours on a sunny day.

About the only drawback I can find with the Sidewinder is its brightness. It produces only a 20 lumen white light. While that has served me just fine in the field, I know some people like a little more juice. The IR bulb is a great additional to the night vision and won’t act like a big neon sign pointing back at you (unless the threat has night vision as well). The blue light can be used to signal, and all of the colors can be set to strobe. 

Streamlight now makes a compact version of this same flashlight, and both models come in a variety of colors. You also have a few options for the different color output, like green. So the next time you need a good torch that serves multiple roles and is a rugged piece of kit, I don’t see how you can go wrong with Sidewinder.

Joe Nobody is the author of several best-selling survival and firearms training books, as well as the popular fiction series “Holding Their Ground.” He is a rather opinionated prepper and received no compensation for this endorsement.

Know your Neighbors

Last week, Maid Elizabeth and I had traveled outside our normal AO (area of operation) to do some business in a small town we don't normally frequent.  After we had conducted our business and were heading out of town, I decided to stop at the local Cennex Co-Op on the off chance they stocked 100# propane tanks.  They didn't have any propane tanks, however, a stack of buckets in the middle of the store caught my eye.

This little out-of-the-way store in an out-of-the-way town had a decent supply of preparedness items!  Buckets of Hard White Wheat, Hard Red Wheat and Oats filled an empty space between isles.  They had Morning Moo's milk, Auguson Farms emergency food buckets and Mylar bags.  Gamma Seals, oxygen absorption packets, and even (non-disclosed) pharmaceuticals (for you tropical fish fans - antibiotics to keep you fish tank healthy!) rounded out their "preparedness" section.  What a gold mine of necessities!

So, if you are ever in the out-of-the-way town of St. Maries, Idaho, make sure you find the out-of-the-way Cennex and stock up on a few preparedness items.  It will be worth your time.

Oh, and make sure you tell them Enola sent you!

After Action Report - Spokane Preparedness Expo

We attended our first Preparedness Expo on Sunday at the Spokane Convention Center.  What an experience!

I was more than a little concerned about doing an Expo in downtown Spokane.  By nature, survivalist types aren't particularly fond of big cities, freeways or underground parking.  Last year the expo was held at the fairgrounds, and I must admit, it seems as though that was a better fit.

Leaving the "shouse" early, we arrived at the Convention Center at about 7:30 and began setting up our booth.  We were very unsure of what to expect (having only done gun shows in the past), but we were thrilled with the booth layout.  They were roomy and very well done.  It took us all of about 45 minutes to set up so we had plenty of time to wander around and peruse the other booths.

Sir Knights first line gear and a pile of Joe Nobody books

Our LIMITED number of JWR books were sold within minutes of opening!

Books, T-shirts & ipad slide shows

The doors opened at 10 a.m. and we were swamped!  All I can say is WOW!  All day our booth was packed, often 4 to 5 people deep.  We met so many wonderful folks - some from hundreds of miles away!

Our friends at Pantry Paratus

1 KW steam powered generator from Montana Steam Power

We really enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of the Expo - and look forward to participating in next years event.

Another shot of our booth

The thronging crowds

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Oh yum!  That's about all you can say about this out-of-this-world dessert.  Not all cake, yet not all pudding, this treat is divine served with freshly whipped cream (although ice cream will do in a pinch), warm from the oven.  This cake is quick, simple and elegant enough to serve to company.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine in 2 quart baking dish:
1 C flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C sugar
Stir well

Add to dry ingredients:
1/2 C milk
2 T butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix well by hand

Combine and sprinkle over cake batter:
3 T cocoa powder
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar

Pour over all:
2 C hot water

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

Combining dry ingredients

Adding the liquid

Dry and wet ingredients combined

Sprinkled with the sugar/cocoa mixture

Hot water poured over the whole lot

And out comes a cake-like wonder

Beneath the cake is luscious chocolate pudding!

With freshly whipped cream

Pour yourself a lovely cup of tea and indulge in this chocolaty goodness!

Email by Lamplight

The other morning, I awakened to the sound of incessant beeping.  Groggy from a good nights sleep, it took me a bit to focus on the sound and determine its origin.  Finally, it came to me.  The beeping was coming from our bathroom, or more specifically, our inverter mounted on the bathroom wall.  It was an alarm warning us our battery voltage was low and complete power shutdown was imminent.

I stumbled into the bathroom in time to shut the inverter down and was immediately plunged into quiet darkness.  As I made my way to the kitchen I mentally took note of which oil lamps were full and accessible.  I fumbled around in the dark locating my lighter and finally managed to light an oil lamp and place it on the wood cookstove so that I could go about heating water for a pot of tea.  While the water was heating, I cozied up in the love seat in the kitchen, grabbed my phone and checked my email.

As I sat in my kitchen, listening to the gentle hiss of a propane flame, illuminated only by a single oil lamp, I marveled at the marriage of modern technology and primitive living.  Here I was, in the 21st Century, checking email on my smart phone while bathed in the muted light of a kerosene lamp.

We have lived off-grid for 12 years.  The first two years where primitive to say the least, but the last 10 years have been a hybrid of alternative energy.  Having lived with grid power, been completely non-electric and currently in an alternative energy powered home, I have come to a number of conclusions.

1.  Grid power is easy.  When we lived in a "normal" house, I never thought twice about flushing the toilet, tossing a load of laundry into the washing machine or drawing a bath. I would grumble when the power bill showed up in the mail, mumble something about  someday having the freedom of living "off the grid" under my breath and go grab an ice cold drink out of the fridge.  On the few occasions the power would go out, I would light an oil lamp, build a fire in the wood stove and wax poetic about how wonderful it would be to live "the simple life" - and then the power would come back on and I would go make sure the electric stock tank heater was plugged in so that I wouldn't have to chop ice for the critters.

2.  Being completely non-electric is a lot of work.  Hauling water may sound romantic but I gotta tell you - it isn't.  The reality of how much water we require for our everyday activities is phenomenal!  And oil lamps are romantic, beautiful and provide a warm, soft glow, but did you know they stink?  Oil smells less than kerosene, but when you have a house full of lamps just so you can have a modicum of illumination, you will have a definite odor.  They require constant filling (which can be a messy job) and the light they give is never as good as a simple 60 watt electric light bulb.  Because water is carefully guarded, flushing the toilet becomes optional rather than compulsory.  When you begin calling your bathroom "the indoor outhouse", you know you are truly non-electric.

3.  Hybrids are always high maintenance.  If you choose to graduate from "non-electric" to "alternative energy" prepare for a whole new way of life.  Now, rather than worrying about filling your oil lamps once a week, you will become obsessed with "ghost loads" and what appliances are actually viable on your system.  You will judge the weather not by how nice it is, but whether or not you made any power.  The longer you run your system, you will learn that the price of running a hybrid system is constant maintenance. When you were non-electric, you got by with little.  Now that you have alternative energy, you can't settle for less.  You must keep it running.  And alternative energy is a hard taskmaster.  When you make your own power you essentially run your own, miniature power substation.  You make the power (generator, solar panels, wind turbine), control where it goes (charge controllers), convert it (inverters) from DC (direct current) to AC (alternating current) making it compatible for standard household use and store it (battery bank).  Keep in mind that power companies employ full-time electricians to keep their plants up and running.  Although your plant is smaller in scale, it is still a full-fledged power plant.  YOU will become the full-time electrician.

So, where does that leave us?  If it were up to me, I would choose either grid power (it is easy) or a completely non-electric system (supplemented only by 12 volt DC electric (solar) lights).  Here's the deal - an alternative energy system is challenging.  It is not a matter of IF something goes wrong, it's a matter of WHEN.  If any portion of your system fails (generator, charge controller, inverter, battery) then your whole system fails.  Alternative energy systems get old and wear out.  The batteries need maintenance and the electronics are fallible.  Essentially, I love having an alternative energy system, but only as a non-essential supplement to a completely non-electric system.  Only non-electric systems are truly sustainable.  An outhouse never fails.  It doesn't freeze in the winter, require 5 gallons of water to flush or become a bastion of bacteria when the power goes out.  A flushing toilet is nice but an outhouse is practical.  I love my refrigerator, but it is a power hog.  A root cellar is by far a better option.  It is huge, can hold an entire harvest and isn't subject to power outages.

If you are in search of honest-to-goodness, long-term, off-grid sustainability, consider becoming completely non-electric.  All it takes is a little pre-planning and a lot of ingenuity, but the benefits will be incalculable.

Founders - BOOK BOMB DAY!

From the pioneer of the modern survival movement, James Wesley, Rawles, comes Founders, the latest in the "Patriots" series of novels.

For those of you who have read his previous work, you know that Mr. Rawles books are survival manuals cleverly disguised as fast-paced fiction.  Fans of Patriots and Survivors will recognize some of the characters, although you needn't have read either novel to thoroughly enjoy this newest installment.

Whether you are new to the patriot/survival movement or have been in the trenches for years, you will find Founders to be a goldmine of information.  Be ready with your pen and paper to track all of the "take-away" lessons to be found within the pages of Founders.

Today is the "Book Bomb" day for Founders at Amazon.com.   Follow the link and pick up a copy.   Start your preparedness journey today!

Side Note:  If you are planning to be at the Sustainable Preparedness Expo in Spokane on September 30th, I will have a (very) limited number of autographed copies of Founders available at the Paratus Familia booth!  Stop by, say "hi" and pick up your copy!

The New Renaissance

Maid Elizabeth with her bees

As parents, one of the most important things we can do for our children is prepare them to succeed.  From the time they are born we are training them to integrate into society.  When they are little we teach them to play well with others and to be good sports.  We train them to be respectful to their elders and to obey those in authority.  We make sure they know how to read, write and reason so they can effectively communicate their ideas and opinions.  We teach them how to interact with difficult people and how to control themselves in tense situations.  In effect, we equip them with the tools they need to succeed in life.  Or at least we should.

Our world is changing.  It used to be that we needed to prepare our children for university, allowing them to take their place among the academics, philosophers and leaders of our society.  We brought up our children to program computers, argue law and practice medicine.  They could be managers, bureaucrats or party planners.  As long as they had a good social life and were moderately financially independent, we felt that we had done our job.  Those things may have defined success in the past but our future won't be so kind.

Miss Serenity and Master Hand Grenade cutting up a deer,
getting ready to put it into the canner

The future that we are raising our children to govern is unstable.  The dollar is losing its value, our embassies are going up in flames and unemployment is at record levels.  Nearly half of the American population absorbs government assistance in one form or another.   A college education has ceased to guarantee employment, yet positions requiring skilled tradesmen remained unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants.   The measure of success has gone from "Are you a Doctor" to "Do you have a job?".

Master Hand Grenade and Sir Knight working on the generator

Change is in the air.  Many of us have seen the signs of the times and have prepared our pantry - but have we prepared our children?  I want my children to be able to thrive in any environment in which they find themselves.  If they are in polite company, I want them to know what piece of music they are listening to and what master painted which painting.  I want them to be able to write poetry and sing sonnets.  I want them to know the Constitution and be able to reason with the wise men of the land.  But, I also want them to be able to hunt a deer - gut it, skin it and process the meat.  I want them to be able to use a compass and read a map.  I want them to bake bread, make soap, dig camas and make wine.  I want them to be able to set bones, start I.V.'s and reload ammunition.  I want them to graft trees, grow gardens and spin wool.  I want them to thrive in whatever world they inherit.

Maid Elizabeth skinning a deer

What future are you preparing your children for?  Will they know what they need to know in order to survive?  To flourish?  Will they be able to take care of themselves and others if you aren't there?  Do they have the skills to stand their ground or will they be among the masses reliant on outside forces to care for and feed them?

We are called not just to fortify our larders, but to prepare our children.  This is the New Renaissance.