A long hot weekend

This weekend began with an evening with my parents in Dunwoody and supper at CB South for Cindy and me. Early Friday morning (actually not as early as we originally intended) we drove off to Clinton,South Carolina with the balance of what Kate wanted to start with in her senior year at PC. It would have been better if Tex had been at home, but we got it completed, then Cindy and I travelled north and west into North Carolina and on to Tennessee. In the middle of our trip, we encountered a good bit of rain south of Ashville which continued on west across the Smokies into Tennessee. It finally ended as we crossed over into Seveir County, where the weather turned back to heat, dryness and oppressive sunshine.

That night, we made it to Cindy's parents' house to find every thing in disarray, awaiting the advent of the movers on Saturday morning. It was clear that Cindy's parents were stressed and lost in the details of getting everything packed and ready for the movers.

The problem was exacerbated by the inability to sort out things to get rid of. This was particularly true concerning Cindy's father. He had so much stuff in that workroom which he couldn't part with. Aggh!

Anyway, Saturday came and went and a small army of people got the substantial part of that mess moved from one house to the other. By the time we got to eight o'clock p.m., we needed a shower curtain and liner for the upstairs bathroom to allow Cindy and me to shower the salty sweat from our bodies and we needed food for all of us. I went to Target and Wendy's to accomplish these tasks. Spent about $76 in total, added to the $20 I spent for lunch. Money was just hemmoraghing from everybody.

This morning I awoke and read out on the back steps of the new house. I knew we needed another morning of moving small things that the movers had left. I sat and watched the underground sprinkler system watering the grass and the cement of the patio and the cushions of the outdoor chairs. It occurred to me the contrast between these upper class houses, watering their grass and patios, while the farmers of Central Georgia couldn't get rain to water their corn. I remembered fields of corn, where the corn was tastled out on plants no higher than three or four feet. So sad. So ironic when these effete snobs were watering their lawns to protect their property values and the appearance of their images.

We all need to live somewhere. Do we need to spend so much money on our shelters? What does it say about our values when the farmers who feed us can't afford to provide the water to their crops when we douse our lawns with an abundance of H2O for no other reason than to improve our images? I think our values are skewed and selfish. What will happen when we can't afford the food that we need to feed oursleves? The most famous line from Wendell Berry, in my mind is, "Eating is an agricultural event." I may not have got that completely right, but the meaning is understood.

We arrived back in Georgia this evening to rain from Hapeville on to Griffin. I watched the weather and it seems better. Maybe Autumn is coming. May I truly be grateful for the food I eat and the farmers that grew it.