Being Resourceful

I have an obsession that few of you who have been reading this column will find surprising. It is a bit weird, but since I live on Vashon, that should be okay. I have a hard time parting with stuff that is generally considered garbage. It goes like this: When I’m confronted with a “useless” object, say a slightly bent nail, and am considering its fate, I put myself in the hypothetical situation of being 50 miles into the wilderness. If I needed one of these, what would it take for me to make one? In our modern industrial world, a nail-making machine can pop one out in a blink of an eye, and they cost little. In this context, giving a bent nail even a moment of consideration is really silly. Silly as it is, I think it has given me a profound appreciation for amazing things that our technology has made possible, and I have resolved not to be wasteful with those things that have so much energy and technology invested in them. You needn’t keep it all in your garage or shop as I do, but see that it gets another chance to be useful before it returns to its original entropic state.

Appreciating that nail is a good lesson in humility. You needn’t go to the level of computer chips to experience your personal incapacity; just consider making a nail. Can you do that if you had to? Let’s go a bit further. One of our grand achievements is the ability to make fire, a basic skill central to all that we do. Can you make fire? I mean without your lighter or matches. All of you scouts out there probably have some knowledge of the various methods. Have you ever actually tried to do it? If so, did you do it enough to become proficient at it? Me neither.

The point I’m trying to make here is that we are utterly dependent on systems of knowledge of which we are profoundly ignorant. We needn’t look farther than the most seemingly insignificant object or act in our daily lives. No other life form, other than the ones we‘ve domesticated, is even minimally ill equipped in this way. They don’t have our intellectual capacity to understand the chemistry of life, but they certainly know how to find food and shelter. Sadly, far too many of us humans don’t have a clue as to how to provide food and shelter for ourselves. These are a couple of the things in which all of us should have some competence. Transport modern Americans to the Neolithic era and you would have rapid extinction from predation, starvation, or exposure. We need to relearn those skills that we used to depend on for our survival; they are too important to leave to others to provide for us.

Learn how to repair things. You don’t really need to familiar with an object before you consider repairing it. Take my word for it. Some years ago, a trusting friend/boss sent me to repair an ice machine at a restaurant. You’ll be able to figure it out.” Without making any promises, I did as I was told. I opened it up and started to use a little “hip bone connected to the leg bone” logic, and, before long, I understood how it worked and why it wasn’t working. I call it techno yoga; meditate on a thing and, sometimes, its secrets reveal themselves to you!

Most of what you need to know, you have or can easily acquire. Everybody who has played with a yoyo, or tripped on a root has a basic understanding of mechanics. A word of caution: if you are going to play with electrical stuff, have an understanding of basic electronics and working safely; best stick to lamps and such. The electrical knowledge you need for that is really easy to understand. It behooves all of us to be familiar with how the things we use work: not only so that you can repair them, but also so that you can use them properly and avoid breaking them in the first place. Give it a try. You’ll probably have questions: check a book, ask someone, or find a repair person (VashonAll , Island Tinker, or hardware store). The answers you get will have your knowledge, ability, and confidence growing by leaps and bounds!

Be sure to catch the Food Preservation Fair in the parking lot north of the Village Green on Saturday, August 20, 10-3, put on by the Vashon Food Security Working Group. Learn all you need to know to preserve the abundance of the growing season for use in the lean winter months.

Comments? terry@vashonloop.com