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Someone in the Deep Adaptation group started a thread seeking tips for deep adaptation and preparations people can make who are older and concerned about their families, kids, grandkids and so on.

Below is my comment with a few minor changes for this blog.

Financial: I have about 80k left over from what I inherited after Mom & Dad passed. This is a vast fortune to me; I otherwise for most of my life have tended to not have money beyond what I needed for my basic needs or sometimes a little less.)

(I used most of my inheritance to buy my house free and clear which I am kitting out as a communal living pod and urban permaculture micro-palace to accommodate as many people and beneficial connections as I possibly can. And I invested 25K in a part ownership in a permaculture farm/education center that is a great asset to its community in another part of my home state of Florida. (I do not seek nor anticipate monetary returns from this investment.)
And I tithed to my community, with a focus on Black businesses and organizations, mental-health services, and conservation groups.

And now, I am exploring the possibility of gifting a chunk of that remaining money to each of my (adult) nieces right now.

One, I don’t want them to have to wait til after I die to inherit some of my portion of our family’s intergenerational wealth. (I spoke with my departed parents about this recently, and they gave me the OK as long as I make sure to take care of my own health issues and build a resilient flexible livelihood plan that will bring me security through old age. I am in the process of building this.)

Two, they have dreams and wishes, and I want to be an older person who chooses to support those dreams and wishes rather than hoard. Three, I see the very real possibility that money will at some point become virtually useless. Maybe sooner rather than later.

And four, I feel that it would be the ultimate empowering example to my nieces to see their aunt the family oddball — writer, artist, and climate activist — living boldly in line with her stated values, and not building her life plans around stockpiling money.

But! I do feel a responsibility to my parents, siblings, ancestors, and future generations to treat this money compassionately, wisely, and reverently. It is a resource that, like fossil fuels, may never come again.

When I was in my 30s I had a semi-normal middle-class-type career that allowed me to amass about 70k. I kept it in a 401k. After the stock-market crash, I realized I did not want to be involved with Wall Street at all (and later, I decided this for moral reasons as well as for my initial financial reasons). I took the money out of financial instruments. But, I wound up throwing it around (to well-intentioned people & organizations, and to my own failing business model) in a futile effort to find a more useful place for it than under my care. I guess I basically didn’t trust myself much. Well I ended up with zero. And a life-lesson that has been priceless and I would not trade for anything, and was lucky to learn not too late in life.

Now I am committed to sharing my money wisely and regeneratively even if it means hanging onto it for a little while.

We don’t tend to talk about money openly in my family. Certainly I have never talked about money anywhere near as openly as I do with my permie and DA and SC-FIRE circles. Thank you all for tuning in here and on my other channels, and I hope some of what i have said is useful to someone.

Resilient-living skills; discussions about climate crisis: At this time, I don’t sense that my family members would be wanting what I would have to offer in this area. I am located geographically distant from them, and while I stay in contact with them and always strive to deepen our connection, for various reasons I don’t feel it would be appropriate or effective for me to bring these topics up with them. Rather, I feel it’s more respectful, as well as effective, for me to simply express my love and appreciation for them as best I can, and offer them cheerful encouragement for their plans and dreams, and celebrate their joys and share their sorrows, and hold the strong conviction that all good things are possible.

Some years back, when Mom & Dad were still alive, I gave them a solar oven and a mini Rocket Stove. I framed the gift as “camping gear, and a fun thing to do with the grandkids” — but actually I was more thinking of it as my tiny effort to provide them with some Zombie Apocalypse insurance, however small. It didn’t end up needing to be used that way, and I myself only remember using it with the nieces on one holiday visit. My takeaway from this experience: Sometimes our efforts might miss the mark, but we can’t beat ourselves up for trying to help and protect our loved ones, if it is truly from the heart and based on our best understanding of the situation.

Further Exploration:

• “Impact Banking: Another Way Your Money Can Support Social Justice” (Laura Oldanie, Rich & Resilient Living blog). Includes tips/links for breaking up with your mega-bank, banking with BIPOC-owned institutions, and finding an impact bank near you.

Very excited to be on the The City of Daytona Beach Government government radio show with delightful host Dr. L Ron Durham! My topic this time is “Climate ‘Code Red’: What Does It Mean for Us?”

(Yes, this will be the first time I’ve been on in awhile!! I used to be on once a month, but I felt it important to make room for other voices in my community; we have so many people doing great things and offering important info.)

I aspire to offer you simple actionable steps for maximizing your community and household resilience, while helping to create a more beautiful, safe, equitable, and joyful world for all.

Tune in WEDNESDAY Sept 15 from noon to 1 EST. The station is JOY 106.3, on your FM dial or via internet.

# CommunityResilience #ClimateAdaptation

Update: Here is the link to the Facebook Live recording of the show.

The following comment is my response to someone in one of my eco groups who said she found it too hard to have a compost pile because of raccoons. Feel free to copy/paste any of the following that you think might help with any of your efforts to encourage people in your circles to adopt restorative practices.

Compost bin/pile types and setups can easily be tailored to keep out unwanted critters or not attract them in the first place. I have never had issues with critters in my compost, other than at a community compost project on a ranch in Texas we had armadilloes and starving feral kittens digging underground to get into the box from underneath. We solved that situation pretty easily by feeding the kittens elsewhere; and by making a natural concrete mini berm wall thing that discouraged the armadilloes enough that they found it not worthwhile, and sought their normal wild food sources.

Another way to discourage critters (other than beneficial microbes and larvae) is to maintain a thermophilic (“hot”) compost pile. It takes a compost thermometer and a bit of practice but some folks enjoy it; it can even be a homeschool science project.

A well-managed compost pile or bin is not usually attractive to critters. The occasional possum or raccoon who digs up some freshly added piece of fruit etc from the top of my compost, because I was in a rush or whatever and carelessly didn’t add quite enough cover matter, I don’t stress out. I just rebury the scraps in the morning as needed.

A healthy balance of creatures is essential to soil health, stormwater mitigation, heat mitigation, and other essential functions that are matters of life or death for climate resilience and community wellbeing. Over time, as people refrain from applying poison to their landscape, a healthy population of predators such as owls and eagles and hawks and snakes can start to (re)emerge and help control rodents etc.

If we don’t start taking serious action now to build back the soil biology and water-holding capacity in this region, which has been depleted by sprawl development and murderous landscaping practices, we’ll be having extreme heat and water issues that make a few critter invasions look like a walk in the park.

And, on a thread in another group, where someone expressed reservations about the feasibility of commercial composting:

I think the commercial facility needs to be on high ground and atop a thick “bio-sponge” of straw, brown leaves, waste cardboard/newspaper, or other equivalent carbon-rich material. Whatever is the scaled-up commercial version of a well-managed home compost bin.

And, any application of the finished compost should be done in places where there are plenty of plants to quickly uptake the nutrients.

From what I understand from my permaculture studies: Here in the semitropics (as in the tropics), soil itself doesn’t hold many nutrients, and plants are a key part of nutrient uptake, runoff prevention. We need to replace as much as possible of the trees and other vegetation we have ripped out willy-nilly just about everywhere in this state. (That’s my understanding of the eco-dynamics of this climate, and it fits with my observations in my own yard, local patches of forest, etc. But I don’t have a science background, so I say this FWIW to the best of my understanding).

In our region, the water moves quickly thru the sandy soil. Which is why I’m always trying to encourage people to turn the ground into a sponge by adding thick layer of mulch. Fallen leaves, wood chips, etc. It’s an essential ingredient; otherwise our sandy soil is a sieve as the original post mentioned.

In closing: Anyone having trouble with compost issues (household, commercial, municipal or what have you), give me a shout and I will help you troubleshoot; it’s part of the free community services I provide as admin of the Daytona Beach Permaculture Guild, Permaculture Daytona; and as a node of the worldwide permaculture-design movement. Though based in Florida, I have done composting and other land-based work in all different climates including cold-weather and desert.

We humans have shown ourselves to be a highly adaptable species. Unfortunately, as we industrialized, more and more of our adaptations have become based on chemicals and large mechanized equipment that have turned out to be deadly to other species and to ecosystems. We are now waking up to the reality that we can’t afford this.

Examples of maladaptive adaptations:

For dealing with mosquitoes (or other insects): blitzing an entire yard or community with chemicals — which then kill off the dragonflies, frogs, birds, and other natural predators of mosquitoes. Meanwhile some mosquitoes themselves inevitably survive the spraying, and continue breeding but without the predators to keep them in check.

For dealing with power outages: Each household cranking up a gas generator to power its appliances and stuff. (Maladaptive because, for example, fuel supplies can be disrupted; because it’s dangerous to keep containers of gasoline sitting around; because gas generators create noise and air pollution; and because it fosters individualism rather than community spirit.)

What other maladaptive adaptations can you think of?

Examples of adaptive adaptations:

For mosquitoes: Nurturing healthy ecosystems which offer natural “pest” control. Relying on screen doors, screened porches, mosquito netting, “mosquito clothes” (light-colored, lightweight pants and long-sleeved shirts).

For power outages: Learning how to do without electricity so it’s not a big deal when the power goes out. Eating up the food in your freezer when you hear a hurricane’s coming in the next few days. Neighbors teaming up to cook and share food throughout the neighborhood. Setting up ONE generator for everyone in the neighborhood to charge their phones. Sharing matches, oil lamps, candles, hand-cranked lanterns.

What other adaptive adaptations can you think of?

Someone in the Deep Adaptation group posted an article that talks about how more Americans are seemingly ignoring the risks of climate change and moving to high-risk places.

Over the years, some of my fellow permies and prepper types from around the country have asked me how I can live in Florida, especially right on the coast.

I moved to the Atlantic coast of Florida from Texas back in 2010. I did it to fulfill a lifelong dream of living at the beach. And also to live within an easy bus ride of Orlando, where I had been flying several times a year to teach courses.

BUT, AND, I also moved here to be of service — to cross-pollinate the permaculture design knowledge that I had gained in Austin and other previous places where I’d lived; and to serve as a node of awareness and practical skills regarding climate adaptation and (if necessary) managed retreat.

For what it’s worth, I am more concerned about drought and desertification — even here in Florida — than I am about floods and sea-level rise. Not that the latter aren’t concerns too of course.

But, when it comes right down to it, I don’t feel there are any places that are “safe” from the risks of climate change. The news reports over the past few months of 121-degree temperatures in Canada, and deadly heat waves in chilly northern Europe, and drought and wildfires in Minnesota, and so on, serve as evidence of that.

75 degrees this morning!! Luscious!! And yesterday got down to 77 — first time it’s been below 79 in a good while, and it is amazing how those couple of degrees make a huge difference in sleeping comfort!!

79 or above, I don’t even want a sheet on me. Just sleep on top of sheet. 77, I feel cool enough for a sheet to be pleasant and maybe even necessary. 75 this morning after last night’s big rain, I actually luxuriated under two layers of sheets!

Our normal nighttime low temperature here this time of year is 74. Nighttime lows this summer have consistently been 79 or above. When nighttime lows stay high (one night this week our low was 82), it’s rough on people, plants, pets, and wildlife. Bodies need a chance to cool down.

My suggestions: Keep as many trees as we can. Plant as many more as we can. Prioritize heat mitigation, not beauty, as a landscaping strategy (and beauty will follow). Minimize new pavement. Avoid allowing bare soil, except small patches for ground-nesting native bees. Catch rainwater during heavy rain periods and distribute it to the earth-sponge during dry periods.

Something crossed my mind that I never thought of before so I Googled it. “What happens to string-trimmer string.”

From John Quinn in Earth Island Journal, this article “Strung Out” is eye-opening:

“When they came on the market in the early 1970s, the pollution from their small engines was obvious. Since then the immediate air pollution has improved. But they are still significant sources of neighborhood noise pollution, a problem they share with their equally ubiquitous cousins, leaf blowers.

“The most serious pollution problem associated with the string trimmer, however, may be the easiest to overlook — it has to do with the nylon string that gives the machine its name. This nylon is a synthetic polymer, a disposable plastic item, and string trimmers use prodigious amounts of the stuff. In the course of mowing, the string is worn away and is spewed into the environment as the line whirrs around at speeds up to 28,000 feet per minute.”

The article has a lot more info – very worthwhile read.

On a related note, I read about a cemetery in Antwerp, Belgium, that gets mowed by a farmer with a flock of sheep. The sheep cut the grass while also presumably contributing organic fertilizer. Sort of the opposite of what happens with mechanized mowing.

I always hate to see and hear loud mechanized equipment in parks and cemeteries. By the way, the cemetery I read about is a military cemetery. This bodes well for the future of grasscutting businesses that are built on four-legged, living mowers. If the standard of neatness they achieve is good enough for a military cemetery it should be good enough for any cemetery or park.

This morning I used a string-trimmer (borrowed from a neighbor) to cut the grass of the elderly man across the street who we all help look after. The trimmer I borrowed is a battery-powered one, which makes it much quieter and less smelly than the gas-powered ones.

The other day I read about a grasscutting business in the UK that uses only scythes and other hand-tools. They call themselves the Trim Reapers. This is pretty much my ideal!

Over the past few years I have tried various hand-tools for cutting the inevitable grass, but none has been satisfactory. Push-mower, scythe, sling-blade, grass shears. The blades get dull really fast (or were never sharp in the first place), and I don’t have the knowledge or tools to sharpen them. If we had a blade-sharpening business in the neighborhood, that person would always have steady work. There was an itinerant blade-sharpener in this part of the state — a homeless guy on a bicycle who had pedaled all over the country — but he passed away.

Update: Just now I found this article from Rachel Koski Nielsen at dengarden.com, about mowing with a scythe. Ms. Nielsen gives a lot of good info, and includes 1) a very helpful short video from One Scythe Revolution that shows very clearly how to hold the tool and position your body; and 2) a video from Paul Wheaton on how to sharpen and peen a scythe blade.

Update Sept. 15, 2021: I googled “eco-friendly string-trimmer string” and found this brand Biotrim that is supposedly biodegradable.