A few days ago I walked my brothers place and like always noted the stone fence moving through the huge trees and reflected on the setting wondering why anyone would have made this slopped hill side a field. I knew the farm had been set up in the 1860s and couldn't bring myself to understand how much work had gone into moving these stones to produce a pasture that had minimal value. The scope of the labor was profound.
The farm failed probably 30 years before my brother moved in in the mid 70s. In looking at the site that was once all fields and pasture among the now grand trees, it is hard to imagine "Why" anyone would have done that. It just had no future. Sand, stones, pot holes and swamp. It made no sense but it was a farm and my brother did meet the elderly sisters that at one time ran the place. They related that it was a farm and they did subsist without regrets, not in a world of wealth but still content.
On the way home other fields in the immediate area, the ones that at one time also had the scraggly corn, now produce corn 8' tall with double ears. The word is that even the poorer fields bring in 120 bushels an acre. But it is different. The corn is genetically modified. It is pounded with roundup, fertilized with anhydrous, potash and who knows what else. Oh, maybe sprayed with insecticides. All the goodies are petroleum based and the product of the "Green Revolution".
So what happens when the fossil fuels go away? Where will this revolution go ? Which way is actually the best, the best for man, the best for the planet? It is all a strange story, it would seem.
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