What $100 Will Buy You In. . .

http://taxfoundation.org/blog/real-value-100-metropolitan-areas

This is a map of what $100 will buy you by metropolitan regions in the U.S. We can buy a bit over $104 worth of goods while a few hours north our relatives can buy $84 worth of stuff.

More food for thought.

A Few Thoughts From Today's Paper

As I was reading the newspaper today as I usually do, I came across an editorial that made me think a bit. The editorial was about the middle class, how it was shrinking and what the political fallout might be for candidates in the 2016 elections regarding the middle class. At least that is where the article started for me. Close to 80% of the article was about the housing market, how the middle class was affected by the current mortgage rates and how a larger and larger percentage of middle class incomes are going to pay mortgage payments. The article went on to describe the effects of the Obama refinance program to help homebuyers and how banks and investors are calling for more foreclosures so they may get their investment returns faster. If a bank refinances a house, it stretches out the mortgage and the return comes to the investors later rather than sooner.

What struck me more than this typical greed though were thoughts about the statistics regarding the percentage of income spent by the middle class on mortgages: New York is now 32%, California 44%, Florida nearly 40% and Texas about 33%. Maybe it's just me, but I have no problem with the numbers. What I have a problem with is the assumption that the houses bought today are the equivalent of the houses bought in previous decades. Is this an apples and oranges comparison?

The house we live in was considered a middle class family home when it was built and for decades afterwards. It was probably thought of as a lower middle class home when we bought it in 1986. It was built in the late 1920's with two bedrooms and one bath. It now has three bedrooms and one bath with a converted studio apartment in the back. Today it is not considered a middle class home unless you like older houses near the town center. The middle class home in our small town have either three or four bedrooms and at least two bathrooms. They also have a mortgage payment two to three times ours.

Could it be that Americans are paying higher mortgage payments because they are buying larger homes? Larger homes than they really need? Larger homes to keep up with the Joneses? Maybe they are middle class, but they are choosing to spend their money on homes instead of a quality life.

More Land, More Vegetables

Last year we had our 50 foot pecan tree trimmed. It was a year-round mess and greatly shaded our backyard. That was welcome in the 100 plus degrees of summer, but the shade made it difficult growing vegetables. After the trimming, we had much better light and growing was easier. It was also an eye opener of sorts in that we realized we were running out of places to grow vegetables and fruits on our 50 by 150 foot lot. We stubbled upon Joel Salatin's Hoop House 5 and the concrete floor.

As we have concrete pads in a few places, we thought this would be the next place to expand our growing into, and some of the only ground left. But as we looked and talked about the back pad we realized for now it could be better utilized for wine barrel plantings and shop and storage space. That left the front driveway.

Last week friend Tim helped us cut a 3 1/2 by 11 1/2 foot space out of our front drive. Now you need to realize that we have one of few driveways on our block. Parking may eventually be an issue, but we forged ahead. We also chose 3 1/2 feet because a car can fit over the bed if the bed is fallow.

After the cutting, the concrete was broken up, pried up and hauled away.

We brought in some of our chicken yard deep bedding to mix with the soil. We have moved away from the double digging we've done in the past. We are mulching now. But with this soil sitting under concrete for close to 30 years we found no life in it and we dug away mixing compost, bedding and soil together.

We added a wooden planter box to define the area and allow for the mulch later.

We are planning some sort of fencing to separate the bed from the sidewalk and define our yard a bit. I'll have more photos when we plant.

Books and a Reason to Read

Years ago I found the Chism Heritage Farms blog while looking for farming info. I have followed since and get into lively discussions with Chris. I have learned much and I hope he has learned at least something.

He recently started a log and report about what he read in the previous week, here is the latest example. We, and others, talk books and thoughts and to me is a wonderful example of what the internet can be. With that in mind here is what I am reading now.

Daily I try to read Listening to Your Life by Frederick Buechner. It's a collection of his writings that have been broken up into daily segments. Two friends have been recommending Buechner for years and gave me this book to get me started. Great thoughts to help this average mind.

Before I went into the hospital for my recent surgery, I put out a call to family and friends for their suggestions of must read books. One of our sons suggested Dune by Frank Herbert. I've read science fiction in the past, but not this one. He raved about it so I am starting it in homage to his wisdom. So far it's been good.

The King of California Book Review

I had been wanting to read this book for years and only got my hands on it when a friend started purging his bookshelves. It is the story of the Boswell family, the Boswell Company and specifically J.G. Boswell the man that grew the company into the world's largest cotton grower. As I read and now after finishing, I have an uneasy quesiness about the events of the book. It is a history of a man, a family and a region over time. In some ways it reminds me of the unquiet settling of the West, maybe because the book is about one of the last vestiges of the unsettled parts of our country. Here is man trying to conquer his world. Usually there is much mess when one tries to overcome something, like the wrappers on the ground after a rock concert.

I have to also admit to being part of this story in a small way. My father worked in the water business talked about in the book. He interviewed for a job at Boswell, but decided not to take the job. One reason he gave was that he didn't want to raise his family on Corcoran. But because of him I have a working knowledge of the water systems of this region. I have discussed the politics mentioned and the dams involved. I have measured the excess water from the district I worked for that flowed onto Boswell and Salyer land. I have met some of the names mentioned in the book. I still have an uneasiness about the book, the story and what happened.

My first job out of college was as a part of a land leveling crew working to flatten the alkali soils next to Allensworth, just south of Corcoran, so they could be sold to Japanese investors. The soil was miserable and fit only for rattlesnakes and horned toads, which we had to make sure not to step on as we walked across the land. For someone that grew up on the east side of the Central Valley and its orchards and good soil, this land didn't seem worth the effort to tame. So as I read of the production that the Boswell Company got from this area I had to be impressed. But then the uneasiness lingered as I read about the costs involved.

The book reminded me of a similar boo I read years ago about the wine industry of Napa. The book tells the story of how men and women became successful by the world's standards. In both books, the things done to achieve those were chronicled also. We judge them by our own rules and say yea or nay to what happened. Hopefully we dislodge the log from out eye before complaining about the log in theirs.

Yesterday our family tried to do a family outing then have lunch together. Seven adults were involved and it was a fiasco of sorts. The first part of the plan was to go to the shooting range for some practice. The range parking lot was full, as in we would have had to park in the driveway to find a spot. None of us had even seen that before. That translates to a full range and none of us wanted to brave that scenario. Maybe we should have gone to church and we would have a less crowded range after the heathen were done.

So, on to plan B. We have to wait a bit for two of the people to meet us after they went to church, so we have time to spend doing something. The remate or flea market was suggested. Most thought that a good idea, but not on this day. Plan C was looking at some footwear that two needed to do, along with checking the price of welded wire fencing. That led to a visit to the semi-box store hardware business. That task completed, it was on to lunch, or the coordination of getting three vehicles to the restaurant. It was closed when we arrived.

All hail technology, not. The next 20 minutes were spent on the various cell phones talking to each other trying to locate another restaurant, then discovering that the original restaurant has moved, and then negotiating the streets of the city trying to find said restaurant. After all three cars arrived at the restaurant we found that the place was packed. Is there a theme developing here? No matter, we're eating here. Now to find a table or tables to fits all and then order food.

Then the sort of calm. Calm because we are waiting for our food and having pleasant conversation with family. No calm because the restaurant is crowded, busy and loud.  I sat looking out the window pondering what had just happened, what was happening and where we were all headed. I was a bit overwhelmed for a closet introvert.

California is in the beginning of the fourth year of a drought. Newspaper stories tell that there is only one more year of water at the rate were are pumping now. The water being pumped is supposedly 12 to 20 thousand years old. As I sat wondering I thought maybe 6.5 million people is too many for the Central Valley to support. Or at least we need to keep our water here instead of shipping it to elsewhere in the form of fruits and nuts. I also pondered where all these people will go.

What I really wanted though was a quieter place to talk with my family.

Water in Central CA

Technically we live in a desert. We receive 10" of rainfall annually. For the last three years, it's been less. Recent news about rationing, rate increases groundwater overdraft and such have been everywhere.

The City of Fresno is proposing to double its monthly charge from $25 to $50. People are up in arms and screaming. 50 miles to the west the people of Huron, CA currently pay $55 a month for water that is unfit for drinking. This in a town with greater than 50% unemployment because a federal court decreed water should be released to reestablish a salmon habitat instead of watering crops.

I know I have simplified the situations, but the "taxes" on the poor sure make it rough on them.