Correspondence & Survival

Correspondence

First a few very generous letters of support & praise for our wonderful staff, then a little survival news:

Hi, I just wanted to send you a note and tell how much fun my son Johnny and I had on Friday. We always love coming to the farm on field trips. We did the "
Gold Rush"
for the first time. It was so great. Johnny loved listening to Logan play his jaw harp so much, he had to buy one. He hardly put it down all weekend. I also want to thank Angela, at the Inn, for her wonderful service. Johnny ordered a hot dog and wanted potato chips with it. When Angela found out they were all out she had them make up some special chip/fries just for him. He loved them so much he called the "Angela's Fries" and thinks you should put them on the menu. Always a delight,

-- Ilene and Johnny

Jim, Just a quick note of encouragement for all the wonderful new things happening at Riley's Farm! I so enjoy reading your journal - some days rather heavy and dark; others quite light and witty!! Never a dull page any way you look at it! Andy & I and our friends had a wonderful time at Christmas in the Colonies. We know several other couples who would love to attend, but because of the distance from their homes, they're not as inclined to participate - hopefully, that will change when there are overnight accommodations available - would be wonderful to continue in the Colonial mode into the next morning (not sure I could get Andy to wear a nightshirt and cap, though!) One of the couples at our table came from QUITE a distance - Pappy from Venice Beach and his lady-friend flew in from Sacramento to attend the evening! I'm SO bad with names, but the gentleman who served us was also one of the key players at the Girl Scout event that we held at the Farm last May. I couldn't believe that he recognized me and even remembered my name! He made the evening very special (As EVERY ONE of your staff does!) You can tell they really enjoy their work! The music ensemble was especially enjoyable - wish there had been a little longer time period for dancing - maybe without the very young ones, who were getting rather rambunctious! Andy & I also come up earlier in the year (Aug.) for the raspberry picking date night (to celebrate our anniversary). What a relaxing, enjoyable evening - the berry-picking gave us the opportunity to enjoy the silence together in the out-of-doors - just the sound of the breeze and the birds! Dinner was unhurried and DELICIOUS! Plan on doing it again this year! (And I've been telling LOTS of people about it, too). Wish I was available to attend the apple class next weekend - sounds like he's got some hints that would be right up our alley. Our couple of apple trees have been struggling for several years - we just aren't educated in the ways of growing them in the heat of SO. CAL. Anyway, keep up the good work - you've created a safe haven for families to learn about the real America! God bless you!

--Barbara

Our family enjoyed “Christmas in the Colonies” this year.  It was our first dinner on the farm.  I am excited about the future development of your “New England Village.”  I was thinking you may want to incorporate a school house in the future.  It would be a good experience for the children, of all ages, as it was in the days, to sit for 15 or 20 minutes with instruction from a teacher of the times.  I am sure they would see and compare the change our country has gone through, good and bad. Thank you for making a difference. May God bless you and your family.

--Laura

Survival

If some of you think I talk about survival & the economy too much, just bear with me. Me dear old mother, Bea Riley, was a depression baby, and the images of a whole town full of men out of work spook me more now that I'm one of those grown men, providing for a family. As some of you know, I watch television one night a week, on Sunday, and I believe CNBC had a story on all the Florida socialites put out of the clover by Bernard Madoff. At one point, a Palm Beach pawn broker is interviewed, and he reported the trade in Rolex watches has never been more brisk--that he's never seen so many luxury items turned in for cash during his decades in the business.

"What do you think that means?" the reporter asked.

"Stock up on canned goods," the man replied.

Okay, okay, I know we're supposed to trust the learned heads--those wise men and women who provide counsel in economic matters, (the same ones who were outraged, a few years ago, anyone would criticize Sally Mae and Freddie Mac.) Seriously, if Leslie Stahl calls Barney Frank "one smart guy," who am I to question her judgment? Truly, if there is even a small chance that "tinkering" with the free market (trillion dollar, "classified" capital injections, bank bailouts, auto-company nationalization--you know--"tinkering.") If "tinkering" will work, and Dr. Bernanke really knows how to stave off a major depression without creating hyper-inflation, then I will be the first one to breath a sigh of relief.

It's easy to stand on the sidelines and rant. I genuinely do hope someone knows what they're doing. The trouble is that some very smart people disagree very mightily on the present economic crisis. Some say that government intervention actually extended and aggravated the great depression; others say we should have had more government involvement in the markets sooner. If we don't have any perspective on that crisis, after seventy years, I doubt we're going to have consensus on this crisis, as we endure it without the benefit of hindsight.



So far, here on the farm, our business is up. We may be benefitting from Southern Californians who don't want to travel as far for a day off in the country, but I think it behooves all Americans to begin having a "Plan B."



For those of you have thought about "Plan B," I probably don't need to remind you what happens when things break down, but I will anyway. One of our long time farm friends, Richard Hanna, told me a story about growing up in depression era Pennsylvania. Some days, he would literally go without food, and he would wait for the potato harvesting rigs to drive by in the fields, and then dig around for spuds that were thrown up and cut in half. These days, Americans don't go digging for root vegetables; they wait for FEMA to drop corn flakes from the sky. If FEMA does that, great, but what happens when FEMA runs out?

The "measured" version of a major economic crisis, the "best of the worst scenario" is that widespread economic deterioration leads to soup lines, massive unemployment, and homelessness. Not very fun, but not absolute stone-age chaos either. If greater Los Angeles could manage to keep the power lines charged and the water working, and central valley farms could still deliver food, it wouldn't be the high life, but there would be some form of order. Think, however, of what happened during the Rodney King riots. That "merely" represented outrage over a jury verdict. Imagine what happens when people are hungry. Or don't imagine it. At some point, order would be restored, but do you really want to be downtown, or even in the suburbs when there's a water or food shortage and the new order is being debated?

This is still very much "thinking out loud" material, but it seems to me one version of our long term capital program on the farm could include "survival limited partnerships." In the best case, we raise money to build a New England village, to build a place where Americans can learn from their past. In the worst case, the farm's overnight capacity becomes a survival escape for the investors who would rather have a bunk in the country, and a cow to milk, than a gangland group hug and a resource-sharing conversation with roving, urban youth.

I'll be the first to admit there is something outlandish about it, but the curse of reading history is the knowledge that the story of man is just chock full of the outlandish and the dramatic and the un-heard of and the un-expected. As the boys at Monty Python put it, "nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition." For some reason, our most cutting, dismissive satire is heaped on people who remind us of previous disaster. "Springtime for Hitler" in the musical The Producers reminds us that evil always has a touch of the ridiculous about it, and because evil is ridiculous, it's difficult to take seriously. No one really believes the messenger. Poor Peter Schiff, when he was predicting the real estate crash and the stock market crash was being laughed off the set by people like Ben Stein, and I suppose if I hint "survival shares" to our corporate attorney, I will get laughed out of the building, but....

Bea Riley, and that pawn broker in Florida, take the present economic crisis seriously. Should you?