Francis Berger
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The Sabotage Intensifies; I Gather Walnuts

9/28/2022

13 Comments

 
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The intense sabotage campaign that began in 2020 continues unabated. For the time being, I am cannot add any meaningful insights beyond what has already been expressed on other blogs.

I suppose I could add that it is vital to understand that the sabotage is not restricted to colossal events such as the recent one deep under the sea. It is pervasive. Systematic. Unrelenting.

Take my corner of the world, for example. Although the absence of pipeline headlines in the Hungarian media was painfully conspicuous this morning, there was this: 


If the energy crisis was not enough, Hungary’s second-largest power plant halted all operations. The Mátra Power Plant stopped working on Monday afternoon and since then has not restarted. The problem is worsened because the first block of the largest Paks Power Plant is still under maintenance. The lack of sunshine decreases solar energy production too. Therefore, energy imports in Hungary had soared to around 40 percent.

Isn't funny how everything blows up, catches fire, falls apart, or stops working all at once?

I haven't thought a great deal about this latest Sorathic surge, mostly because I have been squirreling away the little free time I do have into gathering walnuts.

Yes, the end of September is walnut season in Hungary -- those few precious weeks during which the copious walnut trees dotting country's landscape drop their treasures to the ground for gathering.

Walnut trees line the farm fields surrounding my village. Luckily, none of the farmers are all that enthusiastic about collecting the nuts and have no qualms about others gathering them instead. Consequently, people carrying buckets and sacks pop up like solitary mushrooms in the fields and forests all around my village at the end of September. One or two good trees are all you need to haul in twenty or thirty kilograms of shelled walnuts. 

My previous walnut foraging forays around the village had produced meager results. I either hit the fields too early, when the walnuts were still in the trees encased in green husks, or too late, when other gatherers had already reaped the bulk of the crop for themselves.

This year I managed to time it rather well. Two hours and three trees were all it took to gather a good thirty kilos of walnuts. If the weather holds, I plan to gather another thirty or so this Friday or Saturday.

After a little drying, the walnuts can be eaten raw, or toasted, or ground and used in a variety of delicious cakes and desserts, including one of my favorites, the Gerbeaud slice, which my wife makes every Christmas and Easter.

With the way things are going, I'm not sure we'll have the electricity needed to make the Gerbeaud slices come Christmas, but it's good to know that we'll at least have some walnuts to munch on. 
13 Comments
SK Orr link
9/28/2022 21:56:53

Wish I could sample the local walnuts there in your area. We have tons of black walnut trees in our place, but I am the only one besides the squirrels who enjoys them.

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Francis Berger
9/29/2022 12:47:24

@ SK - We have a mix of black walnuts and the convention English walnut. I like both, but apparently the black walnuts are healthier, so the squirrels and you know something!

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Anti-Gnostic
9/28/2022 22:29:27

Francis - I think you need to stress your status as an ethnic minority in Hungary and demand a leg up on walnuts and electricity as your just due.

In my lifetime, we've gone from worship of the heroic to worship of the victim. I see people responding accordingly everywhere. I am clearly out of my time and place. I think the COVID messaging affirmed this victim-mindset: you're a hero just for showing up to work. All democratic governments now just print their own money, further messaging, as if any more were needed: value is added just by existing. None of this is sustainable.

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Francis Berger
9/29/2022 12:50:37

@ Anti-Gnostic - Sounds good, but I'm sure how I could pull off playing the victim here. Telling them I'm "really" American probably wouldn't get me far up the victim hierarchy!

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ben
9/30/2022 01:52:25

not pro-victim, pro-undesirable.

These 'victim' groups are often massively privileged, and the supposed oppressors persecuted. the supposed history of interactions between groups is a pretext, not the motivation, which is 'phobophilia' or being-for what a person is naturally against, or doesn't like. I suppose feminism is an exception to this and doesn't belong with pro-foreigner, pro-sexual deviant, pro-criminal, pro-pitbulls, pro-dark chocolate, pro-mentally ill etc.

I suppose there's also a 'philophobia'. In this understanding, the French Revolution, for example, would be motivated by opposition to the aristocrats as Christian, beautiful, intelligent, noble etc.

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Francis Berger
10/1/2022 20:14:34

@ ben - I apologize for the delay in posting your comment. I was away from the computer for a couple of days.

Lady Mermaid link
9/29/2022 03:16:22

I remember picking pecans off the ground from pecan trees as a child. It was fun to crack and eat them. Fall is my favorite time of the year.

I pray for you and your family over the electricity situation. I have family in Spain and I worry for them as well. The System leadership is completely suicidal. There is no point of return unless they repent. However, it looks like you have good community for support during these crazy times. The walnuts are a good illustration about how creation can still happen.

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Francis Berger
9/29/2022 12:56:36

@ Lady Mermaid - Thanks. To be honest, I'm not that worried about the whole energy situation, which is crazy because I probably should be! Nevertheless, since 2020, I've learned the importance of taking life day to day and trusting in God to provide ample opportunities for spiritual learning and development even if/when material conditions deteriorate. As things stand now, the material deterioration is palpable but not overwhelming, and the opportunities for spiritual learning are ample.

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Luke
9/29/2022 03:25:19

We lived in Texas when I was a boy and we would pick pecans off the ground in the "fall".
I do wish the American Chestnut hadn't been wiped out. The forestry service replaced most of those forests with pine so we lost both the trees and the nuts.

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Francis Berger
9/29/2022 13:02:24

@ Luke - It appears you and Lady Mermaid have both lived in one of the pecan producing states in the US.

Chestnuts are another favorite of mine, and they can be found in some regions of Hungary. I planted a couple of chestnut trees in my yard a couple of years ago, but the soil appears to be alkaline for them. Unfortunately, the trees really struggled this year -- to the point where I thought I would lose them, but they pulled through.

In a few weeks, I'm going to replant both in another part of the yard, but only after I've added a lot of acidic soil to the ground.

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bruce charlton
9/29/2022 12:00:33

I have always enjoyed walnuts in moderation; but after a bit of self observation I concluded that eating too many at once seemed to be bad for me - at any rate, it made me feel a bit down/ off.

My guess was that the bitter taste meant that there was some kind of 'toxin' in walnuts, and like most bitter foods (eg coffee) there is a sweet spot when the 'dose' is right - but beyond-which they become aversive.

After all, every beneficial therapy is a poison in excess - or as Paracelsus supposedly said (something like): It's all in the dose.

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Francis Berger
9/29/2022 13:12:28

@ Bruce - Yes, I can only eat walnuts in moderation.

I enjoy walnuts most when they serve as an ingredient in desserts or baked goods, but I don't eat a lot of desserts or baked goods either these days. I'm getting to that point in life where almost every food I eat is considered a "treat" -- to be eaten "only" in moderation.

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lea
10/2/2022 06:14:07

It's in the dose alright. Lithium has the smallest window between effective and lethal out of almost any regularly used substance, and apparently alot of shrinks are still not aware of that. But with that said most of them are also still convinced that almost every psychological issue in existence is due to brain chemistry issues. Shit i wanted to say something cheerful as well; i love walnuts, enjoy them. Up here only hazelnuts and chestnuts are fairly available, and we also have a long history of wintery vegetables that i am planning to get into. Eating for the season will be necessity rather then a fad soon enough.

Zooming out, some de-industrialization and slowing down would not be bad overall, if only the buck stopped there and we all know it wont. Ill play the Beasty Boys again a few times to make it more entertaining.. once every couple months.

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