it's kind of hard to realize the immediacy of pain and danger
in previous times [...] In 1819, say, there was the specter
of having a child starve to death, if not one's spouse or
oneself.

Or see your husband or son drafted and then killed in one of the
innumerable Napoleonic wars and the subsequent German wars of
unification (That's when my Prussian great-great grandfather bugged
out for Canada with his kids.)

We really don't experience life as they did, even
though we think our trials and tribulations are as
overwhelming as we can take.

It's one of the things that makes me have a little hope
for the future - unless it turns out that we were buying
time by cashing in the fossil fuel account.

I am still optimistic about the future despite certain current
events in that area of concern.

Myself, not so much. I went to my high-school reunion;
it was a wealthy institution (Wikipedia says its endowment
is $78,113,000) and a fairly strong academic one (the same
article says "Data for the Class of 2018 reflects a median
SAT score of 740 (out of 800) in Reading & Writing and 770
(out of 800) in Math," and our class aside from me and a
couple other outliers have done quite well for ourselves.
So I surveyed the room and noted the concentration of
power and money there, more frightening even than at my
college reunion, and noted the billions with a b of assets
represented. Most of this dough came from the energy sector,
largely petrochemicals, with one or two of the most bizarrely
rich branching out into alternative sources; my point is that
the class billionaires are not evil people, but the puppeteers
of our society are the puppets of their money, and they feel
the need to know which side their bread is buttered on, and you
can rest assured that for the foreseeable generations their
slices will land butter-side up. We have those who have done
well by doing good, particularly in the medical and environmental
fields, and I'm proud of most of them, but all their efforts in
clinics for the poor, the Sierra Club, and the League of Women
Voters, examples of what Our People do, are merely taking arms
against the waves; thinking globally and acting locally just
doesn't seem to be working.

Speaking of which we have not only had the mildest, shortest winter
and hottest March in 100 years of accurate weather keeping records
but apparently the hottest year in the past 14,000 years! There's a
way boffins can determine temperatures in the past based on the
ratio of the various hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in the water of
frozen ice: https://tinyurl.com/climate-change-permafrost

This year I've been in climates suffering record-setting heat,
cold, and wet. Something is going on, and I fear that big
SMITE button that Gary Larson once drew.

Title: Lithuanian Pork Feet Braised with Sauerkraut

It looks like rich Lithuanians feast like German peasants.

Aunt Helen's pig's feet and sauerkraut
categories: offal, German, main
servings: 3

3 pig feet, trimmed, cleaned, split
water
lemon juice or vinegar
herbs and spices of your choice
2 Tb EVOO
1 lg yellow onion, sliced thin
1 lb sauerkraut
1 Tb caraway seeds
1 ts ground pepper
1/2 c dry or off-dry white wine

Cover pig feet in acidulated water to cover. Season
with herbs to taste (onion, bay leaf, red pepper,
thyme sprigs, whatever). Bring to the boil; reduce
heat to a simmer; cook until feet are tender, at
least 2 and possibly up to 3 hr. Drain.

Wilt onion in oil in a large pan with a cover. Add
pig feet and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer
30 min.

after Nicholas Coletto, Wine and Dine 1-2-3
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