There can be no doubt that reskilling is needed and desirable.

Can we do it quick enough?

Or will we need to simultaneously work out how to mass produce the change we wish to see? (e.g. like they are trying to do at Factor E Farm

Great piece of writing, thanks for sharing it. it reminded me of my experience in Italy back in the early 1970's when I moved from where my family was living, in Roma, to Assisi and somehow managed to be taken in by a local farm family in exchange for my labor. There were two us, my friend Hugh from the States and I, two naive 17 years kids who knew nothing about real work and especially about rural farm living. Instead of a Guido we had a mentor named Giuseppe or Beppe as everyone called him, he was much like your Guido, a living encyclopedia of knowledge about everything that had to do with crops, animals, seasons, farm implements and especially about people. What we learned from him in those years has stayed with me though I regret not having had nearly enough time to learn more.

When I was 35 I was fortunate enough to move back to Italy, that was in 1992 and now live in an ancient Tuscan hill town, Campiglia Marittima which is a long bike ride from Pomaia. Though I don’t have Giuseppe to teach me, I’ve found other willing folks that are ready to share they’re generations worth of knowledge about simple living and have learned to tend olive trees which is my passion. But Italy has really moved away from that bedrock of country tradition that people like Guido carried with them, in the years since I moved back here this place has really changed and not much of it for the better. It’s a wonderful place to live, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be anywhere else believe me. But I fear that the transition from the consumer lifestyle that is so prevalent now in Italy is going to be quite rough. People don’t seem to see the storm that is bearing down or if they do, they can’t accept the change it’s going to bring with it. I too hope I’m ready, it’s going to take a tremendous capacity of adaptation and willingness to buckle down and cope.

As a committed and serious cyclist I find myself thinking on rides that soon, all these cars that are buzzing by my left shoulder will soon be standing still, useless and obsolete. There’s a small amount of satisfaction in that thought. It’s all the rest of the scenario that leaves me pondering though. Coraggio, life goes forward!

quote:
‘As we live our increasingly frantic lifestyles, dashing around generally doing nothing of any great importance, working in jobs that are either astonishingly clever or desperately mundane, we have become distanced from the skills that are essential to more resilient cultures’.

…as much as I and other people i know try to break out of this way of living, I have found that it is actually impossible (even considering the small things that we (or I) can do). i feel ‘chained’ to way of living that is not conducive to the health of the environment or individuals. this deeply saddens and frustrates me for many reasons, including those rob has mentioned. Perhaps, the only positive take on this, is that we can sow some of the seeds for future generations to create the things we all seem to want.

Talking of our neighbours, that is what moved me so much about your piece. They are a lovely elderly couple (and their oranges have been pronounced by our family as the best tasting ever) and still live much as I imagine they always have. Up until last year they still had their own donkey. My Greek, unfortunately, is wholly inadequate at the moment to be able to hold a deep conversation with them but I would dearly love to because I know there would be so many things to learn from them.

Since we came to the village we have discovered transition towns and “peak everything” and are now thinking long-term to build a resilient future here somehow. Of course, travelling to and from our family in the UK and Germany is a big consideration and not especially resilient — I have tried the train and ferry which took three days and cost three times as much as a flight, but I would take this option every time if I could afford it (there may not be much difference in the prices soon anyway).

I went on a transition training course last year and it would be great to meet others interested in a transition initiative here on Crete (we live in the south of the island). I think there is a lot of resilience still retained here as most people seem to engage in some form of home production, usually olives, but also chickens, vegetables, and bee-keeping, but things are bound to get wobbly as the tourism comes under pressure, of course, not to mention the water situation as things get hotter.

Keep up the good work.

A lovely set of memories and having tasted Tuscany last year on a walking holiday, staying in a small village on the opposite hillside to Barga, I to saw the small type of farm Guido ran, and equally the new homes replacing them.

I too hunger for a more resilient time, helping each other in a proper community, I only hope we can steer ourselves safely to this new post peak oil lifestyle. I’m under no illusions that it will require hard work, but that in itself is a blessing, we are healthy and happy when our bodies work hard and are well fed on wholesome food, grown locally, and we are once again reunited with our true environment, the outside world.

Regards

Blessings:)