What's wrong?

As Marge and I've gotten older, we spend more and more time with older and older adults. One of the groups we belong to at church is an old timers group. Really refreshing and enjoyable. However, there are some downers! (I'm joking.)

One in the group hobbles around on a bad knee and has a hard time standing for any length of time. He has to have a stool nearby. Another has bad knees and has gotten a new knee. One has a bad back as a result of wrecks with cows and slick ground and just accidents. He uses a cane. Another has a bad back and had to quit work because of it. And the list goes on and on and on. These are just the handicaps I know about. So when we get together, it's hobble here or limp there or shuffle over there. It's not a run here or there, for sure. All this doesn't detract from having fun or getting things done, it just changes the fun and we don't get as much done. We don't go jog anymore or run the marathon. We just do different things at our own pace.

Marge and I planted some tomatoes, Chinese cabbage and some kohlrabi the other day. We spent the whole day in the one high tunnel. I think there were about 75 tomato plants and probably 80 Chinese cabbage and kohlrabi. Marge was the go-for-whatever-I-needed and I was the one who crawled along and put the plants in the ground. But we got it done. Wasn't worth a flip the next day or two or three, though, or, I should say, I wasn't. Back and knees and muscles were in protest. But you know what, we are still able to do it again this year. There will come a time when we can't.

There will come a time when we have to rely on the younger generation for our needs and even our wants and desires. That's true in a way when Marge and I slowed down. In a normal year, we'd plant around 500 to 550 tomato plants and plan on selling around 2,000 to 2,500 pounds of tomatoes or about 180 pounds weekly. Gosh only knows how many cucumbers. But last year, we tuned down to about 125 tomato plants. We didn't do the farmers market here in Scott City or Sikeston. We simply decided it was too much work. So Marge canned up enough tomato juice where I can drink a pint of tomato juice daily. A quart will last two days.

So who will take over for this older generation? Most of those in our group were born from about 1945 to 1955. I would imagine the oldest is about 80 to 85 or so, and youngest is mid 60s. Who will grow the heirloom tomatoes or European or Asian cucumbers? Or the sweet corn that's free from pesticides and herbicides? Or the beef that is free from hormones or growth regulators? Or will we have to rely on big scale farming and produce that's grown to be mechanically harvested? Or lab grown burgers?

For centuries now, coffee is grown up on the sides of mountains that reach up to about 2,500 meters, with coffee beans being picked up to about 2,100 meters or about 6,800 feet. Up until recently, the beans were picked by hand and sorted by hand. In the past decade, mechanical pickers have been used to harvest coffee beans. They are sorted mechanically as well, so coffee quality falls off. It's a trend that will probably involve almost all coffee growers. Maybe there will be a few who will carry on the old way.

I hope there will always be a few coffee growers who have trees planted up around 2,000 meters who pick their beans by hand. I hope there will always be a few veggie growers who grow heirlooms without chemicals. I hope there will always be cotton clothing and not man-made imitations. I hope our grandkids will be able to sit and eat a real burger and fries. I hope ...