My spouse and I like to eat out but this is about to change because of the economic situation. Fortunately, she is a terrific cook and is polishing up on some of her old recipes. With my retirement vanishing and the collapse of the world financial markets we are gearing up to weather the crisis by eating at home.

We are trying out some of the Great Depression menus such as soup. She made some delicious potato soup from scratch this week. Her vegetable soup has always been my favorite, even in prosperous times. We may even try making some bread. Soup and bread worked in the depression and, hopefully, will see us through these rough times. The deer who have taken over my yard may come in handy during these lean years. They may serve as my main source of protein and might even taste good when added to the vegetable soup. Surely, the Salado police won’t arrest a starving man.

If we eat out I may use another depression trick and order chili. I eat about half the bowl of chili then fill up the bowl with catsup and a lot of crumbled crackers, which are usually free with the meal. I can stretch the single bowl into two or even three servings. To economize on my restaurant meal I now only drink water with a twist of lemon. Tea cost almost as much as the entree and I have eliminated this costly item.

This depression thing may not be so bad after all. I need to lose some weight and this may do the trick. We are staying home more and doing less shopping which is our biggest savings. Fortunately, I stlll own a lot of unread books that will serve as my greatest source of entertainment. When these are all read I will simply go down the street to our great Salado library. Science fiction, fantasy and the pulp magazines were made popular during the last depression and western novels and movies were the rage. Maybe all that good stuff will come back. I may even be able to get my science fantasy novel published.
Church going was also very popular during the depression years. Who knows, that may even become popular again and we can put God back into the pledge of allegiance and start having a prayer before the football games.

If I can implement some of the survival techniques used by my parents during the Great Depression maybe we can pull through this financial meltdown. I would love to stay on the porch but heaven forbid I may be forced to get a job after the Wall Street vultures get through cleaning out my retirement account. The new president is going to be disappointed with me because I have nothing left to tax. It has been said you can’t get blood out of a turnip. I know this is so because the turnip is one of my favorite depression foods. By the way, turnips go great with armadillo and possum, which are readily found in my backyard eating what the deer don’t want.