The Grand Scheme

Three Minutes To Read

I was setting the table for lunch when Tasha came into the kitchen. “Have you read this morning’s paper?”

She nodded. “Yes, depressing economic news. But I’d rather focus on happier things.” She opened the ‘fridge and took out fish and broccoli.

I put on the kettle and took teabags from their boxes. “I agree. And I came to the conclusion that a prosperous future isn’t determined by how wealthy one is but rather by one’s accessibility to fresh healthy food.”

Tasha looked over at me. “We eat very healthy food and I’m quite satisfied with our market.”

“As long as supply and distribution remains as it is.”

She put the fish in a glass pan, added her special blend of spices, breadcrumbs, tarragon and parsley.

“I was thinking we’d be smart if we bought one of those all in one eco systems we saw advertised in the Real Goods catalogue. Remember?  It farms both fish and vegetables.”

“What kind of fish?” She slid the pan into the oven.

“Brook trout or even a salt-water container that would grow flounder or shrimp.”

“To me that sort of thing sounds highly impractical. But tell me who’d clean and gut the fish? You’re not expecting me to do that, are you?”

“Of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Well there’s only two of us here and I certainly can’t see you boning a fish and cleaning out its innards.”

“You’re not giving me much credit. I’ll have you know my survival skills are honed.”

She put the broccoli into a pot and added water. “Then next time I shop I’ll buy a whole fish, bring it home and let you process it from scratch. Have you ever in your life gutted a fish?”

I took out our luncheon plates, silverware, and set the table. “No! But I don’t see a problem if you feel the need for me to do that. What I’m suggesting is intended to make sure we stay ahead of what I sense could be eventual shortages, not to mention higher food prices. Just think how far ahead we’d be if we farmed our own shrimp. No muss, no fuss, from the glass eco container into the casserole dish or the fry pan. Why are you sighing?”

She shook her head and gave me one of those looks that only a seasoned wife aims at her husband. Then she took a deep breath. “You have a magnificent capacity for total impracticality. First of all we really don’t have sufficient space for anything like that, let alone the experience to construct it, get it started and keep it going. I’m sure that growing vegetables inside takes as much work as growing them outside in the garden.”

I folded two napkins and set them besides our plates. “I really think you’re underestimating me. But many wives underestimate their husbands. They have a hard time seeing their true originality at work. Personally I think this idea though no doubt ahead of its time has a lot going for it: Mainly lowering our costs and injecting some real environmental green into our lives.”

She checked the fish in the oven. It smelled delicious. “What are you talking about? I recognize your true creative genius and encourage it every chance I get. But this grand scheme of yours seems way too far fetched for me to take seriously let alone get behind.”

“Now I know how Edison must have felt when he broached the subject of electric light to his wife.”

“But Edison was already an inventor. And even he had many more failures than successes. I’m sure his wife always listened very patiently and then offered him practical advice that somehow might have missed getting into the history books.”

“Are you suggesting it might have been Mrs. Edison who really invented the light bulb?”

She put some broccoli on our plates and served the fish. “No! Not in the least. What I’m saying is that I don’t want to have to clean, bone and gut fish. Not in this lifetime. Besides how do you know that the economy might not just suddenly change for the better, swing upward and that there will be plenty of wholesome food at fair prices to go round for us all to share?”

We sat down. “I love your idealism. Unfortunately it doesn’t agree with any economic prognostications I’ve read recently. But sure, why not, you’ve said a number of times that ultimately we create our own reality.”

“And cleaning fish isn’t a part of mine.”

“I don’t mind it being a part of mine if that’s what it takes to maintain a healthy diet. This fish is delicious.”

She smiled. “Personally I prefer to use my energy to manifest a better, more peaceful world where I can find what I need when I need it rather than have to raise it myself. Besides knowing us I’m sure if we grew fish we’d become attached to them. They’d be our pets and we wouldn’t want to eat them.”

“I don’t see myself out walking a flounder on a leash; or training a jumbo shrimp to come when I whistle. But maybe we could start small and get an upside down tomato plants. Then tomatoes could grow here in the kitchen year round alongside the Swedish Ivy.”