Charming illustration of the Alsatian city of Colmar in the 15th century, with a population of maybe maybe 4000 on 0.4km². To walk from the south gate to the north would have taken about 10 minutes, but to the Western gate it might have taken 14 minutes. Perfectly human scaled.
At the time, Colmar was run partly by its twenty professional guilds, whose members counted about half of the population, the other half were farmers and gardeners. It had seven monasteries, three churches, free hospitals, free lodging for the poor, travelers and foreigners.
Contagious diseases were treated in a specially built leper-house outside the city walls. Schooling for young boys and girls was provided by the monasteries, churches, the synagogue or one of many beguinages (lay convents for women active in trades etc.). Several public baths.
The original city wall (5-7m tall) was built in 1219 and had three gates. It was later expanded twice, with twenty-five towers, water gates and deep moats that doubled as canals and routes for water transport. Mostly torn down in the 17th century, today almost nothing remains.
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The trad way of keeping rice at home is in a komebitsu, literally "rice box". These days most people store their rice in plastic containers underneath the sink (because the containers are ugly which is the worst place in a kitchen to store rice. Wood looks great and is healthier.
The best wood for komebitsu is the Empress Tree, or Kiri. It is naturally insect repellent and controls humidity well. On the supply side it grows fast and is cheaper than other lumber. It is also lightweight. Ideally you keep as much rice as you consume in three weeks at home.
Handmade kiri wood komebitsu can cost up to 200 USD for the fanciest models with different compartments and portion boxes etc. but the cheapest ones are just recycled boxes that fancy articles came in. Here is a nice mid-range box.
“Trust the experts.” Yes, but which ones? The microbiologists who for over 30 years have been saying wooden cutting boards are much safer than plastic cutting boards? Or the food safety experts who forced every restaurant you have ever visited to use plastic cutting boards?
“Trust the experts.” Yes, but which ones? The epidemiologist who say masks are vital or the epidemiologists who says masks don't matter because the virus isn't airborne? Or the experts in fluid dynamics that can convincingly model how virus carrying droplets move through air?
“Trust the experts.” Yes but which ones? The epidemiologist who can tell you if 5 feet or 7 feet is a safe distance but won't tell you to lose weight to up your survival chances? Or the nurse at the local clinic who will lose her job for telling her patients to get in shape?
This hiking path hasn't been used in a while. It is also crawling with venomous snakes so I stomp my feet going forward like a deranged elephant. This is also in Tokyo by the way.
Beautiful. Not edible.
This part of Tokyo hasn't been adequately cleared of unexploded ordinance so every time you step on metal you wish for an old beer can.
If gas pipelines can fail so can water pipelines. Not too long ago Texans were self-sufficient in household water. Here's a beautiful neoclassical Victorian style above ground cistern to store roof rainwater, at the Rooke House, La Rosa Ranch, U.S. Highway 77, Refugio County.
The problem with above ground cisterns is that they are vulnerable to weather and fire. In Texas all towns and many homesteads used private hand built underground cisterns that could hold 2,000-4,000 gallons of clean drinking water. No water bills, less taxes, sustainable.
Almost all of these have either been removed or filled in, in a fit of damn-the-consequences progress. Here is one that at least remains partly in place, the cistern at the 1834 Fanthorp Inn. Beautiful building, a must visit for Texans into trad building.
In the Hindu religion, planting certain herbs and trees is considered a traditional religious duty. Tulasi is known as Holy Basil: "A person is honored in Vaikuntha for as many thousand years as the days he resides in a house where tulasi is grown." — Vrukshayurveda, 10th century
"And if one properly grows bilva, which pleases Lord Siva, in his family, the goddess of riches resides permanently passes on to the sons and grandsons."
"He who plants even a single asvattha, wherever it may be, as per the prescribed mode, goes to the abode of Hari."
"He who has planted dhatri has performed several sacrifices. He has donated the earth. He would be considered a celebate forever."
"He who plant a couple of banyan trees as per the prescribed mode would go to the abode of Siva and many heavenly nymphs will attend upon him."
The future is the past: inland waterway cargo transport is the most efficient way to transport solid or liquid cargo. Units of fuel needed to move 1750 tons of solid goods:
Trailer/truck: 70
Railway: 15
Canal Barge: 1
And imagine the differences in necessary crew numbers.
For liquids the difference is even greater: barges are twice as efficient with liquids as with solids so the efficiency factor between a truck and a barge is now increased to 1:144 in the barges favor.
As for total cargo capacity. The largest feasible cargo barge can transport as much stuff as 1050 trucks or 216 train cars powered by 6 engines. It is a ridiculously large difference.