Calm before the storm

Sunday, some of my friends and family pulled together to split and deliver another 2 cords of firewood to my house. There’s one last cord of wood at my friend’s house for me. Half of that one’s been split. We could have pushed and finished up, but I decided to wait. When everyone’s getting tired, that’s when accidents happen.

It’s been great processing wood at my friend’s house. He’s got a lot more room, a 10 hp woodsplitter, and a dump truck. It’s good to have friends. Added to my previous deliveries, I should be have more than enough wood for the winter.

All day I kept an eye on the sky, watching the clouds, feeling the wind, and getting some idea what the early effects of a monster storm looks like.

On the way home I stopped at a big box store to round out the home supplies. Sure, I’ve plenty of stored foods, but it was time for the regular weekly order anyway. Thought I’d get some fresh foods and comfort snacks. The store was busy, but not crazy busy. Apparently Saturday was the insane busy day. The girl working checkout said people have been buying lots of canned goods. That actually makes sense as most canned foods are edible right out of the can; no cooking required.

While this wasn’t a stock up for long range prep trip, I did buy another 20 pounds of rice for the pantry. It’s a pretty good habit to add at least one thing for storage when shopping. That way it doesn’t shock the budget and over the weeks and months it adds up. Today it was rice. Last week, some lentils and canned chicken. The van is getting stocked up the same way. If nothing else, it cuts down on restaurant stops while out and about. Right now there’s quite a bit of survival gear and supplies that we travel with at all times.

To be honest, I’m looking forward to staying home, keeping the woodstove going, and reading good books.

-Sixbears