careful...

Have you ever had one of those days that is so jam packed, that you get so much done, that you stop and feel like every muscle in your body hurts and you just can't function? Yeah, me too.  

By the time I stopped at 2:15 pm to shower and get ready for my youngest grand daughter's tumbling program I was wiped out. My hands felt like claws and I was absolutely on the exhaustion bus. Hubs and I got up and we must have had an abundance of energy from resting the day before, because we got busy and stayed that way! 

It was like we were on some crazy mission to accomplish the entire to do list.  Poor guy has an equally busy, physical day today also.  He will be outside pressure washing for hours.  I hope he takes it easy and I hope the weather warms up a bit.  It's only 46° outside this morning.  I am seriously wondering about Mother Nature this year.  Wasn't it only a week ago that it was over 90°? Both of those extreme's make pressure washing unpleasant. 

I will be busy too.  We stopped by my favorite produce stand and picked up some great deals.  Today will involve blackberry jam, tomato soup, finishing the beef broth, starting another couple of batches of beef broth (I cook them for about 24 hours on slow in my crock-pots - super rich and ready for delicious dinners), and then I have a couple of other recipes that I want to explore.  I also need to start organizing all my beautiful jars and tidying up the man cave, which is where they are currently residing. 

I'm also hoping to make some progress on the beautiful pair of socks, I'd like to finish them so that I don't feel guilty starting a new project, I have a quilt that is waiting for attention on the long arm.  I thought I had the perfect backing for it, but I'm not so sure now.  It's definitely a 1980's quilt top and the backings I thought would match are a much richer tone.  Not excited about the pairing. 

I've seen a few meme's lately that point out the time difference between 1918 - 1970 - 2022 or at least I think that is the spread... anyhow it's not even 5 am, I'm not doing math.  Pointing out the time difference.  The first time it shocked me a bit, especially as I was born pre-1970... I'm a 60's baby.  Then I started thinking about the things I used to consider oldies only to realize that that they were now considered antique's.  Huh?  When did that happen?  It doesn't feel like time is moving, but it is. 

In the 70's the early 1900's were so very far away.  The distant past.  People, transportation, everything was so much more primitive.  Is that how the youth of today feel?  Do they look at polyester clothing, rotary phones and tupperware in the same way?  Thinking it is quaint, possibly something to collect (WHY?) or do they think about it at all?  I sure don't see a lot of nostalgia pieces popping up.  I mean yeah, sometimes the old t-shirt designs and of course Scooby Doo (he's eternal).  The rest not so much.  For a minute the stores tried to bring back the prairie dresses and the like for women, they didn't appear to be such a big hit.  I see them in stores, I have yet to see them on a person wandering around. 

When we used to put together trivia nights for fund-raisers, Hubs always had a section called dead or alive.  It would list two famous people and you would have to say if they were alive at the same time.  I don't remember the names, but it was always shocking when you would find out that they would seem like they were from different centuries or times and find out that they were from the same time frame.  Different parts of the world or different cultures lead one to feel that they should never have been alive at the same time. 

I don't know.  At times everything seems cyclical and at others... well it feels like we have jumped timelines.  Yesterday I was listening to some things while doing my work.  A dear friend from so long ago, not quite the 70's - more like early 80's, had shared a comedy routine he'd done recently.  It was great.  It made me wish that I could have seen the whole show, maybe he has a new career?  I don't know, but he definitely made me laugh.  And having known him for a moment in time, I could see the zany guy he was when he was younger telling those very tales. 

Cyclical. 

Me?  There are times it feels cyclical, and other times that I feel like I just chose to stay in another time. Right about now, I am extremely thankful for the fact that I have retained so many of the old skills.  I love being old-fashioned. 

Life is getting a bit fuzzier every single day. I don't often listen to the mainstream news, it doesn't feel like information to me.  It feels like I am being told a story.  I listen to news that other countries put out and I listen to non-traditional sources, it's actually quite an eclectic collection.  I feel I get a better picture of what is truly going on. 

I'm fairly sure that there will be another push to lock everyone down further, especially given that gas is being predicted to go over $6 a gallon in the next two months (this was even from mainstream news - JP Morgan to be exact).  I mean if people can't afford gas they aren't going anywhere.

I mean a super rare virus has managed to show up in 12 countries in the same week, really folks?  It's been around since the 50's.  Many people contract it every year and if you research it before the information is edited and changed you will know this.  But hey, let's push another lock down.  There is a lot of stuff out there if you are interested in finding it, it's not my job to do that. 

Just look at the utter chaos the last bit of ridiculousness has left us to deal with.  The toilet paper shortage was simply the tip of the iceberg and it put a really bright spot light on the way people will react in a crisis.  I still have the images of people hauling out tons of tp to load up their cars, some people will never again in their lifetimes buy toilet paper, think about it. 

Yesterday I saw a video from LA, a woman was asking another woman why she had just put literally all of the available baby formula in her cart.  Trying to explain that other mom's, herself included, needed that formula for their babies also.  The woman didn't offer even a jar of it, and the cart was stuffed, she simply said you should have been quicker.  Huh?  My heart could have never allowed me to do that. 

Folks really need to stop listening to "talking points" around oil and fossil fuels and think for a few darn minutes.  One of my favorite YouTubers is always saying "use the brains God and granny gave you".  I understand the various thoughts regarding electric cars and such.  There are other ways to do it.  I'm not even talking about using those items to fuel our vehicles, although I have truly considered the need to acquire a good old fashioned push mower... Folks need to start thinking about the deeper layers.  Not just how am I going to get to work or go do my fun stuff.  

Petroleum is in a great number of things that you use every single moment of every single day.  What happens when they can't be made the same way?  Are you ready to make and or repair with scarce parts the stuff you need?  Have you put tires on a car lately?  I mean seriously?  We did in January for mine, the tires for my car were almost double what we'd paid for tires on Hubs truck a year before. 

Shanghai is still under a lock-down from the first control, it is where most of the items leaving China come from.  That is what is causing the shortages in many areas.  Their ships are sitting in harbor empty (workers cannot go to their jobs creating the things we expect) or unable to leave (the crews are still locked down). Once they are finally able to leave their homes and go back to their jobs how long is it going to take?  Abbot Labs was shut down - that one makes absolutely no sense - but there will be at least a six week delay to getting formula on shelves once they can reopen. 

We don't import wheat (or didn't), yet in this time of crisis our government has chosen to export 1/3 of our grain to another country.  One that isn't much larger than a few of our states crammed together.  Does that math make even the slightest sense?  Does any of it truly make sense?

And don't forget that now there is a huge spread of lot numbers of peanut butter from a wide span of time that have to be disposed of due to the CDC warning of botulism.  Strange.  Frankly, I don't even want to ask the universe what's next... because I am sure there are at least a few other things waiting in the wings.  

Here's the thing.  I'm not worried.  I know that I have crazy skills in a lot of areas.  Maybe my life long passion of learning the older ways was an unrealized premonition.  Things are a royal shit show since the last game played on us.  How much do you think the next one will harm us?  

I was talking with my girlfriends this weekend, we were talking about folks not wanting to work these days.  Yet as the conversation evolved we realized that maybe, just maybe the whole thing wasn't about folks not wanting to work as it was about the closings of schools, businesses and such for an extended period of time reset people's mindsets.  Maybe the fact that daycare's don't have spaces forced folks to realize that they did not need as much money as they thought.  Because when you are forced to re-evaluate your needs vs your wants, many times you find out that you can definitely exist on a far leaner salary than you originally thought. 

When you eliminate the need to have two vehicles (or less driving if you keep one), going out for meals, having a professional wardrobe, paying for day care, etc and you think about the previously unknowns... better health (it's amazing what happens when you cook at home), quality time with your own children, time with family, less stuff needed for the day to day... well... maybe it isn't that people don't want to work.  Maybe it's that the work force has changed, maybe it's that people are making better decisions for themselves?

Oh who knows.  My brain gets twisted in a million different directions.  What I do know, is Hubs and I are going to continue doing what is best for our family.  We are moving things forward for us. 

Well, I know... I am on a rant.  I'm tired of people hurting and being forced into boxes... so if I offended you with my thoughts... I started to say I'm sorry, but I'm not.  I simply want more of us to think, to process what is going on and to have intelligent conversations about it. I refuse to live in fear and I am definitely using the brain that God and granny gave me.  I question everything!

love and peace...