Monthly Archives: July 2012

When I Was Sick, An Introspection

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We’re (I’m) Not Superman
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I want to preface this by saying, I don’t get sick. Because of genetics, lifestyle choices, and dumb luck I’ve lived a healthy and active life. But last week I was sick. I had gastroenteritis, an unspecific medical diagnosis, commonly known as stomach flu. Maybe it was food poisoning (though both Sarah and I ate pretty much the same things), who knows. What matters is that it sucked. Really sucked.

Gastroenteritis is defined as “a medical condition characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that involves both the stomach and the small intestine, resulting in some combination of diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain and cramping.” And I had it all. For over 24 hours I was miserable. Most of the time–when I wasn’t in the bathroom–all I could do was sit quietly on the couch; for a time I laid on the floor with my knees pulled up. It passed. Of course I lived. But I also learned.

I mention this because it made me realize that no matter how much we (including me, or as my wife would say “especially” me) view ourselves as superman, sometimes we’re not — we can’t be. Sometimes no matter how much desire there is to get up and do the job or even defend the home; physically there’s no way it’s going to happen. That afternoon, lying in an almost fetal position wishing the pain would stop, the most I might have been able to do would have been to crawl a short distance to get out of the way. I wanted to write about this soon after the incident because already my brain is starting to revise history, to minimize how bad I felt, and trying to justify that if I would have had to, I could have. But I can still remember how I felt laying there sweating, my gut spasming in intense pain, just trying to breathe.

I learned that we need to have redundancies built into our preparations, and not with stuff this time but with skills. If you can’t do it, who can? You don’t even have to be sick or hurt, maybe you’re just not there. Have you taught your spouse, partner, or children the skills that need to be done? Is there a family member, friend, or neighbor that has the knowledge and ability, and would be willing to help? Hopefully this person is nearby because maybe someone driving to your home isn’t an option (time or opportunity).

To be truly prepared for a disaster, or especially a collapse, we must have strong social support systems. We can’t survive on our own. Humans are social creatures. We’re meant to live in supporting communities to learn from, teach to, share with, barter with, care for, and protect each other.

Momma Bear’s July Preps

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The end of June brought northern Virginia and lower Maryland a serious, and very sudden, storm that resulted in more than a week without power to over a million homes. While we were not personally without power, there were food and ice shortages at some neighborhood stores as supply chains were rerouted or disrupted. It was a great opportunity to talk to our family about heat related illnesses and to review what we would have done for more than a week without A/C in 100+ degree weather. While we have a fireplace to stay warm during cold weather power outages, staying cool in the summer is much harder without power. We are now considering getting a generator, in part, to run a small window A/C unit. We’re also considering some solar battery chargers to power electronic devices. The least expensive option, which we will probably do first, is to get an inverter for our automobile outlets so that we could charge our cell phones and laptops. I think we are going to plan a “power outage drill” weekend in the fall. It will be an opportunity to see if our planning is really living up to our needs.

The biggest weakness we found in our preparations was that simple drinking water is not always enough when the emergency/disaster is during a heat wave. In a long-term, high heat situation–especially during strenuous activity–a Gatorade-type drink is recommended to replace the electrolytes that are lost. So we have added that to our LTS list (diluting it to half strength which is a better ratio for the body, and helps avoid stomach aches and cramping). You can make your own electrolyte oral rehydration solution. Into a quart/liter of water add: 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon table salt and 1/4 teaspoon potassium chloride (bought as salt substitute, e.g. Morton Salt Substitute or Nu-salt) (note: if you don’t have access to potassium chloride double the amount of table salt to 1 teaspoon). Overall though our home is pretty well prepared for a week or more without power. We continue to stock up on alternative cooking fuels (charcoal, propane, butane, and sterno), as well as foods that require minimal cooking, and comfort foods.

After six years out of the country, we have recently purchased fishing gear and licenses (still searching for the perfect boat though). Although none of us are overly experienced fishermen we have begun/resumed fishing — though at this point it’s catch and release. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, the types of fish we have here are quite a bit different from what we are used to so it’s all about practice. Bass and catfish are the most common and they require larger hooks and stronger line than what we use for trout back home. We are fortunate to live near a number of lakes, and the Potomac River, so there is ample opportunity to practice.

My tomatoes are also growing like gangbusters; I picked one yesterday that is over a pound. This past weekend I canned my first batch of ketchup. It is a little on the gourmet side for flavor (meaning the grownups like it but the kids don’t). Next up for canning is fire roasted tomato salsa. My husband, who is quite the city boy, has been blown away by the idea that we are storing food that we actually grew ourselves, and from which I have harvested seeds for next year’s garden. Like Sarah, I have kept a garden journal to keep track of what is and isn’t working. We are already looking forward to next year to try a few different vegetables and probably more containers since our sunny spots are not necessarily gardenable otherwise. We are working as best we can with what we have.

How is your summer going? What are you canning or storing?

(Monday: Building In Redundancies In Case You Aren’t Available)

Learning To Butcher Rabbits

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When we’re young we have lots of ‘firsts’. As we get older we have fewer and fewer; both because of life experiences and because we tend to specialize and stay within our comfort zones. Yesterday I had a first, I learned how to butcher rabbits. Now I realize that butchering most small animals is about the same, but I had never killed and/or butchered anything before. That includes hunting; though I’ve nothing against hunting–and plan to learn–I didn’t grow up hunting and have never gone as an adult.

I went to Rob and Beckie’s home–they provided our does–and Rob taught me how to butcher rabbits. The siblings of the rabbits I got from him had matured (three months). He did the first one as I watched, I did the second one and he walked me through the process. We then finished the rest, each working on his own, but Rob was always available to help or answer my questions.

As I reflected on how I felt about butchering the rabbits, both at the time and afterward, I think the best word I could come up with was ‘satisfaction.’ Satisfaction that we had done it respectfully and efficiently, that the rabbits had not suffered, and that the meat would be used to feed our families and improve our diets. Before we killed each one we calmed it, thanked it for it’s sacrifice, and promised to appreciate what it would provide.

I’m glad I’ve learned. I can’t say I look forward to the next time, but I feel confident that I can do it well, painlessly, and without waste. I like knowing that I can provide a healthy source of protein for my family. Both Rob and I would like to learn how to tan the hides and utilize the pelts.

I felt a bit overwhelmed when we first got our rabbits, but it’s much easier than I thought it would be. I enjoy the day-to-day chores of raising and feeding them; soon we will go through the process of breeding and bringing up the next litter, and I know now how to harvest the meat that we will raise. I encourage anyone who is considering raising rabbits that it’s a good idea, it’s easier than you think, and it will be a valuable addition to your homestead, big or small. Any help I can give you, either in the form of rabbits to raise as your own, skills I can teach you, or knowledge that I’ve learned I’d be happy to.

I’ve mentioned it before but I’d strongly recommend RiseandShineRabbitry.com and Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits. Both are excellent sources of advice and how-to information on raising rabbits.

An interesting side-note: When we first got our “does” from Rob (at six weeks), we instead got one female and one male (it’s harder to tell than you think). When we discovered this, Rob told me to just bring the male when I came and we’d swap it out for a healthy female.

Rob knew that I pastured my rabbits as much as possible (maybe half their diet), and he feeds his strictly store-bought rabbit feed, so he suggested an experiment: once butchered we’d compare my male and how much fat he had and how much the meat weighed to the ones Rob had raised. We found that my pasture fed rabbit had considerably less fat, but the meat weighed almost the exact same.

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/20/12

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Packing For The Trip

Not much happened this week, prepping-wise, because we were in Colorado visiting family for a chunk of it. Sarah and I went down for five days with the kids, and the kids are staying another week with their grandparents and cousins.

When I was packing for this trip–as I did for our Las Vegas trip last month–I pondered what I could bring to help me be as prepared as possible while traveling. Obviously on any trip like this you can’t prepare for a major disaster (if you think there is likely to be a major disaster maybe it’d be better to just stay home); you can be more prepared for minor problems though, and minor problems are far more likely to happen. We try to avoid checking bags, both because it’s a hassle and most of the time costs extra; so we’re more limited to what we can bring. Since we were going to be staying with my parents I wondered if I really needed to bring much of anything. Then I remembered that we were going to be renting a vehicle and doing a lot of driving around, and of course there wouldn’t be anything extra in a rental vehicle.

So I started with our ‘five basic needs’.

  • Food: I kept the four power bars in my bag, but on a trip like this going without food isn’t too big of a risk.
  • Water: I have a 3-liter CamelBak and a 750 ml water bottle in my pack (redundant). Enough for a day trip for myself and to share as needed. The kids each had their own water bottles.
  • Shelter: It’s summer so I took out the fleece jacket, rain jacket, and warm gloves, but I left in the thermal shirt and stocking cap. I also had leather work gloves and a small tarp.
  • Security: Again with just carry-on luggage you’re very limited: no knives, no pepper spray, no firearms. I do carry a heavy chain with my pack to secure luggage as needed, it could be used as a weapon if necessary.
  • Energy: I have a flashlight and a headlamp in my pack, both use AAA batteries; I also have extra AAA batteries and a cell phone charger. I took my fire starting kit out, but left in a couple of lighters.
  • Medical (6th basic need?): I have my personal trauma kit and then a back-up first aid kit with extra supplies. Excessive? Maybe. But I do have the knowledge and training to take care for those around me and I’m the one everyone will come to. I also carry a sampling of OTC meds.
  • Hygiene: I always have a towel (per Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), a ziplock bag of wet ones, and some antibacterial wipes.
  • Miscellaneous: I have a few basic hand tools, zip ties, some duct tape, para cord, paper and pens, and a couple carabiners.

My bag is always checked VERY closely by the TSA, but it’s now been vetted in the Seattle, Las Vegas, and Colorado Springs airports. And yes, in addition to this I did fit my clothes. After years in the military, and long motorcycle trips, I have learned to pack lightly and very compactly. I can fit most of my clothes in an Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube which fits nicely in my pack’s main pocket.

Also this week, the hand washing laundry stuff we ordered arrived. We are now proud owners of a Rub-Lite Glass Washboard and a Rapid Washer. Next month we’ll get a couple of wash tubs and probably a hand wringer. Then we’ll be ready to start learning that skill set.

What did you do?

 

Momma Bear: Women’s Maladies

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Sometimes being a woman is really the pits. I imagine it will be even worse in a post-SHTF society where our modern, quick-fix, take a pill for it remedies are no longer available. I’m talking about those dreaded conditions that are almost exclusively “women’s ailments”: yeast infections, vaginosis, vulvitis, UTIs, hemorrhoids, leaky bladders, migraines and menopause. Bleck! So what is the best way to prep for these lovely maladies? Like other areas of preparedness, we need to tackle this with a multi-step approach.

Knowledge: Know your body. You need to be able to recognize the warning signs of an impending ailment so that you can attempt to prevent a full-blown illness. Know your genetic predispositions and history. Ask your mother, grandmothers, and aunts about what female health conditions run in your family. Heredity is a funny thing and frequently cannot be avoided. While you may maintain a painstakingly rigorous “healthy lifestyle,” sometimes nature still throws that heredity-curveball at you. You might be young enough that many of these have not yet happened to you, but at least study up and be prepared to recognize and treat them if they occur (to you or others). In my family we get three main conditions: hemorrhoids, leaky bladders, and menstrual migraines. The first two can normally be treated by surgery and the last can be controlled by using birth control pills and prescription meds. But what will we do without access to routine medical care and medications?

Prepare: If there are medications you can get that you might need someday, GET THEM and stock up. You might never have had a yeast infection in your life, but if you live someplace hot and humid and suddenly your life has no A/C, infrequent baths and changes of clothing (because you are washing everything by hand!), you might have a serious run in with a yeast infection. Stock up on any OTC meds that you can. The other way to prepare is to not put off those elective surgeries (this seems to have been mentioned in plenty of other articles). These days both leaky bladders and hemorrhoids can be treated with surgery, but they are not ones that most of us would rush right out to get. I think you will find that surgery is preferred over living with the problem in a post-SHTF world. Last, maybe cleanliness IS next to godliness. Keeping clean and dry will prevent some of these conditions from starting in the first place. The military has been doing this for years…with feet. Every time they stop, they change their socks because it prevents a plethora of foot ailments. I say every time you sweat too much, change those undies. If you can’t stay cool, at least stay dry.

Take your knowledge a step further: None of these ailments are new. How did they treat these ailments in the past? Or how do they treat them now in third world countries? Look for “old school” remedies. Read up, research, ask someone very old who grew up in a rural environment what they did. For instance, yogurt is a common treatment for yeast infections (and I am not talking about eating it). And here I mean all natural, home-made, BASIC yogurt, not the flavored variety they carry in the grocery stores today. Culturing your own yogurt at home is actually pretty easy to do, but few Americans do it. Drinking cranberry juice works well for treating UTIs. There are “alternative” treatments for a number of ailments, but most of us have grown up in a society where these remedies have become obsolete due to our easy access to medications.

It will take time to research and practice these remedies before the SHTF. But it’s better to practice it now when you don’t need the remedy desperately.  Like other types of medical care, it is best to study up long before the SHTF!

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/13/12

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It’s been a busy week as we get ready to leave on a family vacation. We’re heading to Colorado Springs, CO to see my parents and other assorted family members. We’re looking forward to the trip; my two youngest, Emily and Alison, have never flown before and are very excited about that.

We did get a few things done. We picked up a seven month old male American Chinchilla Rabbit this week, from another breeder. He will be the patriarch of our future litters; he’s full grown and sexually mature. The does are just three months old now and we need to wait until they are five months to breed them; so the first breeding will be about mid-September. (Winston, our male, looks more brown than gray in the picture, my understanding is that his coat was discolored from the sunlight.)

Speaking of does, I should instead say doe. As advised, we went back and “sexed” our two younger rabbits to ensure they were both female. Turns out one is male. It’s much harder to determine, especially when they’re young, than I would have thought.  Rob, the breeder we got them from, is more than happy to exchange him for a her. I’ll be going to Rob’s place in just over a week to learn from, and help, him butcher his next batch of rabbits. I’ve never done that before and I look forward to the opportunity to learn, but am a little cautious about how I will feel doing it. I believe in what we’re doing and I think it’s important, but taking another life is–and I believe should always be–a difficult thing. I’ve discussed it with Rob and he’s very respectful and efficient about it.

One of the things I really wanted to get done this week, and did–sort of–was to set up an automatic watering system in the rabbitry. Trying to attach a 2-liter water bottle to the side of the hutches is a pain in the butt; I wanted a system that would provide them plenty of water and we wouldn’t have to hassle with it. Sarah’s Mom will be staying at our place and taking care of the dog, cat, rabbits, and garden while we’re gone and I  wanted to make things as easy as possible for her. The system we built basically worked, though I’ll have to spend some time fine tuning it when we get back. We put it together using a 5-gallon bucket to hold the water, 1/2 PVC pipe, and attachments and auto feeding spouts (I got from the feed store). I have little experience with plumbing or PVC piping, but it seemed simple enough. My first attempt leaked too much and had to be redone. It still drips a little and I’ve only routed it to the first two hutches, but it’s fine for now and will be relatively easy to fix and extend as needed. My eventual goal is to use the surface area of the rabbitry (4’ x 12’ = 48 square feet) to catch rain water and channel it into the 5-gallon bucket. After all, we live in Western Washington and have plenty of rainfall, even on that small surface we could collect almost 1200 gallons of water annually; yields will be as low as 30 gallons in July and as high as 170 gallons in November.

What did you do?

 

An RV as a Bug-Out Location?

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Recently Sarah and I have been discussing the value of a recreational vehicle as a portable Bug-Out Location (BOL).

Some background: In the future (probably two to five years) we hope to get a five to ten-acre homestead in rural Western Washington. For now, because of family, finances, and life circumstances we live in a suburban neighborhood.

Risk assessment of the area we live: In the prepper world there’s the discussion of when and why you’d bug-out or bug-in in a disaster. Each family needs to assess the risks/perils of the area they live in. Our house is in a relatively safe location: no risk of floods or landslides, earthquake damage would be negligible, too far from the coast to be affected by tsunamis, we don’t get tornadoes, forest fire risk is low and wouldn’t reach us, we’re far from urban populations and their potential civil unrest, and it never really gets too hot or too cold here. Although Mount Rainier is an active volcano, as of 2010 there was “no evidence of an imminent eruption“. Sure an eruption would be a huge deal, but even if it did erupt we’re not in a bad location: we live on a hill top community any lahars would be channeled through the valleys around us, and most of the ash would typically be blown south with the prevailing winds (we live north). Our only real complaint about our current location is the small size of our property, and the density of the neighborhood population; we’ve worked hard to get as prepared as we can here, carefully using the space and resources available. In summary, we feel that–short of a complete collapse–we could stay here.

If there was a complete collapse where would we go?: At this point, probably to nearby family or friend’s home. That’s where the RV idea comes in. If we did have to go somewhere it would be a better situation if we had our own living space; very few homes have enough room for six additional people.

There are basically two major classes of RVs: There are motor homes (the kind where the vehicle is part of the unit) and travel trailers (the kind that are towed behind a vehicle). Both are available, in decent condition, for under $10,000 (used). After weighing the pros and cons we’d go with the travel trailer option and get a medium to large 5th wheel trailer. Having decided on a 5th wheel trailer means we’d have to have a vehicle capable of towing it. We don’t have one yet, but are actively searching for a 3/4 to 1-ton diesel truck so hopefully that won’t be an issue soon.

Advantages: While $10,000 is a lot, it’s not bad when compared to $100,000 to $200,000 for a true homestead/BOL. It gives you the flexibility of where you go in a disaster; what if your BOL isn’t an option? It also allows you to use it for camping or road trips (and you should, at least for practice), so it’s not like it’s useful only if the world collapses. Plus it could be pre-stocked with additional preps and keep in a secure off-site location — so if something did happen to our home we wouldn’t lose everything (repetitive and redundant).

Another thought is that it could be used during a pandemic as a quarantine area. Whether that means pulling it in front of our home, or on our future homestead.

Review the risks at your location, and your BOL options; a mobile BOL can be a good, flexible, in-between option.

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

Halfway Through 2012 – Reviewing The Goals

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We are halfway through the year. Six months are gone, and just less than six months are left — which of your goals have you accomplished? I don’t believe goals are a static thing; I believe they change and evolve as we progress and learn more. Something that might have seemed very important to accomplish, may not seem as much–or at all–important once you learn more about it, or vice-versa.

So here’s my halfway recap of how I’m doing,  on my goals for 2012, that I’ll share with you. (As always, I have included links–highlighted in green–to my old posts in case you missed them.)

Goals Accomplished

Goals We’re Still Working On

  • I plan to add some solar panels — I need to do additional research.
  • We’re actively working on getting a diesel pickup truck.
  • I’m continuing to blog through September. At that point I’ll probably just post once a week, or more if something specific comes up.
  • Learn to make yogurt — I just need to do it.
  • Learn to brew beer — it’s kind of a cop-out, but I’m waiting for my friend to move back here who already brews beer and have him teach me (I’ve had to self learn so many new things, it’d be nice just to have someone teach me).
  • We’ll probably get a pressure cooker when it’s time to start canning.
  • We’re growing cabbage and hope to make sauerkraut, and other fermented foods, this fall.
  • We’re planning to budget money to buy extra rice and beans, for neighbors, in a couple of months.
  • We recently got our book Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, and now need to start learning what’s around us.
  • I still need to update our evacuation/emergency documentation notebook — it’s on my to do list.
  • We still need to find a source and order/buy 1/2 cord of firewood.

Goals We’ve Postponed or Cancelled

  • We’ve put off getting honey bees until next spring.
  • A storage unit near potential BOL has been put on hold; we’re considering getting an RV as a BOV/temporary BOL.
  • I had forgotten about the bicycle until I reviewed this list. While I still think it’s a good idea but it’s not going to happen this year.
  • I’m probably going to put off learning to make soap until next year (or so).
  • We forgot to get ground nut seeds, we’ll put that on next year’s list.
  • I probably won’t learn to fish this year, maybe I’ll find someone to go with during salmon season but they’re pretty passionate about it and it comes at a busy time of the year.

The year is halfway, are we halfway to our goals? No. But we’re doing okay. And, as always, other things have come up:

Review where you are, what you’ve done, do what you can, and know where you’re going. Continue–or start–working a little bit each week to make yourself and your family more self-reliant and self-sufficient.

(Wednesday: RV As A BOV/BOL?)

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/6/12

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One of the goals we have this year is to learn to identify local plants. We wanted to learn not only for us, but to be able to identify plants that grow wild that we can feed the rabbits. We ordered, and received, a plant identification book this week: Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by Pojar and MacKinnon. We just got it and it looks like it’ll be a great resource. Every plant has a colored picture(s), it’s well organized, and has lots of good information.

To continue working on our goal of being able to do laundry by hand we ordered a washboard and a Tin-Plated Steel Washer from Lehman’s this week. Next month we’ll budget money for the rest of the stuff needed: wash tubs and a hand-wringer.

We also ordered LifeStraws, personal water filters developed by Vestergaard Frandsen. I’ve read great reviews about them and decided to order three, one each for Sarah, Ryan, and my Get-Home Bags (GHB*). The literature states that they are designed to be used by one person and are capable of filtering 1000 liters of water (enough for one person for one year), removing 99.9% of waterborne bacteria and parasites.

We also made our monthly trip to Costco. We bought, after previously looking at and researching, a Goal Zero Portable Solar Power Pack Kit ($100). It’s designed to hang on a pack, absorbing sunlight to recharge your smart phone, camera, iPod, or anything else that can plug into a USB port, in addition to being able to charge AA and AAA rechargeable batteries. This is our first, and very minor, step into the world of photovoltaic solar power; I’m sure there’ll be a lot to learn.

It was interesting, at Costco, to find that we’re spending less on our normal purchases. Since our SWYE non-perishable food is basically complete (thus we have plenty of EVERYTHING we regularly use) we only buy replacement items when they are on sale. We love the fact that we can have our food storage and save money!

We also bought a couple of boxes of medical exam non-latex gloves; I prefer latex, but they’re getting harder to find and don’t store long-term as well (when they get old they tend to break when you put them on). And picked up some additional OTC Loperamide, they’re anti-diarrheal pills (combination of imodium and kaopectate); dysentery in a collapse is a huge risk.

As I’ve always said, buying things is easy; so look for future posts that discuss, and review, our experiences as we develop the skill-sets needed to use the above items.

The garden is about the same, though the strawberries and raspberries are starting to produce. Summer has finally started here in Western Washington, with forecasted temperatures of 70s and 80s and sunshine for the next week; so hopefully that’ll give the garden the kick it needs.

What did you do?

(Monday: 1/2 Through 2012 – Reviewing The Goals)

* For a complete list of abbreviations go to the ‘Check Here…‘ tab at the top left of the page.

Sarah’s View: Happy 4th of July

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Interesting Factoid: The colonies voted in support of independence on July 2nd, John Adams thought that that day would become the national holiday. Instead we celebrate July 4th, when the final wording of the document was approved. The document itself wasn’t signed until August 2nd.

So much has changed since those fateful days in 1776. Our world is faster and smaller. There is very little that can’t be understood, or at least explored, with a mouse and a modem. Funny, even the word mouse to one of the Founding Fathers would have a very different meaning. I doubt they would recognize much of “America” today. We are, in many ways, an isolationist, thoughtless, and polarized society.

Jefferson participated in an annual pea contest – the neighborhood farmer who produced the first pea of the season won! He hosted regular dinners for his neighbors; today we barely know our neighbors well enough to nod and smile as they drive by. Adams grew his own food and celebrated the manure on his farm as being better than that which he found in London. Most modern Americans rely on the grocery store for their food and, if they grow anything pour petroleum fertilizers on top to “help” them grow. Adams and Jefferson are also remembered for their correspondence. Not only did they write “real” letters, but they explored ideas; they conversed in person and in writing about everything – politics, history, books, gardening, philosophy, and more. Quite often they disagreed, however, they were part of a generation who understood civil discourse. Today we frequently have arguments, if we converse at all. There is very little true conversation going on in our country today. Everything now becomes a dichotomy; you either agree with me or you’re against me, there is no middle ground in which to explore alternative ideas.

As I look back over the last 10 months of blogging, and 20 months of prepping, I like to think that what Trace and I are doing is bringing a bit of the Founding Fathers’ ideals back into our world. I’m not talking about politics. I’m talking about understanding and appreciating where our food comes from, and the amount of energy it takes to grow one tomato plant. I’m talking about the ability to converse with, and even appreciate, people who disagree with us. I’m talking about the value of slowing our world down just a bit and being conscious of life, of our world, and of our impact on it.

As we celebrate a milestone in the lives of our Founding Fathers, find a moment to take stock, appreciate the good, and recognize what can be improved. And, if you’re lucky, see if there’s anything ripe in the garden that you can have with dinner.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)