Bacon Before Bedtime.

 Bacon Before Bedtime.

 

Nothing much done around here today. It started off very early with a thunder storm and rain. Not a lot of rain, but rain. Some is better than none unless you live in the Texas Panhandle right now. Those folks have flat land and the water does not have anywhere to run off. So, they are flooded. SO sorry for them! We just got lots of thunder, some rain, and some wind. Not going to gripe about any of it.

 

Had a couple of banana nut muffins for breakfast—without coffee. My half and half expired, as did the milk. And some sorry old woman has not run up to get some from the most convenient store in town! Had a good salad for lunch, and now it’s bacon before it is time to think about going to bed for the night. Not sure just exactly why bacon is so satisfying, but it is. Not ham, just bacon. The dogs are giving me that look, however. Only cooked about six pieces, so not really wanting to share. Ah, got by with handing each of them one of those Alpo T-Bonz. Glad they like those things. They smell as if they might be tasty, but the idea of chewing dog food---well, nope, just not happening.

 

Worked briefly in the workshop this morning, but only so much can get accomplished without either coffee or some sort of caffeine. Don’t remember being this lazy a few years ago, but then, Sterling told me today that it sometimes takes him three days to do what he used to do in just a few hours. Age does make a big difference in what we take on and actually get done. At least one of the buckets got dumped out and the plastic water fixtures separated so the Habitat man can decide if that is something they might want for the store. Remember for a fact that those things seemed to cost a fortune when we were buying them. Even included the little tool that cuts the pipe. Know that a plumber would be the one to call now. The old woman might get down to the level to repair something, but there is no telling when she would be able to get up again. The old cow maneuver only works when she has something to help her get the rear end up in the air before getting the front to follow! Such fun!

 

Bought a little sack of apricots the other day and sliced a couple up to put in my salad. Dang! Would love to be able to do that more often. Sliced apple is pretty good, but takes more chewing than the soft apricots. Saving the seeds to see if they will sprout, too. Have what is supposed to be a peach tree in a big pot that wintered in the green house. Think it is either a peach or a nectarine. If it is a peach, it should grow decent fruit. But we don’t usually have nectarines in this area. Oh well. We don’t have avocados either! Grew a lemon tree one time until Lewis insisted it had to leave the house. Sharp thorns on that sucker. He was not convinced it was a lemon. Roger Thonton tells me the pear trees out at his parents’ place have thorns as well!

 

Eager to hear from oldest grandson tonight to see how his first day of training at the new job went. Just hoping that it went well for him and that he can enjoy this job. Read an article about kids of his generation and how they burn out so quickly because so much is demanded of them. The stupid pandemic messed up an entire group of folks who had to learn to work from home and just kept on working until whatever was accomplished. That causes burnout in a hurry according to the article. Being around others seems to help and also gives them an outlet when they are able to tell their bosses what they are able to produce within a set amount of time. Think Grayson used to work until late at night just to get everything finished. Not sure what he really does, so it is hard for me to understand.

 

It's understandable that my grands and great-grand parents kept at their work until it was finished. Farming and logging are things that take a certain skill set and lots of determination. Critters have to be fed, the fields have to be plowed, and repairs are a constant element of life on a farm. Well, the oilfield was not all that different in some ways. But bringing in the crops and canning the produce were the main things that were talked about in the grandparents’ homes. Winter saw the women quilting or sewing together. Don’t think any of the women of our family ever spun wool or did the kind of things that women were expected to do centuries ago. Raising sheep by the time my parents were grew up was just a matter of taking the lambs to market. They might have to shear the sheep—which Daddy learned to do—but Mom did not have to deal with cleaning wool. Simply can’t imagine how difficult that would have been.

 

Life goes on. Each of us has a place and something to do to keep us out of trouble—most of the time. We have choices that those before us did not have. And now the generation that has followed us is making its choices quite a bit differently from ours. Only the farm kids know what it means to live close to the earth and what it gives us. Raising animals, feeding and caring for them, and just relying on what they have learned makes a big difference in how those young people see life. God bless them and all the young people who have choices to make.

 

Let us rejoice in each day that God gives us. Our lives belong to Him. May He guide us and may we follow willingly.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.