Coping Alone...

Temps went from a week of hi-80's and 90's to less than fifty for a string of days.

Doggoneit, wouldn't you know that my old carcass would come down with a flu bug of some sort right away. Four days of mostly sleeping, drinking liquid meals-- dang-it, no, not that kind'a liquid-- and sitting on the throne one minute to changing directions the next. Yup, weak as a baby and not able to do much of anything but think. Not that the weather was being kind to those doing work outside: temp hi's in the 50's and lows in the mid to upper 30's at nite. Rain a few days running- thank you, Gustav and Hannah.

And I hate thinking- hurts too much and curls my hair.

Today's the first day of really feeling well for the past week. This morning the hound and I took a run to the ricing lake and discovered we should have stayed home. This had not been a good week to be laid up: rice had matured enough and the first crop was gone, not a whole bunch left for the second, maybe enough to bother with for a few meals. Maybe.

Not much firewood got cut and split and stacked either.

We won't talk about what the laundry smelled like.

Of course, there are some good points to being sick this time of year. Just danged if I can think of more than one, though: at least it wasn't 20 below and I'd need some firewood hauled in, someone to keep an eye on the stove and feed it- as well as me.

Which got me to thinking: What if this had happened when it was 20 below? What do I do then? Simple answer, since it ain't TEOTWAKI yet, get on the horn and call a friend over to baby-sit the hound and me. Of course, it would be easy in such case.

But: What if it was a pretty total change- what then?

If the world situation was a real disaster with no phone lines, no cell towers, a real throwback to 80 or 100 years ago, what would have been my lot, then?

If I'd been very ill, with pneumonia or other debilitating disease, a broken leg or arm, a severely wrenched back, or even the Tom Brady problem now of a messed up knee/cap/muscle/ligaments, I'd have been "up the creek without a paddle". It's good to have neighbors who tend to keep an eye on us- close knit country neighborhoods are a blessing. Too, having family who will drop in unannounced is wonderful as well.

In the coming hard times, these friends/neighbors and family members are going to be our strength, part of the saving grace displayed by God when we need it most. Too, this close-knit community of country folks is something I never felt, saw or knew while living in places like Minneapolis/St Paul, Chicago, Duluth, Seattle. Of course, if there was family around, they'd be there, but with a lot less frequency and for shorter durations. (Sometimes that's a blessing in disguise-wink/wink.)

I guess my point, which I'm taking a long-winded route to reach, is that we are all going to be needing someone at some time to help us. Whether with something simple like chores or caring for us in an emergency, knowing someone is close enough to call upon, or who will call upon 'you', will be a major blessing. There's a common saying that "God helps those who help themselves". Well, it ain't totally Scriptural but it does fit a very few situations. Most of the time, God helps those who help others. The idea is to insure ourselves of having that help available when we need it- whether by forming alliances with other like-minded individuals in our communities, of being 'close' with our neighbors, or even now of going out of our way to form new friendships, new alliances, to insure we have enough/any/someone to call upon should the need ever arise.

If I'd had a couple more in my 'circle', that rice might be in my cooker now, and the wood more complete.

And I'd probably been eating a bit more than chicken broth and soda crackers those few days.

After all- we don't want to trust our lives to a single strand rope. Do we?

Shy