I know it's coming...

Life sure does go by fast. I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since the last post. Went for a very short, overnight camping trip with my son last week. Had to come back for a department meeting at work and then I just had to have a nap. After the nap, my daughter showed me her guniea pig whose head was listing hard to starborad and was acting rather limp and sick. So, the trip was canceled and off to the vet. we went the next morning.

The next week was fun with a new chainsaw attachement from Baileys, the logging outfitters. The new tool is a 'chainsaw buddy' that allows you to pick up and cut very small limbs without burying the chain in the dirt. I'll review that in the next post.

What I got to thinking about over the last week was 'I know it's coming' and it's time to get busy! What's coming? Winter! How do I know winter is coming on a beautiful day with temps in the 90's? Well, lots of ways:

I've lived for almost 50 years on this earth, and I know that summer eases into fall, and then winter comes around followed again by spring. I know this because I've experienced it.

I know it because I can see the shadows lengthening on the ground. The angle of the suns' rays change during the year, and as fall/winter draws on, the shadows lengthen.

I work nights, and in June, dawn would break at 5 a.m., but now in August, dawn doesn't break until about 6:30. The long nights of winter are drawing closer.

The squirrels are shifting their nut gathering activities into high gear. The pine seeds are ripening. The little scamps are chewing up cones and hiding the seeds right and left.

And me? I just placed a call to find another cord of soft, pinewood to go with my Pinyon pine firewood for the winter. I've got to get more wood in, as this may be a very cold winter. There's been almost no sunspot activity and historical records show that when that happens, the winter is cold and long.

I also need to lay in about 5 gallons of Kerosene for the portable heaters and to fuel the lanterns. I'm buying a couple of the Petromax lanterns this year, as I'm tired of paying so much out in electricity. The word is that fuel costs are going to be much higher this winter. I've also locked in a set rate for my propane heating fuel.

I can see that the financial hard times are far from over. There's lots of toxic debt out there owned by the banks, and I have some myself. Pay this debt off, and keep from going further into debt. Lay in a bit of a food reserve, just in case the income isn't there or just in case of an emergency.

I know that winters' coming, just as I know that hard times might not be far away...and I know from experience and watching the signs around me. Are you watching what's going on around you?