We Are Survivors

As I write this I am sitting inside our home looking outside watching the snow fall (yes, we went from a high of 60 to a low of 2 this week). The birds are flitting around the feeder without a care in the world and the deer are wandering through the forest browsing on whatever tasty little morsels they find. 

Two things came to mind as I watch these scenes unfold before me. One is the life goes on for most creatures without a thought or care of what is going on with the human population around the world. No matter how bad it gets these birds and deer will continue to do their things without a second thought. 

The other thought that comes to mind is the number of doomsday predictions we have survived in our lifetimes. Some, like our current situation are serious threats, while others were nothing more than media hype and pure speculation on the part of "experts". 

Over the course of the last 50 something years we have survived…..

In 1970 it was predicted that the next ice age would occur by the year 2000. The year 2000 came and we not only survived the nonexistent ice age, we also survived the Y2K scare!

A year later in 1971 they then predicted the ice age would occur by 2020. (well, it is snowing…so maybe…)  Remember the acid rains of the 80’s that were going to melt the skin from our faces? Or how about 1989 when we were told the rising sea levels would wipe out nations by the year 2000? How about the killer bees of the 70’s or the 1966 prediction that the world would deplete all its oil in the next 10 years.

We have survived all those and more. More recently in 2012 we survived the end of the world as predicted by the Mayan calendar. The clock struck 12:00 and nothing happened. There are hundreds of other examples, what is your favorite? 

So life goes on and we work on our house just waiting for the world to end. 

Regardless of the world situation laundry happens. Thanks to everyone who offered their opinions and experiences on their washers. In the end Barb went with a Maytag top load washer. She ordered them from Best Buy which is closed to the public but she was able to order it on line, drive to Rapid City where they loaded it in the trailer and she did not even need to get out of the truck! 

That's one happy wife!

This week I was able to make some good progress with the siding. The south side is now done! That took 3 days. The bonus was that I was able to take down the satellite dish and remount it and it worked!

I got the gable end of the north side done, one more day. 

Just the bottom of the north side and the whole west side left!

Then the snow hit and shut us inside for a few days. We had to run to the courthouse that morning to have some papers notarized and filed. They did not actually let us in the courthouse but met us at the door, notarized the paperwork and took it inside. We then went to the grocery store to get a few essentials. Main Street in Custer was piled with snow!

Snow piled up in the middle of Main

When we got to the grocery store I noticed this cool artwork on our rims

Winter Wheel Art

The rest of the day we did not do any work and just watched movies.  We got a taste of what it would be like if we did not have any projects. We were going stir crazy by 3:00 and both of us were walking around the house looking for small projects to keep us busy.

So we started packing for our next adventure, whatever that might be. As of right now it is going to North Dakota to help plant the crops at The Farm. From there things are up in the air. Oregon to visit our son? Alaska? Back here? Who knows.... The only thing I know for sure is as much as we as humans like to think we are in control, we are not, not by a longshot. We are merely small bit players in a much bigger play along for the ride. Nonetheless, the experts will continue to make their predictions with no real clue.
Barb and I? We are going to pack hoping for the best, we shall see. 

Until then we still have a few weeks left here playing our roles. I need 5-6 more days to get the 88 feet of 16 foot panels on the west side. Luckily over 50’ of that has no doors and windows so we are hoping for some sunny windless days!