Moving Day

One of those days where I'm going to want to get to sleep early.

Slept late, but it didn't help much. Got up, threw on some running clothes, and did six miles, which is as much as I've done in ... well, in a long time. Didn't feel too bad, other than just setting the stage for dragging most of the rest of the day.

Ran into Brattleboro for feed hay, mulch hay, rabbit food, grower pellets and corn. Stopped by the grocery and got some kid food -- cereal, pork chops (99c/lb!), ziti noodles, and all things dairy. I was tired and hungry and lusted after a couple of McD's quarter-pounders, but I had a couple of thoughts that saved me:

1. Do I really want to be this fat any longer than I have to be? and

2. Am I such a tool that I need to spend money, much less calories, on this reputed food?

No, and no.

So I came back home and gathered sap. Only about three gallons today. Either it's slowing down, or the lack of sun makes a big difference. Part of me hopes it's slowing down -- we've made three gallons so far this year, and should make a couple more. I think five gallons is a good first year.

Lisa and I grabbed old chickens from the small coop and threw them in the barn. Most weren't too pleased about it. Then, I went upstairs and put leg bands on the small chicks so I can identify them next spring and took them down to the small coop, eight at a time. They really weren't too pleased about it ... but I've got my bathroom back, anyway.

Dishes, laundry, a few other things, and I'm ready for bed. But before I crash, it should be noted that We Are Trendy (Although Not in a Swiss-Family Robinson Sort of Way):

April 6, 2008
Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism
By ALEX WILLIAMS

THE traditional face of survivalism is that of a shaggy loner in camouflage, holed up in a cabin in the wilderness and surrounded by cases of canned goods and ammunition.

It is not that of Barton M. Biggs, the former chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley. Yet in Mr. Biggs’s new book, “Wealth, War and Wisdom,” he says people should “assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure.”

“Your safe haven must be self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food,” Mr. Biggs writes. “It should be well-stocked with seed, fertilizer, canned food, wine, medicine, clothes, etc.

Think Swiss Family Robinson. Even in America and Europe there could be moments of riot and rebellion when law and order temporarily completely breaks down.”

Survivalism, it seems, is not just for survivalists anymore.

Faced with a confluence of diverse threats — a tanking economy, a housing crisis, looming environmental disasters, and a sharp spike in oil prices — people who do not consider themselves extremists are starting to discuss doomsday measures once associated with the social fringes.