Weather Musings...

Is it just me or do you all think the weather has been crazy lately? Earthquakes, Volcanic eruptions-just plain extreme weather all over the world.

Here in the USA, damaging tornados, historical flooding, extreme heat-is this just the beginning or what? And the food supply, tainted tomatoes, America's Breadbasket under water, all of this weather affecting our crops and food supplies, it is a very scary thing. Even scarier when I read some of the articles and hidden news stories on www.whatdoesitmean.com Sure, some of the stuff is probably pure propaganda and bs, but the other lesser known news stories of events and happenings in the world have legitimate news links so you can read about what is happening elsewhere-and most of it is not good.

This is the first year I have ever planted a garden. Ever. I mean, I am the type of person who can kill a cactus for goodness sake. Luckily hubby has the experience since he lived in the pueblo in Guatemala and can grow lots of veggies. Our tomatoes are doing really good, as are the radishes, onions and other stuff we planted. I still have my fears, though, that when he leaves for Guatemala in July he will come back to a brown, withering bunch of plants because I will have killed them by overwatering or not watering enough. But this little garden gives me some security of being able to grow my own food as well as making me feel a bit self sufficient in the crazy world we live in today.

Lately I've been spending alot of time in survival forums-taking notes and getting prepared. For what, I don't exactly know-maybe an extreme weather event in my neck of the woods, or food shortgage- building some sort of safety net to fall back on if a crisis hits close to home. But unfortunately, while I'd love to buy tons of stuff, and be ready all at once, I know it will never come to that until I get out from under debt. Credit cards are very easy to use, but very evil things, lol. They tempt you when you are in the store and see that shiny new doodad that you wanted to buy, but always seemed out of reach. And what about when you live paycheck to paycheck and the unthinkable unexpected expense comes along and you have to decide, do I eat this week or get my car repaired? So you charge one thing, but never completely pay it off and it goes on to the list of mounting debt like a dark shadow on a bright sunny day.

What, if anything, have you done to prepare? Do you live in an area currently affected by extreme weather? How has the weather affected you where you live? Here in Maine we did have some minor flooding this spring, but last year we had TONS of snow. It reminded me of winters long ago, when I was young, when we had plenty of snow. The last few winters, it'd been mild, with a few cold spells-but not alot of snow. Snow plow drivers, snowmobile enthusiasts, all were losing money-but then came the big snows. Sure, it was good for them but I got sick of snow almost every day. Many districts had to extend the last days of school due to taking too many snow days in winter. Summer is off to a fair start, it started off really HOT way above normal, but has leveled off now to regular temperatures for this time of year. My coworker emailed me yesterday and said her oil lock in price for winter was $4.60 a gallon. Her monthly payment for 12 months will be $358.00-more than my current mortgage. I haven't locked in, I can't bear to. Not at those prices-even though I should because I don't think oil is going to go down anytime soon. But I will just order when I can, and use it sparingly. So, what are you doing? Have you started to think about the same things I have?