Tough Week

Well, this week started out like a hurricane- I had a bad stomach flu, with all the joy that brings. Could be swine flu, who knows? Whatever it was I was running both ends for days, really Friday was the first day I felt very good.

Mom came up Monday evening, and will be here until we leave for Reno, NV. She has to get a new water pump in the motorhome, it went out on the way up here. It's the one that powers the sinks, etc, not the engine one. I stayed in the bedroom for the first several days, I didn't want to share this crap with anyone. So far they haven't seemed to catch it.

Nic has a new hobby/business, he's collecting coins and comics, planning to sell the good ones on the internet. He's really enjoying it, and is setting up whole notebooks of coins, putting all the comics in plastic sleeves, getting an inventory built up.

Now the bad news, David had a rollover accident on Thursday. Amazingly, he was wearing a seat belt and he's just fine. It was on 89A toward Sedona, a little before 8:00 am, so the traffic was very heavy, but no one was injured; there was another car involved but she was ok too. Our old white pickup didn't fare as well, the roof of the cab is crushed in, except for where David was sitting. Boy, the Lord and at least 3 guardian angels were watching over him that day! I'm so glad that my husband survived, and the other person in the crash is OK.

Last but not least, we no longer have a rooster. He was getting so mean, I couldn't go in the pen without a rake or someone else to watch my back. He had also pecked one of the hens so bad she is missing a big patch of feathers. Well, anyone that knows me very well has heard about me and roosters- I shot the last one that messed with me! Bucky was young enough that he'll make a good meal, so we butchered him yesterday. Nic and a friend, Norm, killed him for me, then Mom and I plucked and dressed him out. All in all, a pretty hectic week.

The Native Americans have a tradition of offering thanks to an animal for it's sacrifice, and honoring it giving it's life so others may live. I like that idea, so I offered thanks. Especially in this country, we take our food for granted, go to the store, buy what you need. We are so far removed from the life cycle, we rarely pick or kill our own food. I am trying to become more connected to the food that sustains me, and even though it's not much fun to butcher an animal, it does give a solid connection to what we eat. If my brother reads this, he'd just laugh at me, he and his family hunts every year, then butchers and processes everything, deer, elk, fish. Hap and Sandy have a beautiful garden, so they are very self-sustaining. We don't hunt usually, but gardening is one of my favorite activities.