14 degrees
Light snow falling

Just got the freezer taken care of. Feels good! Curt came by in his big F350, and had the stock trailer on it. We drove up to Sun Prairie (birthplace of Georgia O'Keefe, for your Trivial Pursuit points) and got it out of the basement. I'll tell you, you don't find many neighbors like this in a lifetime. Curt's got the tools, equipment, and the willingness to help out with just about anything. He was on the top of the dolly pulling the thing up the stairs while the guy and I were below lifting, and we had to take a bit of a break when we got it all the way up, but that was the hardest part. Then Curt and I secured it in the trailer standing up, which was the reason for the stock trailer. You don't want to lay a freezer down if you can help it, so the oils and freon don't get sloshed around into parts of the motor that aren't designed to have them. Put it in the garage and let her sit. I won't try to turn it on for a few days, in order to let the fluids settle back down where they should be. It's a nice 20 cu. ft. freezer, in good shape and I feel much better having a homestead with a freezer in place!

On the way home Curt and I talked about the economy and how hard things are for farmers right now. Curt pointed out how much harder it is to get a loan these days compared to a year or two ago. We both are a little ticked off at the big banks that took all the bailout money, and aren't making loans with it like they were supposed to. Things have really changed in this country for the worse in the last 30 years. And our elected representatives didn't do a very good job of scrutinizing the who and how and when of that gigantic payout, did they?

I've been saying this for a while now, but this country isn't run by and for people anymore, it's become what I call a Corporacracy. Big business controls politics, banks, jobs, food, you name it. This is the result of Free Marketaphilia gone to it's extreme. Business and big profits have been so blindly worshipped we as a society have been willing to give up significant freedoms, choices, diversity, tolerance, principles, security, and yes, even most of our democracy.

Taxes have become an even more dirty word than they were 30 years ago. I wonder how many laid off GM workers would trade having a steady paycheck for a little higher taxes to offset a national health program? Probably not many if you had asked them 2years ago. Now? Maybe a different perspective.

There is no such thing as unlimited growth. It's not possible. Not in nature, not in markets or countries. We all know that unrestrained growth in nature is what we call a cancer, and it always eventually kills the thing it is growing in or on. It's just that during the high-flying times of super growth and fantastic returns, we become intoxicted by the effects. We live in the moment, and don't ever want to peer behind the curtain for fear it will bring the party to an end.

I think living in the country and actually participating in the seasonal aspects of so many facets of life helps to keep a perspective on wild speculation. We are always surrounded by and immersed in cycles. The garden is asleep now, we can only look through catalogs and make notes and dream. But in time, the garden will take up much of our time and energy, and then we will reap our harvest. The pigs have done their job of tilling up and fertilizing the garden plot. We have been tending to their needs daily, providing them with fresh water, food, shelter, bedding. Soon they will feed us.

Speaking of cycles, the pigs are almost finished. As I was trying to navigate through their pen today wiht a bale of straw, I was jostled about pretty good. I'm always careful not to let one take out a knee, which would be soo easy to have happen! They get so excited when we throw fresh straw around, they start running and spinning and rooting and they don't worry so much that I am a fragile biped compared to their rhino-like littermates. So I'm at the point where I'm telling myself It's Time. They have fulfilled their mission and purpose, and they have done it exceptionally well. Curt will be back with the trailer on Wednesday.