First I have to apologize for my internet silence. I had a great post all ready with a video included. I was so excited to show everyone how to make your own rain barrel. Then hurricane Harvey came barreling into our coast and slowly hovered over Houston like a bad dream. Suddenly me standing in front of my rain barrel hoping for rain to fill it up seemed ridiculous and wrong on so many levels! So I decided to shelve that post for a while and come back to it at a more appropriate time.

I feel so bad for the people in and around Houston. First I can’t quite wrap my mind around the size of the area flooded or the number of people impacted. I can’t imagine being rescued by boat from my roof. Thinking about the animal loss I would have had in a situation like this is sobering. How does someone prepare their homestead for something like that?

The closest I came to something like this was when a tornado touched down close by. The sirens were going off with a shrill whine all around me. Thing is, I was standing there in the middle of my yard like an idiot wondering if I should let all the animals out of their cages or not? I finally decided it wasn’t doing anyone any good standing there trying to make up my mind and I sought shelter. Everything turned out fine, but it did make me think about my plan for storm disaster. I do have a few things in place, but their success really hinges on how much notice I would have.

For those of you that don’t know, I am in Dallas Texas. Thank you for everyone that checked in on me. We are all fine. However we did have a little excitement of our own to deal with. One of my boys was in a major car accident. Everyone is fine. This mama was more than a little shaken up though. Looking at the car it is amazing that everyone walked away for the most part unscathed. (a few bumps and bruises and broken ribs)

This brings me to the point of my article. When alarming events happen around me I can feel out of control. Ooh, I hate that feeling! I am learning that control is kind of an illusion, but that is a subject for another time. When I feel out of control I can become a little bit emotionally paralyzed. This means I can just stop, right in the middle of life. Please tell me I am not the only one that does this. My family becomes a bit concerned when this happens. One side benefit is that they can’t help but notice how much I do around my home when things stop getting done!

You know what gets me back up going every time? My animals, that’s who. You might have thought my kids, but I raised them to be pretty self reliant and they are at an age that they can pretty much take care of themselves. However care of the animals on a homestead never stops and sometimes that is a good thing. This is an advantage to running a homestead that came as a surprise to me. When I get mired down in the mud of life, I don’t feel like getting up and moving in the morning. I have learned in life, not to wait for my feelings to change. On the contrary I have learned to act. Just keep on keeping on and the feelings catch up later.

There is something about animals that is healing also. The rhythm of the daily farm chores can be soothing to the soul and my Father is always there in the garden to meet me. So I am feeling very thankful this week especially in light of all the loss around me. I am so thankful to be able to wrap my arms around my son and reach up to kiss him on the cheek.

Thank God, I am moving forward again and planning my Fall garden! Next week I should have the video up of what I am planting and how I am going to keep the cabbage moths at bay! Stay tuned.

Happy Gardening and Homesteading!

With a thankful heart, Dash