Hello Everyone!

Apocalyptic Homesteading Day 429!

Using all my words early in the day, A hot bath in the cold shade, A shocking supply run & More money for less food!

This morning began much like many others of late and once again it was super chilly outside but at least the wind had died down a bit during the night so that was nice. It was downright frigid outside and although the dogs usually like to be out for a while in the morning... today they came right back inside after doing their business. Heck, even the chickens stayed in the coop later than they usually do and those critters are generally out foraging around the dog yard as soon as the sun comes up!

With the weather being what it was I stayed indoors and although I was tempted to just veg out I wound up engaging with some folks online. Its always a mixed bag when chiming in on stuff but overall I thought that it was worthwhile. It was definitely better than just reading news articles and watching stuff online which I did do some of but nowhere near as much as I have been doing lately. While I was doing it I kept thinking "Oh no I am going to run out of words for the day!" which for those of you who do not know goes along with my saying in regards to typing: I only have so many words in me for each day!

Anyway, I was planning on going on a supply run tomorrow but halfway through the day I got a message that my ride would be in the area today and that they could take me earlier than we had planned... if I was up for it. Even though I was not really up for it (and was still mentally bracing myself for the trip) I said 'yes' regardless because it seemed like a good idea to just do it and get it over with.

Although I was looking forward to getting a bath in the outdoor tub tomorrow when the weather was a bit warmer I went ahead and did it today when it was quite chilly. The bath was not as bad as I thought it would be but some of that was because I stayed fully submerged under the hot water until it was time to get out and dry off. I did not quite sprint to the warmth of the cabin but it was close to sprinting! As a side note, I may wind up moving the tub because I just realized today (with the sun low on the horizon in the winter) that it is in the shadow cast by the cabin.

Its always so weird for me to leave the woods and go into 'civilization' but this time it was a bit overwhelming given that I have not gone on a supply run since sometime in early October. The real shock came when I got to the store and saw all the empty shelves and the crazy high prices on pretty much everything. I remarked to my friend that had been seeing the gradual change over the last several months that to me it was all a very striking difference to what I had seen the last time that I had gone shopping. There was so little meat that almost the entire section was empty and I wound up breaking my rule on not eating tilapia and got a few big bags of it to stock the freezer with. I could have gotten salmon (in a similar type of bag) but it was the same price as the tilapia but only half as much in volume... hence the compromise!

As far as the supplies themselves go I once again got even less groceries for the same amount of money (roughly two hundred and fifty USD) and most of that was way different than what I usually buy. Mainly I bought the cheapest bulk items that I could get like flour, rice, brown sugar, salt and lots of oats. I of course got other odds and ends like the biggest pack of toilet paper that I could find, bleach and some white vinegar. Do not worry I will not bore you with my entire shopping list here but suffice it to say that I stocked up on the basics, zero canned goods and very few treats for myself.

It was well after dark by the time that I got back to the woods and it was a bit of a hassle to get all the groceries put away which was mainly just because I was feeling super overwhelmed after going to the store. I kept asking myself (while shopping) if it was worth risking my life to get some groceries which probably did not help my head-space but meh that is just how it goes I guess. Most of the folks that I saw were wearing a mask and maintaining a decent distance except for this one overweight couple in red shirts that wore no masks and did not appear to distance themselves from anyone. To make it worse they stared balefully at the folks who were wearing a mask including myself.

At one point I had to veer around that same couple while holding my breath in an isle because they refused to push their cart along one of the sides of the aisle like most other folks did. I briefly considered barking at them (like a dog) as I passed just to fuck with them because they were so hateful looking. Thankfully I just thought to myself 'Yup that is the kind of folks we can thank for things getting this bad here' and although I did not quite feel sad for them... I did feel like they were pretty pathetic. Folks that cannot take the most basic precautions get no sympathy from me and yeah it pisses me off that folks can be so callous towards preserving human life.

Well, it is already late into the evening and I better wrap this up and get it all edited and posted because I am getting moodier by the moment as I struggle against the fatigue! I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.