First we must dream

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
Anatole France

I believe in my dreams. I believe that dreams can come true. If I act as if those dreams can come to fruition, I set myself up to succeed in attaining them.

Grace. Unmerited favor. I have been blessed with a life that is beyond my wildest imaginings. It is through Grace that I have been saved from the scrap heap and rocketed into the fourth dimension of existence. I am living a life that I could have could have hardly dreamed of at one time.

It is hard to pinpoint an exact moment at which the dream began to come true, but if I had to it would be when I began to take night classes to re-assemble my teaching career ten years ago. I had destroyed my career, and my life in general, by excessive drinking. I had completely failed as a human being. I took a job as an assistant in a classroom, a job I was vastly over-qualified for, and one at which I was hardly confident that I could succeed at. I struggled to wrap my brain around one night class at a time. Slowly, one class and one job at a time, I began to climb up and out of the deep hole I had dug myself into.

There are a lot of "I's" in that paragraph. I did this, I did that. But really all I did was begin to show up for life. From one moment to the next, it was all I could do to just try one more day to do the things that were laid in front of me. As several years passed, I started to believe that, with God's help, I began to believe that there was something out there better than the way I had been living. Really, anything was better than the way I had been living.

Yes, I acted. Yes I planned. But more importantly, I came to believe. To believe that through God's grace I might be restored to sanity. I do dare to have dreams today. I do believe that they can come true. I have been so truly blessed. I don't know what God has in store for me, but anything is better than the way it was.

Am I prepared II?

There are so many things to consider when thinking about being prepared. I have great friends and a great spiritual community, but they are all a 15 mile drive away. My closest real neighbors are a mile or two away, and their kids are all grown and gone. I've been thinking of asking them over for a dinner, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

It's -6 degrees tonight. I'm a little worried about the chickens getting frozen combs and wattles. I wish I had put some Vaseline on their combs. The goats are probably fine. I gave them some straight alfalfa tonight before bed which they devoured. I'm really hoping Carrissima will start to obviously show she's pregnant soon. I'm a wimp about drawing blood from the goats. But I suppose I just need more practice. Whisper will be far enough along for an accurate blood test soon. Maybe I'll just draw blood on both of them at the same time.

I was looking at my self-sufficiency/sustainability "wish list". There are certainly things that would be important to have that I don't have yet. I'd like to figure out a way to pump the well without electricity. The windmill that used to pump it is still there, but whatever mechanism that it operated in the bottom of the well is long gone.

I'm planning on growing some of my own livestock feed myself this year. Field corn and sugar beets. I know this is not all that is needed for a balanced feed, but it is a step in the right direction.

I am still reliant on a "hay for shares" arrangement to get my field hayed. I just can't justify a larger tractor and hay equipment for just 9 acres. My hay field is not of the highest quality, but it is still useful. What I should really do is have someone till it and replant it in alfalfa. I'll have to mull that over for the future, although if I start grazing cattle on it I would just leave it as grass hay.

I'm strongly considering adding electric pig fencing to my wish list. What's on your wish list. Both essentials and for fun. I'd really like a cider press. I know a person can live without cider, but it sure would be fun to press some apples.

We are going to add cherry trees and try the raspberries again this year. Maybe I'll add another young apple tree or some younger plums. The plum trees I've got have gotten a little wild.

I saw a great quote the other day.

By saying grace, we release the Divine sparks in our food.

Rabbi Herschel

Stay warm and may God's blessings find you wherever you take your meal and lay your head tonight.