Mountain News - November 16, 2017

I haven't been to town in almost a month. We need groceries. I've been eating all manner of strange combinations and canned foods. One night was homemade soup, sourkraut and prunes. It wasn't bad but my hubby didn't want to sleep in the same bed with me. Hmph. TIME TO GO TO TOWN. ---- Part of the reason I haven't been to town in so long is because our ten  miles of mountain road has been icy and slippery and scary and I don't drive on it when it's like that. NO thank you. I'll eat prunes and sourkraut. When it gets like that I just go in with my husband, drop him off at work and run errands while he's working and let him drive us home. He's not scared. I am.

The other reason I haven't been to town is because it's so much work that I just keep putting it off, until we get sorta desperate. It's easy in the summer but in the winter it's a huge, exhausting task. Allow me to explain: going to town starts the day before. I have to take a bath the day before because waking up at 3:00 a.m. and taking a shower on a dark cold morning is NOT my cup o' tea. So I do it the day before. I have to load the car the night before with everything that has to go to town with me like library books, water, boots, extra coveralls and gloves and scarf in case we get stuck and I have to walk home in the 20 degree temp,  lists, etc... The next morning I have to get up at 3:30 and get ready before I get my husband's breakfast and lunch, get the fire going, feed dogs, let them out, let them back in, make sure they have water for the day, turn off the gas on the stove, make sure the wood stove is shut down, turn off the water pump in case we have a leak while I'm gone, back the car out of the garage and warm it up for us, fight dogs to get out of door without letting any of them out, lock up, tell all dogs goodbye-I'll be back-love you! and pray the house doesn't burn down while you're gone. We leave at 5:30 a.m. and don't get home until 5:00 p.m. as long as we don't get stuck coming up the mountain. I have run two thousand errands while husband was working so I'm pretty pooped by the time we get home to a cold house, dead fire, sometimes doggy accidents, dinner to be made, groceries to put away, car to unload, dogs taken for a walk. It. Is. A. Long. Day. I only go when I have to. And unfortunately, I have to. So that's what I'll be doing tomorrow. Think of me! :)