Thinking of summer and changes.

I've lived for times in villages, Central America, Mexico, SE Asia, which had communal wells far from the village, there would be a morning pilgrimage to them. Mostly the women with buckets or some types of containers carried on their heads. Cheryl and I had "walking" water here for decades (still do, but have added an electric pump driven by the sun), a hand pumped well in the kitchen, during periods of drought (when rainbarrels were empty) we'd pump five gallons at a time and carry them up to the garden. I recall one year when we put a 100 gallon galvanized stock tank into the bed of the pick up and drove down the township road to a stream crossing. From there we did a bucket brigade from the stream into the tank...we garnered a lot of 1 gallon plastic jugs from various places (empty milk containers from the dump), filled them with water and poked a pin hole in the bottom of each...we placed them each next to their own plants to trickle water over the course of the day....access to water is our most important need (along with shelter, food and love)...

A Hopi Elder says about these times:

"You have been telling the people it is the eleventh hour, now you must go back and tell the people, this is the hour, and there are things to be considered. Where are you going? What are you doing? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Do you know your garden? It is time to speak your truth. There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift, there are those who will be afraid. They will hold on to the shore, and they will suffer greatly. The elders say, 'Push off of the shore into the middle of the river, keep your eyes open and your head above water.' And I say, 'See who is in there with you, and celebrate! For at this time in history your are to take nothing personally, least of all yourselves. For the moment that you do, your spiritual journey has come to a halt. Gather yourselves, banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that you do must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we've been waiting for.' "

Shelter from the storm.

When I lived at an old schoolhouse the next township to the west, I chose to not go to town for a full year. I did go to a small store in a village near me, and I'd go to an old "resort" bar to play trivia on Friday nights. Bicycling distance. I'd also keep my dollar labor local, biking distance, repairing screen doors, doing general maintenance at lake homes...Consequently I had very little "money", but a lot of time. A bundle of cast off slab wood from the local mill, costing 10 dollars, built a barn for two milk goats, a dozen chickens, storage for hay and my garden tools. It also fenced a large corral for the goats...which kept them from wandering. It also fenced my garden, along with a length of 1" chicken wire which someone gave me. Here's an example of what very little money can get you...shelter from the storm. This is not my build, but a good visual. The second photo is me in front of my garden at the time, with the slabwood fence and gate...