Baltimore bridge collapse

We've been following the terrible bridge collapse in Baltimore.

In addition to the tragic loss of life, it looks like the entire eastern seaboard might be impacted. Snippets from this article:

"The current issue revolves around an emerging disruption in mid-Atlantic supply chains. The major East Coast port is now paralyzed due to the mangled bridge blocking the only shipping lane in and out of the harbor. ... The supply chain snarls have sent major logistics companies scrambling across the US East Coast on Tuesday afternoon. ... Baltimore is the most inland port on the East Coast and is connected to the I-95 highway network. With no commercial vessels sailing in and out of port anytime soon, this is catastrophic for port operations and could spark supply chain snarls in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. We suspect inbound vessels are rerouting sails this morning. The bridge collapse has severed these major marine terminals. It's unknown when operations will be restored."

Coal: "Earlier, Consol Energy shares plunged nearly 10%, the most since October, as the bridge collapse will affect its massive coal terminal, which is served by CSX trains."

Sugar: "A major sugar refinery owned by American Sugar Refining Inc. warned its Domino Sugar refinery only has six to eight weeks of raw sugar supplies as the blockage affects ships moving in and out of the port."

Hazardous materials: "One very big logistical complication in the Baltimore bridge collapse is that the Francis Scott Key Bridge was the main route for hazardous materials (which aren't allowed to be transported through the tunnels)."

For those living in the area, let us know what's going on!

Help feed yourself? Can't argue

Don found this online: a war-era (1940) poster encouraging people to grow food:

In this era where governments are doing everything possible to shut down large and small farms (here and here, for just two small examples), which of course jeopardizes the food supply, this seems almost phenomenally wise.

A closer look at the fine print reveals the advice to "Grow vegetables and fruits if your soil is fertile and sunny" and "Can or preserve surplus perishables" and "Keep a flock of hens if your soil is not suitable for gardening."

Can't argue with these wise words. Everyone would do well to heed them ... despite government opposition to the basic human concept of feeding ourselves.

Genesis 1:3

In early March, when we had some blustery storms during which we lost power for about 30 hours, we relied primarily on our oil lamps at night.

I love oil lamps. I've loved them since I was a teenager. I still have and cherish an oil lamp my parents gave me for Christmas when I was 16. At that age I often used it for lighting when doing homework in my bedroom.

While we have the makings for many such lamps, I keep three filled and on standby for power outages. Here I'm refilling them before storing them away. (The silver lamp with the handle on the right-hand side is the lamp my parents gave me for Christmas so many years ago.)

To fill the lamps, I find it easiest to pour the kerosene into a measuring cup. This way it won't splash everywhere when topping off the lamps.

Lamps shouldn't be overly full. Usually the base has some decorative marks and shouldn't be filled above those marks.

Because we live in a dusty household, I've taken to slipping plastic bags over the lamps...

...before storing them on top the fridge for quick access.

For additional (and harsher) lighting, we have some LED lanterns.

These can be powered by battery, by hand-cranking, by solar charging, or by electric charging, and put out a decent amount of light. Often they're preferable for reading in dark conditions.

After cleaning and storing away the three oil lamps, I decided to do something I haven't done in years: clean and prep the hanging oil lamp.

The story of this lamp goes back to when I flew out to Ohio with Older Daughter back in 2015 to drop her off at nanny school. During that trip, I made what I called my "pilgrimage" to Lehman's, the Amish goods store, which is something I'd wanted to see for years. On that trip, I admired a hanging oil lamp, but couldn't purchase it at the time since I couldn't get it home.

Unexpectedly a friend purchased it for me, and I love it. However in our old home, we never had a suitable place to hang it. Since moving here, I've stored it on top the fridge with the other lamps, but it was dusty and dirty and in desperate need of cleaning.

So I gave it a bath and filled it with oil.

Since it had been years since I'd used it, the wick needed a few minutes to absorb the kerosene.

Then I lit the lamp to make sure the wick was properly trimmed.

Don found me an "S" hook, and I hung the lamp next to the corner of the bookshelves.

It is such a thing of beauty that I almost can't wait for another power outage to use it.

So there you go. Genesis 1:3: Let there be light.

One of those days

Have you ever had one of those days when you're incredibly productive? Yeah, today was that kind of day.

My work week starts on Thursday (I work an online job Thursday through Saturday). They're usually eleven or twelve-hour days, so I'm pretty tuckered by the end of  them. I've learned, therefore, to do chores on Wednesday, simply because it's nice to start the work week with a clean house.

Additionally, we've had a stretch of absolutely beautiful weather, with sunny days and temps in the low 70s. The birds are singing, the trees are budding, the grass is greening. Spring is here!

Sort of. Weather moves back in tonight and we have about a week of rain (and even a small chance of snow), so we enjoyed the sunshine while we could.

I started by washing our flannel sheets, and hanging them outside to dry. Drying flannel sheets indoors on drying racks is kinda awkward, but it's what I do all winter. Being able to hang them outdoors is a luxury indeed.

I also hung a regular load of laundry, parking the drying racks in the sun to take advantage of the warmth.

I steeped some sun tea.

Next I started a burn barrel. While that was happening, I started raking up all the fallen willow branches from the windy storms earlier this month, starting with the front and side yards. Willows are very pretty trees, but man they shed a lot.

I dumped everything next to the burn pit in the back yard so I could burn it. Darcy, intrigued by all the sticks I was conveniently providing, was a big help.

While the fire burned and Darcy chewed on sticks...

...I raked up the willow branches from the back yard and fed them into the fire. (The photo makes it seem like the fire had spread everywhere; I assure you it didn't.)

After this, I rooted around in the potato bin and pulled out 96 smallish potatoes for planting.

I wanted to plant six beds of potatoes, and figured 16 seed potatoes per bed.

I had prepped the beds yesterday, so they were easy to plant. Space, lever the dirt aside with a shovel, drop the potato in, voila.

It's a bit early to plant potatoes, but I'm willing to take my chances. Any excuse to get a jumpstart on the garden. I'll mulch them in a couple of weeks with straw.

Next I hauled in another load of firewood to add to the stash on the porch, to see us through the upcoming rainy weather.

We were low on kindling for the woodstove, so I collected some thin leftover slats from the shop...

...cut them on the bandsaw...

...and brought them up to the porch. Likely this will be enough kindling to see us through the remainder of the spring.

I emptied the ash bucket in the woodstove.

Then I did a small organizational chore that had been bugging me. In the pantry I keep a box where I store miscellaneous canning rings and assorted lids. It was over-full and hard to find canning rings when I needed them. Just one of those irksome things.

So I cleaned out the box and separated regular and wide-mouth rings into piles.

Then I threaded the rings onto string fastened with a shower clip for easy access.

I hung these in the pantry. I should have done this years ago.

Now my lid box has lots of room.

Next chore: Vacuuming the house (and cleaning the bird cage).

In the evening, I filled a tub with firewood...

...and watched the sky darken with incoming weather.

The very last thing I did today was put up this blog post. Whew, I'm bushed, but at least I have the satisfaction of knowing I got stuff done today.

Shortages? Why?

I have a friend in Maine. Last week she emailed and said, "I am noticing in past few weeks big gaps on shelves in the grocery store in next town. In two areas today, all the shelves – top, middle and bottom, for 1/4 length of the aisle – were completely empty! To be honest I don't know what was there, but it's not there now. And the prices!!!!!!! Eggs are $4.59, a can of Spam is $4.39. I got a bag of Tostidos corn chips as I am making chili, $4.49! Generics or store brands are also disappearing. I wonder what is going on?"

I asked her to send me photos next time she was in town, and she sent the following pictures, along with a note saying, "Here are the empty shelves in grocery store I was telling you about. They are not even spacing stuff far apart like when the COVID shortages were occurring. The hardware and auto parts stores look the same way. All we hear is it's because of supply-chain issues. I thought we worked all through that mess already!"

In our local community, we haven't noticed much by way of shortages. I took a rare trip to the city a couple weeks ago and everything seemed fine. It makes me wonder if the shortages my friend is seeing are a regional thing ... or if I'm not seeing shortages because the stores are doing a better job of hiding it.

What is everyone else seeing?