Stalked by coyotes

A few days ago, Older Daughter took Mr. Darcy on a hike in a nearby park. We've both been on this trail many times, and frequently we'll see deer or moose. If Mr. Darcy sees wildlife -- being the Mighty Hunter -- he lunges on the leash. In fact, Darcy's behavior is often the first indicator something is out there.

On this occasion, Mr. Darcy started lunging, so Older Daughter pulled him close and scanned the area. She saw a pair of ears sticking up from behind a log. A coyote.

She kept hiking and kept Darcy close at her side. The coyote got bolder.

In fact, it started following her.

Soon it was joined by a second coyote.

As she later told me the story, and since I knew coyotes wouldn't hurt her, I asked, "What did you do? Did you say 'Scat'?"

"Well, not exactly," she admitted. "Specifically I yelled, 'You come over here and I'm gonna whoop your a**.'"

Whatever. It worked. No more coyotes.

A trip to the city

On Thursday, I did something I haven't done for weeks: I went into the city. I haven't been to Coeur d'Alene for quite a long time, but there were some things I wanted to pick up. Besides, I was curious about what I might see.

My first stop was Costco, where I haven't been since mid-March. People were lined up, a respectful six feet apart from each other. I wore a mask, as required for entry into the store.

A sign posted outside (right next to a Costco employee with a box of complimentary face masks for customers who didn't have their own) listed what was, and wasn't, available.

At the meat department, these signs were posted everywhere.

One thing I didn't think to check were meat prices. I hear they've gone up, but since we seldom buy meat, I forgot to check.

In the freezer section, similar restrictions were posted -- along with prices. Holy cow.

But I did find both tuna and dog food, which were my main reasons for going into Costco.

While paying, I asked the checker when they expected toilet paper back in stock. We have enough for a few more weeks, but I'm on the lookout.

The checker gestured toward the front of the merchandise section. "That whole area was filled with toilet paper last weekend," she told me. "It didn't last long."

Everyone in Costco, customers and employees alike, were polite and cheerful.

Next stop, Cash'n'Carry (now called SmartFoodservice), a wholesale grocery supply store and one of my favorite places to shop. I checked the paper goods aisle. It had major holes, but -- yes! -- it had toilet paper.

With limits, of course.

I picked up two packages of industrial-size TP. Note, these packages cost $11.49 each (you can see the price card two photo above), a bargain considering how much TP is on each roll. Keep this price in mind for a moment.

I noticed gaps on several shelves, such as cleaning supplies...

Flour...

Sugar...

...and meats.

I passed someone's cart, loaded up with bulk staples.

As with Costco, everyone was polite and cheerful.

By the time I got out of Cash'n'Carry, it was lunch time. Every restaurant I passed had their dining areas closed, but their drive-throughs open. I passed a Wendy's which had a line so long at the drive-through that it actually extended onto the street. I was driving so I couldn't take a picture, but when I stopped at a nearby stoplight, I photographed it in the mirror (which is why the lettering is all backward).

I was very pleased to see the restaurants as busy as they were, even though I'm certain business is still desperately down.

Last stop, Winco, which has the best bulk section in town. I passed some industrial-sized shelves with bulk foods for sale. Evidently there was enough demand for large quantities of staples that Winco was offering the big bags in one convenient spot.

The biggest surprise -- I don't know why it surprised me, but it did -- was in the bulk section. I wanted to pick up some spiral pasta, but to my surprise, every single lidded bulk bin no longer had loose items available for customers to bag up. Instead, they offered pre-bagged portions. Literally the only thing in the spiral pasta bin was a ginormous 25-pound bag of spiral pasta. I shrugged and bought it. Pasta doesn't go bad, and I like spiral pasta for macaroni and cheese. (This photo shows a different pasta bin, not the spiral pasta.)

As with everywhere else, some shelves were conspicuously understocked, such as flour, though there was plenty to be had.

Soup was popular.

And the canning jar section had been raided.

Cleaning supplies were also picked over.

Then, curious, I peeked into the toilet paper aisle. They had some, but clearly it was a popular place.

It also had the obligatory sign.

Then I noticed the prices. Holy cow. Contrary to the "24" on the package, each pack contained six rolls. Six. (Apparently these are "mega rolls" equivalent to 24 smaller rolls or something.)

Now compare this to what I paid at Cash'n'Carry for industrial-sized rolls. Definitely the better bargain at Cash'n'Carry.

As I checked out and bagged my purchases, I fell into conversation with the checker since there were no other customers behind me. In fact, the store was by no means crowded. The checker said things had been crazy-insane through March and April, but had slowed down quite a bit in May. I don't know if this is good or bad.

I photographed the line of checkout lanes on the way out, each one of which was now kitted out with plexiglass barriers for the safety of the cashiers.

So that was my excursion going into town. What are you folks experiencing?

Happy birthday, Younger Daughter

Younger Daughter turns 22 years old today!

Sadly she's far, far away right now at her overseas Navy duty station, so we had to content ourselves with sending instant messages with birthday wishes. Such is life in the military, I guess.

The (re)Rise of Victory Gardens

Here's my latest blog post for Lehman's entitled "The (re)Rise of Victory Gardens."

Buried under demand

I've been following the situation at Lehman's since the economy took a nosedive.

Lehman's, as you know, sells an enormous variety of merchandise geared at simplicity and self-sufficiency. Originally it began as a source of non-electric goods for Amish customers, but it's blossomed over the years as many other people discovered non-electric goods do indeed make life simpler. Their philosophy is "Prepared, not scared."

With the advent of the coronavirus, it seems a lot of customers are in the latter category and attempting to move into the former. This can be nothing but good news, but it also means places like Lehman's are overwhelmed from people desperate to obtain products like canning supplies, emergency foods, non-electric lighting options, and other tools of self-sufficiency. It seems every time I log onto the website, the banner message at top hints the business is getting busier, not slower. Shipping times are taking longer, and many items are out of stock.

Curious, I emailed the vice-president of marketing, Glenda Lehman Ervin, and inquired: "I thought things would have slowed down by now, but I guess I'm wrong. How are you on getting new inventory in? Are your sources down?"

Glenda replied: "We have not seen any slowing down of demand. The warehouse is about a week behind (we normally ship within 24 hours) and our vendors are having trouble keeping up. We have lots out of stock. We are also getting some major media coverage like the LA Times and the Wall Street Journal. Our hope is this movement has a long tail and people realize how important self-sufficiency is; not operating out of fear but our of a desire to live a simple, more fulfilling life. As a marketer, it feels good to be promoting the same message we have been for years and not taking advantage of people who are scared."

She makes an excellent point. Homesteaders and preppers were once considered "fringe," but they have emerged to be the rock stars of self-sufficiency.

Glenda also would like to pass on the following statement from Lehman's:

"We apologize for any delays in our response and appreciate your patience during the time of this pandemic. While we are still open, we have limited staffing and have an emphasis on receiving essential inventory and processing orders. Our normal order turn-around time is 24 hours, but our warehouse staffing capacity is limited by social distancing rules and orders are running higher than normal, so orders are currently taking up to two weeks to fill. Our vendors are also having trouble producing merchandise, so our out-of-stock situation is much higher than normal. Thank you for your patience as we work very hard to catch up!"

If you plan to order anything from Lehman's you won't be disappointed with the quality of their goods; but this is also a plea for understanding from a business that's doing its very best to keep up with demand.

May the Fourth be with you

Coming as I do from a family of geeks, I'm always amused by geeky celebrations. Today is International Star Wars Day because -- are you ready? -- it's May 4th. As in, "May the fourth be with you."

So Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you!

Never believe the weather predictions

So yesterday (Saturday), ominous weather predictions started surfacing for our region:

Saturday has the potential to be an active thunderstorm day. Isolated strong to severe storms will be possible after 1PM. Some of these storms could produce large hail and strong wind gusts. A second line of strong thunderstorms will be possible between 5PM and 9 PM. Wind gusts between 40 and 60 mph, brief downpours, and small hail will be possible with this second line of storms. Areas of blowing dust will be possible near recently worked fields which could reduce visibility in some areas.

We decided it would be prudent to spend the day battening down hatches. We picked up tools left lying around, secured loose objects, and even parked the car and log splitter under the livestock awning (in case of heavy hail).

The day started out sunny and warm, with the daffodils in full bloom.

Our young orchard trees are just starting to bloom, too, and I was hoping the weather wouldn't be so severe as to strip the blossoms, which would mean less fruit.

Once the battening down was done, I took advantage of the balmy conditions to get a lot of work done in the garden, prepping the beds for planting. I kept an eye on the sky, which gradually grew more ominous.

We had a little bit of rain and a little bit of wind -- enough to kick up dust on the road and drive me in from the garden -- and that was it.

The sky cleared and the sun came out. Then the cycle started again, with ominous clouds gathering.

A little bit of wind, a little bit of rain...

...but the majority of the cell skirted to the east of us. Here the evening sun shines on trees with a dark thunderstorm as a backdrop.

As it turned out, the majority of the weather moved through during the night, though we never got any hail, thunder, or lightning. But it rained enough to leave puddles.

While we're joking we should never believe the weather predictions, of course the one time we didn't heed the warnings would be the one time all chaos would break loose, right?. So -- we'll keep listening to the weather predictors and acting accordingly.

It must be spring.

Where to get seeds when online sources are SOLD OUT

Here's a piece I wrote for The Organic Prepper entitled "Where to get seeds when online sources are SOLD OUT."

Check it out!