Hi out there, I can't believe it's going down to 25 degrees here tonight in upstate New York!!! I only have a quarter of my wood ready! At this rate there will be snow soon!! I'm grateful I have the wood though. I wonder how many people will be sitting around cold this year because of fuel prices. I've noticed many neighbors who don't normally have wood piles out front do now. I am so glad to have the strength and the where-with-all to be somewhat self sufficient. Knowing I don't have to be concerned about the fuel prices too much is a relief. I do however worry a little for some older folks who may not be so fortunate. My husband grew up with the attitude of turn the heat up when you're cold instead of get a sweater on. Tonight he said lets pull up next to the fire that he made, that we chopped wood for, that we hauled in etc. It's a damn good feeling I'll tell ya. And his parents think we are crazy. Now wonder society is in the crapper. Probably not too many people feel good about themselves. Being a homesteader gives you such a sense of pride. I've carried on long enough now. It's just that I love it so much! Evelyn

-- evelyn Bergdoll (evandjim@klink.net), September 28, 2000

Answers

I'm sure you're out getting the other 75% of the wood you need. But congratulations on being happy with your life and life-style.

-- Anne (HT@HM.com), September 28, 2000.

Hi I too am bracing for the expected 20-25 degrees tonight in N.Y. Where abouts are you ? I'm in St Lawrence county .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), September 28, 2000.

Yep. It's supposed to be in the mid 90s here in Texas. A real cold snap. Still no rain except for the 1.3 inch last week.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), September 29, 2000.

Joe, I wish I could send you some of ours! It's raining like crazy today. I just went out and set up the downspout to flow rainwater into our 1000 gal. tank. It was totally empty as of yesterday. Should be interesting to see how much we can get in the next several hours. My husband is bringing home a new Sou'wester for me, plus a new pair of rubber boots! I wear them out every couple of years.

Hope you get more rain soon...keep us posted!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), September 30, 2000.

Good for you, Evelyn. We had our first frost Thursday night here on the coast of Maine, and temperatures so far this fall are definitely running cooler than last year. Glad we got in that wood after years of depending on the thermostat for our heat. But then, this entire year since last May has been cooler than what became normal during the 1990s. We never saw a real heat wave this summer (Down East definition: three days in a row over 90) and our warmest weather came in early July. In the past few years we've gone as late as Halloween before frost, but this year I've even seen people wearing gloves already! Looks like we may see a "normal" (pre-1990) fall and winter for a change -- just when we don't need it.

-- Cash (cash@andcarry.com), October 01, 2000.

Actually it turned out to be 16 degrees that night. We had 70's the rest of the week during the day of course!! Now someone said snow and rain this weekend.

-- evelyn Bergdoll (evandjim@klink.net), October 04, 2000.

The last couple of days we've had highs in the 80's, today in the 70's, tomorrow 60's dropping to the 40's. The bluegrass festival is this weekend at Versailles State Park. We're supposed to have rain and snow showers and temps in the 40's. Sunday morning maybe in the 20's. It's just a little too early for this in SE Indiana.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), October 05, 2000.