The Cost of Food Production
Today was another day off, and another lazy Sunday.
M and I slept late, then talked about getting a Hungry Howie's pizza on the way to pick up stuff for the veggie patch over at Home Depot. Because of this Lent thing I'm doing, we had to specifically decide why we were eating at Hungry Howie's, when we were going to eat, and what type of pizza. Since the complete ban on eating out was lifted -- after an interesting debate on the definition and connotation of the word "mindful" -- any decision to eat out during this time period is now being challenged to see if there is a thoughtful logic behind the decision or if it's merely a matter of whim.
The Hungry Howie's decision was a thoughtful and logical one. It may turn out to be fortuitous, too, if the chicken didn't finish thawing for dinner.
The weather on the way into town was warm and pleasant, if a little cloudy. M had read that rain was expected for later in the afternoon, but it seemed to be holding off. M decided to leave his jacket in the car when we went in to eat our pizza. I kept mine on, but had it open. After finishing our lunch, I needed to zip up my jacket. Within 20 or 30 minutes, the weather had gotten a little chillier and a little windier.
We headed on over to Home Depot to pick up some garden stuff, primarily soil additives. We usually get bags of top soil, manure, pine bark, organic lawn fertilizer, and mushroom compost around this time of year. Today, we were looking for top soil, manure, and mushroom compost. Home Depot only had the top soil and manure. While M and I were loading the 40lb bags on the flatbed cart, M's back went out.
He was in pain and not amused. I was worried about how to get him to the car, and if we were going to make a trip to the walk-in clinic.
The spasms eased up enough that he could walk to the car. The main problem he was having was with bending and doing that bending to lift thing. I put most of the soil additives in the car (6 bags of manure, 6 bags of top soil, 1 bag of potting soil, 1 very small bag of bone meal). M was watching to make sure I didn't throw out my back. He was worried about my overdoing it today, after working several hours in the veggie patch yesterday.
We made it home okay. I got M inside and stuffed some of our prescription back meds into him. Then, I stuck him upstairs with an ice pack under his back, knees propped up, a bottle of Coke and the latest Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicle manga. When he was comfortable, I headed back downstairs to unload the car and start working in the garden again.
There was a time, not so very long ago, when running to the garden store and digging around in the yard all afternoon weren't so physically demanding. This last car accident has changed things dramatically. If we were truly dependent on the food that we raised for ourselves, we'd be truly and deeply screwed over this last few years.
Later in the Evening
M is doing better.
He rested for a bit while I was outside working. Throwing his back out this afternoon comes at a bad time for him. He's been working the weekend at home to finish coding an irritating project for work. It's been re-envisioned several times now. The latest re-envisioning at the end of this week now has a bunch of code being ripped out and rewritten. The muscle relaxants that he needs to spot his back from spasming will put him to sleep if he takes a whole one. To keep him from crashing, I've had to cut the pills in half. The second half tablet I gave to him after dinner, made him nap on the couch.
Right now, he's calling it an early night. I've got a couple of things to do yet, and then I'll probably turn in early myself.
M and I slept late, then talked about getting a Hungry Howie's pizza on the way to pick up stuff for the veggie patch over at Home Depot. Because of this Lent thing I'm doing, we had to specifically decide why we were eating at Hungry Howie's, when we were going to eat, and what type of pizza. Since the complete ban on eating out was lifted -- after an interesting debate on the definition and connotation of the word "mindful" -- any decision to eat out during this time period is now being challenged to see if there is a thoughtful logic behind the decision or if it's merely a matter of whim.
The Hungry Howie's decision was a thoughtful and logical one. It may turn out to be fortuitous, too, if the chicken didn't finish thawing for dinner.
The weather on the way into town was warm and pleasant, if a little cloudy. M had read that rain was expected for later in the afternoon, but it seemed to be holding off. M decided to leave his jacket in the car when we went in to eat our pizza. I kept mine on, but had it open. After finishing our lunch, I needed to zip up my jacket. Within 20 or 30 minutes, the weather had gotten a little chillier and a little windier.
We headed on over to Home Depot to pick up some garden stuff, primarily soil additives. We usually get bags of top soil, manure, pine bark, organic lawn fertilizer, and mushroom compost around this time of year. Today, we were looking for top soil, manure, and mushroom compost. Home Depot only had the top soil and manure. While M and I were loading the 40lb bags on the flatbed cart, M's back went out.
He was in pain and not amused. I was worried about how to get him to the car, and if we were going to make a trip to the walk-in clinic.
The spasms eased up enough that he could walk to the car. The main problem he was having was with bending and doing that bending to lift thing. I put most of the soil additives in the car (6 bags of manure, 6 bags of top soil, 1 bag of potting soil, 1 very small bag of bone meal). M was watching to make sure I didn't throw out my back. He was worried about my overdoing it today, after working several hours in the veggie patch yesterday.
We made it home okay. I got M inside and stuffed some of our prescription back meds into him. Then, I stuck him upstairs with an ice pack under his back, knees propped up, a bottle of Coke and the latest Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicle manga. When he was comfortable, I headed back downstairs to unload the car and start working in the garden again.
There was a time, not so very long ago, when running to the garden store and digging around in the yard all afternoon weren't so physically demanding. This last car accident has changed things dramatically. If we were truly dependent on the food that we raised for ourselves, we'd be truly and deeply screwed over this last few years.
Later in the Evening
M is doing better.
He rested for a bit while I was outside working. Throwing his back out this afternoon comes at a bad time for him. He's been working the weekend at home to finish coding an irritating project for work. It's been re-envisioned several times now. The latest re-envisioning at the end of this week now has a bunch of code being ripped out and rewritten. The muscle relaxants that he needs to spot his back from spasming will put him to sleep if he takes a whole one. To keep him from crashing, I've had to cut the pills in half. The second half tablet I gave to him after dinner, made him nap on the couch.
Right now, he's calling it an early night. I've got a couple of things to do yet, and then I'll probably turn in early myself.