I imagine that everyone is dealing with life changes during the “Pandemic”. Watching the panic buying, the stocking up of everything, including guns and ammo, has to be taking it’s toll on folks… especially if you live in an urban area.

Out here, things are a bit different. Sure we have a closet full of beer and pretzels for long term food storage and my BB gun ammo chest is full, but it can’t be anywhere near the fear that suburbanites are feeling right now.

Our issue is simply living, in spite the wider society’s psychosis. We are well stocked. Much of our food is still on the foot and hoof. The issue here is simply admission. What do I mean? Admission is an understanding of the dire situation in which we find ourselves. It is the idea that most of the rest of the country has lost it’s mind and that we need to defend against just such mental illness. I am sure that those with young folks having to go to school on-line and are wondering how work will play itself out, is beyond crazy making. I am in no way trying to belittle that point.

What I am saying, is that it didn’t have to be this way. Had we locked down hard, like eastern countries, and not been so infantile to think that a global pandemic was somehow an impediment to our freedumbs, we could have been well past this by now (witness New Zealand).

What I am referring to is the west’s infantile notion of rights and freedumbs. More to the point, the severe and catastrophic mental health issues we will need to deal with because of a world view destroyed. We introverts are weathering this storm very handily. Personally, I am overjoyed that I can use this crisis as a way to make friends and family keep their distance. BUT! For those who have been raised their entire lives to be social and extra-social beings, I am empathetic to the fact that your level of suffering could be monumental. To that end, I wish you all my best.

However, in this situation, life is a bit different. For many years now, I have been pretty much isolated (very well appreciated as I am the quintessential introvert). I LOVE my family, but as a result of the pandemic, I am now in a house with 2 other people and those 2 other people have their own agenda and it DOES NOT include playing Grandma Walton with me. One works full time and the other is a college student taking pandemic classes on line.

So what I have been doing is creating a campground at the far end of the property. I didn’t want to spend the money on building a new cabin out back. We have had this 5th Wheel since 1999. It has served us well on many an adventure. However, it doesn’t seem likely that we will really ever take it out on the road again. After all, farmers don’t really get vacations. So a few weeks back, I pulled it out to the back end of the property. The intension is now to create a campsite on the property where we can go to relax. I will be building a deck on the tree side and a Chiminea for evening campfires. It’s whole purpose is simply to cut the cord on occasion and detach from the world. I truly believe that happiness comes from building a life you don’t need to escape from. While this life is tough, and homesteading can drop you to your knees, I firmly believe that the urbanites have it far worse. We feel very fortunate, not from some blessings from a false god, but from foresight and a lot of determination. JAZFarm is performing admirably. Stay tough ya’ll. This ain’t going away any time soon.

Stay safe. Don’t be stupid. Think about someone other than yourselves for maybe the first time in your lives. Nothing is ever going back to normal. You can either let the corporatists dictate what the new normal is, or you can define it for yourselves. Personally, I know where I stand.