Time to Downsize.....

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Today I found that not only the corporate world but my world is feeling the pinch. The midwest will feel the force of this full blast. High gas prices will for ever change our world and once they (whoever "they" are) get that five dollar bill in their pockets, the prices will never come down again. It happened with sugar and it's happening with milk and eggs.

I am what is called a hobby farmer. I have a collection of pet animals on my very small farm that reward me with their wares if I feed them....I have chickens and goats and horses. But in all this I also have Parkinson's Disease and Acute Rheumatoid Arthritis, which though my very expensive meds feed it on a daily bases, I have yet to see a huge reward so as in the corporate world I have this question to answer: Whether to downsize or shutdown completely......

The first to go were my two rabbits to a neighbor. One was a mix between a wild and a domestic that I acquired somewhere along the way for my grandson. His buddy and eating partner was "Bugs" a big white rabbit we found happily wandering down the road in town one day. They have cohabitated for almost three years and yesterday a neighbor took them for safe keeping. The chickens will leave today leaving one duck to wander all alone in the pen. His name is "Quack" and for four or so years he has lived with the other animals and never let me come out the back door without a greeting of "hello." We could always take Quack down to the new pond and let him go but I'm sure the animals in the woods higher up the food chain than him would have him for lunch the first day.

Now we come to my goats, Sadie, Yopa and Pee Dee. I got Sadie eight years ago . She was one of four and they were six weeks old. I raised them like children and they always looked to me for protection and food and a hug at least once a day. They were God's original bushhog.... and there is nothing they won't climb and most underbrush is on their food regiment. They are a farmers delight if you can keep them contained. If this becomes a problem your flower beds are the first to go and following in close succession will be your small ornamental trees...You see if Sadie sees me working on something and really enjoying it in the yard, that's what she wants to do too....They are the closest thing I have ever raised to humans. I have spent many a frustrating moment yelling at her but I know when she looks me in the eye, she loves me and has from day one.

Well Sadie will be the last to go and my farm will no longer be a farm and with the evacuation the farm sounds will go too. No chickens crowing at first light. No rush when they hear the back door open. Also there will be no heat lambs in the winter and trecks through the snow to feed and water buckets to thaw. It's the end of a way of life for me and as always change brings pain and confusion.

These are the thoughts Parkinson's has brought to my mind today. As always I have fought a good fight and Parkinson's has won, Last year in January I broke my leg and suffered through the winter. I was lucky. I made it into the house for help and it was a fairly warm day. All of this seems quite mundane to the outsider but it is so important to my survival this winter. I have went many rounds with my enemy and often the score is enemy one Pokie none but with all the losses there are alot of wins and one is the friendships I have made along the way and another is my ability to pull out all the stops and go for it.and that is what I have done today with this blog. Pokie one Parkinson's none today.........thanks.