Notes from Steve

As adults, my grandparents went through the depression in the 1930s.  Today marks the anniversary of the stock market collapsing and life changing completely for everyone.  We’ve had depressions and recessions since then, but that was epic.  Hopefully, we have safeguards in place so that it won’t happen again - but there are no guarantees in life.  I looked at this house a couple of months ago out of curiosity, and they had a “prepper” room in a secured hole under the porch where they would live on packaged food and stare at each other for days.  I hear these commercials about food with no expiration* and how to survive for a long time. This sounds like a nightmare.

I don’t know.  This topic ranks up there to me with stuff that makes noise in my walls or the possibility of snakes on the trail when I’m riding.  I ignore and hope for the best.  I realize that this is not a solution that works, but it helps me get by.  “What can you do to be prepared then?” Wall noise - I can move or investigate*;, snakes - I can stop riding or ride somewhere where snakes don’t live***.  Regarding the whole prepper thing … I don’t know.  I don’t want to think about it.

I guess my best prep is to stay healthy and aware.  Also, I was telling a friend this morning that the best way to deal with stress is to stop focusing on things that I can’t control.  I told her that when I borrow anxiety from the news and/or other people’s drama, all that happens is I get the 61-year-old zoomies and my blood pressure increases. 

For now - I’m going to enjoy fall.

*Twinkies 
**nope
***Countries without native land snakes include Ireland, Iceland, New Zealand, Greenland, and Antarctica, along with several smaller nations like Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Tuvalu. These locations are snake-free due to their geographical isolation, cold climates, or specific ecosystems that do not support snake populations.