Nothin’ but the weather

Sunday afternoon, Deb and I accepted a spontaneous invitation to join friends for lunch at Salsa’s, just down the road from our campground. We had a great time, with typically good Mex and tasty margaritas.

The conversation at one point turned to what’s happening with our build on The Mountain. We had to admit, of course, that we still don’t have a foundation or a framed structure sitting on top of it. In fun, one of our friends suggested that we’re makin’ it all up, perhaps to feed this blog.

We laughed, knowing that it must seem that way.

But trust me, our homestead-in-progress is very real. As of today, everything we need to move forward is in place. The only thing holding us up now is the weather — as we move into a new season we’re at the mercy of spring rains, which are bound to come.

Our spirits remain high.

This rainy morning we dropped Smudge off at school — we’d decided to take one more sincere run at acclimating her to the trainers and the environment. When we left her (unsentimentally, as instructed) she was just as terrified as every other time she’s been there.

We snagged a late breakfast at Ranch House, picked up juice at the adjacent vape shop and then grabbed some groceries. We visited the local Kubota dealer (just because) and a small scratch-and-dent appliances shop (very promising). As we drove out toward puppy school to fetch Smudge, Ozarks skies were clearing in dramatic fashion, the earlier gloom pushing east.

I think it’s safe to say that neither Deb nor I was optimistic that our happy little Heeler had made much improvement over the three hours she’d been at school — but to our surprise, she’d taken some big steps. We’re gonna stick with it.

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Back at the campground, I gathered up the grocery bags and brought them into the bus. The first thing I heard when I walked in the door was the voice of Richard Michael DeWine coming from the TV — in a terrifying, infuriating flashback to his daily WuFlu pressers, there he was again, droning into the mic, his besmocked-and-bowtied Minister of Health behind him, nodding.

It was evident today that he’d missed the attention.

The subject of this media event was damned serious, actually — the dangers posed to the town of East Palestine, Ohio and surrounding communities after a train derailment over a week ago, specifically the release (and intentional ignition) of monovinyl chloride.

This is cataclysm-level stuff for the town. People, pets, livestock and wildlife have been poisoned. Drinking water is toxic. All of the effects won’t be known for many years.

There’s a role for government to play in this, and that government is (again) demonstrating that it hasn’t the foggiest idea how to do the job it insists it must do “to keep us safe.” Perhaps because progressive bureaucrats can’t invent a convenient enviro-narrative around it, both the feds and the state of Ohio have totally fucked East Palestine.

Here in northern Arkansas, best we can tell, we’re beyond the reach of water-borne downstream effects. (See the map, above.) Prevailing winds are in our favor, too, highly unlikely to carry toxins 730 miles to the southwest.

But this won’t be the last accident that turns lethal because the State mismanages a function on which the public relies. The next one may be upstream and upwind from us, or even close by.

We remain vigilant.

Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.

#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath

#LetsGoBrandon #FJB

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