Bright Idea

I don’t always get to make it to the grocery store when I plan to anymore. Stuff happens, you know? Like just last week, David had surgery on his knee and I drove him to his morning doctor’s appointment on Friday, but that meant that I didn’t have time to go shopping, too. I’ve got Friday morning. That’s it. So when something comes up on Friday morning and I can’t make it to the grocery store, we just eat out of the pantry and the freezer for the week. (Milk and eggs are not a problem around here.)

This week, when I ran out of food for the cows, I drove over to the neighbor’s feed shop to resupply. He had chicken feed and rabbit feed and sheep feed, but he was all out of the all important cow feed. Some fella had just wiped him out. And it occurred to me, right there in the feed barn, that I ought to have a pantry for the animals, too. I ought to be able to go a month on whatever we have stored, even for the animals, because stuff happens and we can’t rely on being able to get to the store, or on him being able to deliver.

So I started an animal pantry. It’s only got three extra sacks of cow-and-calf grain, but it’s a start, however small, and a pleasant insurance policy against unforeseen circumstances. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?!

(In my neighbor’s defense, I was a few days early for my first-of-the-month visit, but he had my grain the following day. He takes really good care of his customers. He always knows when I’m coming and he knows what I’ll be buying. Better still, I can count him as a friend, too. )