Planning

I don't have much of a "Prepper" mentality.  I love to do things the old fashioned way, keep things uncomplicated, and enjoy the benefits of spending a great deal of time outdoors.  I once read, not that long ago, that back a century ago, women were in good physical shape just from all the housework they did, hanging laundry, a good 20 minute workout of bending, stretching and lugging that load of wet clothes out with you to the line, is a muscle workout.  Scrubbing floors, using a whisk in place of an electric mixer.   Beating ingredients together with a wooden spoon keeps the arms in shape.  Washing dishes, is a hand workout.  You catch the drift.  Gardening, well, everyone by now has heard of the benefits of  gardening.  Not only the physical aspects of keeping up a garden help you out, but they are now telling us that it helps us emotionally and I know that for a fact.  Its meditative to be out there pulling weeds or hoeing.  I  believe its spiritual work too.  There has never once been a time that I have not prayed when out there in the garden.  Not once.  And, there has never been a time that I didn't think about the wonders of creation when I am out there.  I hear birds singing, feel the gentle breeze, which to me always seems like some aspect of God.  Often I imagine it as His breath.  Today I thought about how I feel so connected to God in the garden and then I thought, of course I do, man was made from the dirt, its in our DNA.  God put His beloved creation Adam, where ?  In a garden of course.  Anyway, I was thinking today that the world is a very different place then it was even 25 years ago.  We are so interconnected, which is good in some ways, but in another way, we see now that we are so interconnected by computers, by electricity, by fossil fuel,  that if one domino in this link falls, a lot can go wrong.  Even natural disasters can throw out lives for a loop.  So here I come to the preparedness aspect.  I like, no I actually love, that if the electricity goes out, the only thing I worry about is the food in the fridge.  I have lamp light and always lots of beeswax candles that I make on hand.  We heat with wood, and can cook on the wood stove if need be.  We have gas for the stove, but even if something went amiss with the gas, we would be ok.  We keep plenty of wood on hand for the stove.  There is always firewood available around these parts, just from downed trees.  I like having a garden that gives us plenty of food and there are pecan trees all around us for nuts. Mulberries and blackberries too.
We have fruit trees and an herb garden.  Now to the planning part.  I was thinking last night, that I want a willow tree, so I can have its bark available, and have twigs on hand for rooting new plants.  I want a Witch Hazel tree here too, so many uses for it.  Then I started planning what other things I use daily that I have to buy, Elderberries.  I want to plant some bushes next year.  Its such a valuable plant.  I like the idea of just stepping off the back porch and finding what I need.  I like that kind of being prepared.  I am not a fearful person.   Fear is distracting, crippling to some.  It takes focus away from paying attention to God and to family members.  But I do like having what I like to eat or use often, close by, dependent on my hands to have it available.  I like to know the source of things from beginning to end.  So, more planning to achieve more of my goals.