Interestingly, covid has dealt us a financial blow. Not because we were suddenly out of work. Not because we had illness in the family. Not because of quarantines. But when the schools closed at Spring Break time, we suddenly had a lot of workers. Not only did our two collegians move home and our two high schoolers stay home all day except for their seven-minute school day, but we also had two and sometimes three college-aged nephews on hand for the rest of the summer. One brother-in-law also spent a few weeks with us.

There was fence to build, roofing to replace, cattle to work, tree rows to prune and clear out. The list is nearly endless. Because we had all the laborers on hand, we needed supplies to keep them working. Fence posts. Barbed wire. Number Nine wire. Clips. Staples. Welding wire. Extra gloves. Plywood sheathing. Underlayment. Waterproofing. Shingles. Chainsaw blades. Pruner blades.

Not to mention groceries. Nine or ten people around the table eat a lot. Especially when they’ve been out working hard all day.

Our credit card carrier thought we might be part of the masses who were strangled by covid-related employment issues and thus ran up credit card debt with the plan of committing bankruptcy. We had to explain to them how covid was one of the best things that ever happened to us.

Go figger.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------