Fall Break (Yes, it's a post--don't faint!)

I didn't realize how crazy our Fall Break was going to be until it was over. We started about 7:15 a.m. Thursday morning with cold cereal and a talk about what had to happen to leave the house by 11 a.m. The kids were good about dressing, packing their bags, then going out to pick grapes. I snuck a quick shower before going out to help. At 10:30 I realized I'd put the chore off too long and we just weren't going to get all the grapes picked. So we filled the two boxes we were working on and started loading the van. Nine boxes of Golden Delicious apples. Four boxes of green grapes. Two smaller boxes of purple Concord grapes, courtesy of Jeff's parents. A juicer. A canner. A Victorio strainer. Two boxes of jars. Lids. Sleeping bags. Pillows. Backpacks and suitcases. Camera case. Cooler. Snacks. Full gas tank. Prayer said and on the road by 11:15 a.m. Phew.

Traffic was heavy, as expected. Four hours later we turned off at Lydie's Canyon, just in time to pick the cousins up from the school bus. Aunt Mercy was a little late getting home from her new job, so I started washing grapes while the kids played. Mercy came home and got dinner for us all. We kept doing grape juice until 11:15 p.m. Four juicers full. Nineteen quarts. Bedtime.

Mercy was up early Friday to get her kids off to a half-day of school. My kids woke me up at 7 a.m. and we started another batch of grape juice. No sleeping in on our vacation. Then we set up for applesauce. It's so labor-intensive that we like to start and finish all in one day and get it over with. We did eight canners full--55 quarts, a new record. Then we started grape juice again. Fifteen quarts total. In bed about 11:15 p.m. again. Sixteen-hour day. We were tired. My knee was swollen. Mercy's back was killing her.



Saturday we got more grapes in the juicer by 7:30 a.m. We got two more batches done before I had to leave for Cedar City. Mercy was planning to go too for a mini class reunion with some high school friends, but woke up sick and just couldn't make it. I felt bad leaving her with a sticky kitchen floor. Thirty-six hours and 99 full jars later, we were on the road again. Crazy.

We had 2 1/2 boxes of apples and 1 1/2 boxes of grapes left over. It was all worth it, but I think we'll plan for more time or less fruit next year. The kids had fun with their cousins, and Mercy and I enjoyed visiting while we worked. We're on our third year of this family tradition. It's a win-win thing we decided. I have apple trees and grape vines. I don't enjoy canning all that much. She does. She gets free applesauce and grape juice, and I don't have to can alone.


After a pleasant drive over Cedar Mountain through the fall leaves, I attended Mercy's and Jeff's mini-reunion Saturday afternoon without them. It wasn't too awkward though, as most of the people at the reunion were my high school friends too. I tended to hang out with people a class younger than me or a class or two older than me. It was fun to visit and reminisce and laugh with good people that I hadn't seen for awhile. My dear friend Charlotte hosted the get-together at her parents' home and provided some yummy soups to go with our salads and desserts. After feasting on food and friends, it was time to hit the road again. I dragged the kids away from the TV at Grandma's and Grandpa's house, and we made it home by 7:45 p.m., in time to get baths and get ready for church and our Primary program practice today. I feel like I've been running for more than a week. Tomorrow IS going to be a lazy day. Oh wait, I still have grapes to do. Argh!

Self-reliance

Not to be paranoid or anything, but every once in awhile I wonder how long we could live on our food storage, if we had to. I have a friend who's bishop one Sunday challenged them to live off what they had in their house for a week. Our food storage isn't in fantastic shape, but I think I could go two weeks if I had to, maybe even a month. I'd really miss fresh milk and fresh produce, but I think we could do it. I used to imagine scenarios like this would only be necessary if there was some kind of natural disaster. But with the current economic mess, I started thinking about how long we could last if we had no income. We'd have to go to the store because we really wouldn't try to live without milk or produce, but what expenses could we cut out or cut back on? What truly are necessities? How many months could we be completely self-reliant before we had to ask for help?

Several years ago I read a talk by President Marion G. Romney entitled "The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance." It's one of those talks that made so much sense to me that the message has stayed with me. I was happy to see it reprinted in the March 2009 Ensign. There are temporal reasons why being self-reliant is a good idea, but President Romney explains the spiritual reasons for being self-reliant. Here's a quote:

"Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked upon as the prerequisite to service, when we also know service is what godhood is all about? Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak. . . . Once a person has been made whole, or self-reliant, he reaches out to aid others, and the cycle repeats itself."

I'm far from there, but that's where I'd like to be--self-reliant enough that I'm in a position where I can help others become self-reliant too.