Chapter 9--Happy New Year!! Divine Intervention And A 1985 Ford F 350
12-31-17 Chapter 9--Happy New Year, Divine Intervention And A 1985 Ford F350
Good Morning!! As the year only has a few more hours left in it, I wanted to pause a little and give some time to reflect on the things that happened this past year and to count my blessings one more time before the clock strikes 12. As 2017 started off normal enough it soon changed. In January, we had a historic ice storm that knocked down miles upon miles of electric line. We were without power for 10 days. I soon found out how much money we would spend on just gas for 3 generators. It was shocking. Then on March 6th, literally all hell broke loose.......................A wildfire that soon became 3 wildfires broke out in this area. Powered by 50-60 mph winds, tons of dry fuel and not near enough firefighters, many people lost cows, horses, fences, homes and livelihoods. Being in the middle of it and doing all we could do to save anything sure makes you feel powerless. But what it did was reaffirm my faith in God and the goodness of regular good ole people that we had never met.
One short story, I always keep plenty of fuel in our vehicles, till that day. I don't even remember why I ran them short that day. Maybe I was busy, maybe I had forgot but I was driving my trusty 85 Ford F350 diesel around that night. Now the fuel gauge doesn't work, but I always could tell by the miles when I really needed to get some fuel. My wife had our 78 Ford when she evacuated to Gate and I had left my new pickup at the fire station in Rosston. So as I was trying to do whatever I could to save whatever I could and realizing I would definitely need to make a fast getaway, I left that pickup running what seemed all night with the driver door open, ready to jump in at the last second and get out. I used a garden hose to water down mom and dads house. I felt like a little boy peeing in a tank trying to fill it up when I could see the 30 foot flames headed our direction. I didn't think it would do a lot of good but I figured I had to try. As the flames got to about 150 yards from their house I can remember thinking this isn't going to be good. At the 75 yard mark I was starting to get nervous but, all of a sudden the wind switched just enough to carry the fire past their house and spare it. I don't know why their house was spared. Maybe because they lost another house to a fire and God decided that was enough or maybe it was sheer dumb luck. As I live life I have learned one lesson, things, good or bad happen for a reason. So, I lean on the first and not the second . After the fire swept past my parents house it had a direct bead on our house. I had resigned myself to knowing our house was literally going to be toast and I was ok with that. I did the same thing at our house, sprayed the house down with a garden hose. Knowing it wasn't going to do any good but also knowing I had to try to do something. As the smoke and flames got so thick and hot that even I knew I needed to go, that trusty ole red Ford pickup and I drove through flames to escape. When the smoke cleared just a little I came back from my safe place about 3/4 of a mile away to find that the fire got about 50 feet from the west side of our house. Another subtle wind switch and carried it right past our house. There was no reason for it to happen like that but it did. We were the benefactors of a little dose of Divine Intervention again. The fire even came closer to my brother's house south of us but again it was spared as well.
Various pictures from the ice storm January 2017
It's a good thing this blog is called what its called because I am rambling to beat the band on this one. Never fear I am making a big circle back to the 85 Ford pickup. That night when everything calmed down a bit we got all our vehicles back home and I started driving our new pickup, because the lights were better, so I could see hot spots. The next morning I tried starting the 85 to move it out of the way and it wouldn't start, it was out of fuel. Now the younger me would have said "Man how lucky can you get". The older and wiser me knew exactly what had happened. The good Lord had made that diesel pickup run on air that night. While we had lost many things that night and in the days to come{fence, cattle, grass, other animals), he kept me safe and he kept my family safe and that's something I am so grateful for.
Top Picture--Fire headed towards my brothers house March 6th 2017
Bottom Picture--Taken from 3/4 mile away. Fire sweeping across our land March 6th 2017
Top Picture--Debra headed West. About 3/4 mile west of our house March 6th 2017
Bottom Picture--Smoke and fire North of us headed South March 6th 2017
While thinking back about all the other things that happened this year I am comforted to know that I still have my health, I have a wife who is a saint, I have kids finding their own ways in the world, I have granddaughters who just are the most precious things on this earth-99% of the time--, I have my parents, siblings, neighbors and friends. I have a new job, plans for a market garden, and a life that I want. All in all it was a great year!!
On the farm..............Did anybody tell you it was cold? Man oh man. It's been a pretty good job just keeping things watered, fed and bedded. Here's to warmer days ahead, at least in the 40's anyway.
If you like what you have read please like, comment, and share the blog. You can keep up with me on Facebook. Just search for Doug Little. You can also keep up with me on Twitter @OKREDNECKFARMER. If you have questions please feel free to email me at bodarkspringsfarm@gmail.com.
May everyone have a Blessed and Prosperous New Year!!
One short story, I always keep plenty of fuel in our vehicles, till that day. I don't even remember why I ran them short that day. Maybe I was busy, maybe I had forgot but I was driving my trusty 85 Ford F350 diesel around that night. Now the fuel gauge doesn't work, but I always could tell by the miles when I really needed to get some fuel. My wife had our 78 Ford when she evacuated to Gate and I had left my new pickup at the fire station in Rosston. So as I was trying to do whatever I could to save whatever I could and realizing I would definitely need to make a fast getaway, I left that pickup running what seemed all night with the driver door open, ready to jump in at the last second and get out. I used a garden hose to water down mom and dads house. I felt like a little boy peeing in a tank trying to fill it up when I could see the 30 foot flames headed our direction. I didn't think it would do a lot of good but I figured I had to try. As the flames got to about 150 yards from their house I can remember thinking this isn't going to be good. At the 75 yard mark I was starting to get nervous but, all of a sudden the wind switched just enough to carry the fire past their house and spare it. I don't know why their house was spared. Maybe because they lost another house to a fire and God decided that was enough or maybe it was sheer dumb luck. As I live life I have learned one lesson, things, good or bad happen for a reason. So, I lean on the first and not the second . After the fire swept past my parents house it had a direct bead on our house. I had resigned myself to knowing our house was literally going to be toast and I was ok with that. I did the same thing at our house, sprayed the house down with a garden hose. Knowing it wasn't going to do any good but also knowing I had to try to do something. As the smoke and flames got so thick and hot that even I knew I needed to go, that trusty ole red Ford pickup and I drove through flames to escape. When the smoke cleared just a little I came back from my safe place about 3/4 of a mile away to find that the fire got about 50 feet from the west side of our house. Another subtle wind switch and carried it right past our house. There was no reason for it to happen like that but it did. We were the benefactors of a little dose of Divine Intervention again. The fire even came closer to my brother's house south of us but again it was spared as well.
It's a good thing this blog is called what its called because I am rambling to beat the band on this one. Never fear I am making a big circle back to the 85 Ford pickup. That night when everything calmed down a bit we got all our vehicles back home and I started driving our new pickup, because the lights were better, so I could see hot spots. The next morning I tried starting the 85 to move it out of the way and it wouldn't start, it was out of fuel. Now the younger me would have said "Man how lucky can you get". The older and wiser me knew exactly what had happened. The good Lord had made that diesel pickup run on air that night. While we had lost many things that night and in the days to come{fence, cattle, grass, other animals), he kept me safe and he kept my family safe and that's something I am so grateful for.
Top Picture--Fire headed towards my brothers house March 6th 2017
Bottom Picture--Taken from 3/4 mile away. Fire sweeping across our land March 6th 2017
Bottom Picture--Smoke and fire North of us headed South March 6th 2017
While thinking back about all the other things that happened this year I am comforted to know that I still have my health, I have a wife who is a saint, I have kids finding their own ways in the world, I have granddaughters who just are the most precious things on this earth-99% of the time--, I have my parents, siblings, neighbors and friends. I have a new job, plans for a market garden, and a life that I want. All in all it was a great year!!
On the farm..............Did anybody tell you it was cold? Man oh man. It's been a pretty good job just keeping things watered, fed and bedded. Here's to warmer days ahead, at least in the 40's anyway.
If you like what you have read please like, comment, and share the blog. You can keep up with me on Facebook. Just search for Doug Little. You can also keep up with me on Twitter @OKREDNECKFARMER. If you have questions please feel free to email me at bodarkspringsfarm@gmail.com.
May everyone have a Blessed and Prosperous New Year!!
Comments
Post a Comment