Never Fails

It never fails that when I think I have a handle on things, something unexpected happens.  Today, it was a flat tire. 

It was going to be a busy day - I had my two younger kids and two friends in the car on the way to their middle school cross country meet.  There was an ice cream social fundraiser to get them to after the meet, and the high school meet later in the day.  All three cars were going to have to be out and about. 

I hit a rock in the road - I swerved to miss it and ended up hitting it and tearing a hole in the sidewall of the tire.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I was on the the busy two laned highway, so I thought it best to drive the extra mile or so to the school and pull off there.  I thought about changing the tire myself but decided to wait for my husband - probably to the disgust of the very capable looking security guard - she could have changed it in not time flat.  I probably could have done it, but I didn't have blocks for the tires, and if I messed up, it would be so much worse.  The kids had to walk in to the race - a mile walk at least - this is one BIG campus (K-12), but I didn't feel sorry for them - their coach texted me back she thought it was a pretty good warm up! 

We spent the morning driving around trying to find a tire replacement - Sears, Lex Brodies (local tire place), and finally Firestone.  We figured we better replace two tires - the front two were looking worn - that was $300 I didn't really have.  I remember when it was $300 for all four tires for an SUV - wow, prices have really gone up!  Fortunately, they allowed us to take our old tires - just the thing for growing potatoes and containing things like mint.  Ugly, but effective.  Old tires are pretty good at keeping horses from knocking over their water or salt lick bowls, too.  The silver lining - the guy at Firestone said come on in once a month and pick up tires when we need if we want more.  Nice. 

I am supposed to be down there getting ready to course marshall, but I am feeling pretty darn worn out, so I am up here in my office, typing up the plans I have in my head for the second quarter.... and getting some peace and quiet.  Between the tire guys, my husband, and my own voice in my head, I am pretty tired of hearing how stupid I was for runnng over that rock; that $300 for tires really wasn't in the budget and is very discouraging. 

On a brighter note, I am trying to visualize the future - where I want our farm to be in one year, two years, etc.  This year has been a year of setbacks, but that just means we have to work harder.  The challenge is to articulate what I want - do I want enough food for us, plus some to give away to the Food Bank, or do I want to have enough to sell?  Does selling mean a modified CSA format or participating in one of the several Farmer's Markets around here?  Lots of decisions to be made....