The Up Side To The Economy Crashing

The other night (I am noticing I use that phrase a lot) while Mr. Barefoot and I were talking, I brought up that I would like to build cabinets/bins along my "craft wall" in the Work Room and turn it into food storage. The Work Room, being an enclosed porch, stays quite cool in the winter. Despite all the windows, it stays very cool in the summer, too, and I was thinking that as long as I could keep my home canned goodies out of the light (and anything I would like to store "root cellar" style like potatoes and carrots) it would work perfectly.

I mentioned it timidly, expecting Mr. Barefoot to give me The Look and his standard "yes, dear" response. Not only did he not laugh or act exasperated, he agreed with me. He brought up some of the ideas he has been kicking around about the Work Room and how to make it work better for us, and thought that my idea would mesh with his quite well.

Emboldened by my success, I brought up the possibility of checking into the addition of a wood stove here at Barefoot Manor. I cited this year's ice storms and how that is a big possibility here in MN. I told him that a heat source was a concern I have had for a while in case of heavy storms or gas lines being out of service for whatever reason.

Again he agreed, even throwing out possible scenarios on how and where to set it up. He discussed the rise in insurance cost vs the security and reduced heat bill. He actually seemed to consider my ideas as if they were rational.

He has also recently started discussing finances with me (it was like pulling teeth before) and seems totally on board with my plans for getting us debt-free.

I was completely blind-sided.

He has been increasingly supportive of my efforts to....well, I guess the word is "prep".

I am not so self-absorbed as to think it is something I have done that is changing his mind. I think what is happening is that he is hearing it at work, he is seeing it on the news, he is seeing it affect folks he KNOWS. He is realising that preparing a safety net in case of trouble doesn't mean that you really think Zombie Hordes are going to take over the world, it just means that you realise that there are things in life you can't control that might interrupt your normal way of providing a living for your family.

I am also not so self-absorbed that it matters to me why he is having a change of heart. All that matters to me is that the changes are being made. All that matters is that I am not feeling as if he is humoring me (at best) or mocking me (at worst).

Right now I don't even care that it will fall to me to do the gardening, canning, learning to cook even more from scratch, finding more local food sources, etc. I am not feeling so alone in this anymore. I am feeling like he is respecting me a bit more.

It is good.