It takes a village. Or at least a neighborhood and a family

These past several days and weeks have shown us how important it is to accept help and not be too independent. 

As we’ve grown older, we have realized there are things that are harder for us to accomplish — it isn’t that we can’t do it, but it takes a lot longer and, to be honest, some things we just struggle with. Enter the family and the neighborhood.

My white S10 needed some work done on it a couple of weeks ago and we were blessed to have our son-in-law Kevin and his friend Doug come get the pickup. They put shocks on, a new wind dam on the front bumper and checked out a noise I was hearing. We knew the battery was not the best, but thought it would get by. Well, it didn’t, so the day after they brought it home, we went and got a new battery. 

Enter the neighbor. We were getting the new battery in the pickup when our neighbor Kurt showed up to get some eggs and he helped us set the new battery in place and fastened down. Now a short rabbit trail: we still couldn’t get the pickup to start that evening, so we just left it for the night. About 4 a.m. I woke up and remembered there’s a trick to the way the clutch pedal is pushed down that triggers the start. Sure enough, I went out and tried it, and the pickup roared to life. 

And a friend comes to the rescue sometimes, too. Since my wheat allergy has gotten so bad, I can’t bake cookies for Rick. Our friend Carole bakes a couple dozen every couple of months. She makes the best cookies, he says. I don’t mind buying them at Farmers Market. 

And then, on Monday, when we woke up to about six inches of snow with drifts to nearly 2 feet in some places, Angie and her trusty Kioti tractor cleared our roads, and parking spaces for us. She bladed up the road on the backside of the place, down our lane to the county road, around the shop and even hauled a bucket load of wood over to the shop. 

The kids all get together to cut and split firewood for us, most of which comes from another neighbor’s place.  We are very thankful to our family and our neighbors. We are fortunate to have them around to assist us when we need it. 

Which brings me to a conclusion. Basin has a lot of retired people — an aging population, if you will. Check on those neighbors, try to find things that need to done without them asking because most of them won’t, even if you offer. They say it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to keep our elderly population safe and secure.

There was one thing that I couldn’t get anyone to help me with, though: I had a couple of old roosters that needed to be dispatched and sent to the stew pot. No one offered to help with that. I don’t blame them though, and actually it is a job that I can accomplish pretty readily myself. 

Seven Layer Bar Cookies

1 stick butter

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup coconut

1 package butterscotch ships

1 package chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup nuts

Melt butter in a 7x11 pan. Add all other ingredients in order listed. Bake at 350º for about 35 minutes.