Do you think you could live a life similar to the life your grandparents, great grandparents, or great-great grandparents lived? Imagine doing some of the same things they did in the 1800’s or early 1900’s. Have I gone crazy? That is a rhetorical question.
Did you have any trouble buying your turkey or any of the trimmings for the holiday? Imagine if you had to hunt and/or butcher your own bird? How many of us could actually butcher a turkey, yet alone cook it without an oven? My hunting friends with deep fryers are raising their hands.
With my harvest finally finished, I have spent the last several weeks mingling with society again. I heard many complaints: Gasoline, meat, and cars and trucks are too expensive. Many items people want to buy are out of stock, and their favorite restaurant is closed due to a lack of employees. A bank employee complained to me about their gas bill for the house, and winter is just starting.
Let me address the natural gas issue. I am not surprised, and I expect a day of reckoning for natural gas. The garbage trucks and electric power plants are now fueled with natural gas. Many people now heat pools, barns, shops, garages, even their pets’ and farm animals’ buildings. And if you really have money to burn, you never shovel the snow by heating your driveway and sidewalks. I believe it is only a matter of time until we have severe shortages, which have already happened for several years in other countries.
The entire world has developed a ravenous appetite for natural gas and may very well take much of the supply that the United States has always taken for granted. Could the freezing debacle in Texas last February be only the beginning?
The best way to start a lively debate is to talk about the house thermostat setting. I have heard some people rant about how they would suffer severely at a temperature below 71 degrees, insinuating that they would go broke rather than perish to hypothermia. Others find 65-68 comfortable and some boast as low as 60-62. I have come to believe that some people would rather spend money to heat an entire home toasty rather than put on a few articles of clothing. I have also learned that some heat their house into the 70’s in winter and cool it into the 60’s in summer. Yet, some climate change activists want to believe not eating meat is the way to save the planet from excess carbon. Sorry, I digress.
Keep in mind that my grandparent’s house my dad was raised in had no heat going to the upstairs bedroom. Of course, when he was born, they did not even have electricity or a furnace. Wood stoves in the kitchen and parlor were the only heat source, without a fan, of course. Remember, no electricity. I have heard several accounts of water glasses freezing overnight in bedrooms.
I have noticed that on cold and windy days in the country my furnace will run half as much if I turn the heat down from 68 to 64 degrees or lower. On below zero days with strong winds I may go down to 60 degrees. If I add some clothes, I can save lots of money and even help the environment. I believe that many in the country are more receptive to turning down the heat to save money than those in the city. Very few rural residences have natural gas. Propane is the main source of gas, and it is at least twice the cost of natural gas. Cold weather hurts the bank account quicker in the country.
Is a gas shortage really possible in the United States? Is that another rhetorical question? I have seen that the natural reaction for many when faced with a shortage is to hoard. I am curious to see how people will hoard natural gas if my fears become reality. We have made it to Thanksgiving, and I doubt anyone had to hunt their own turkey and cook it with a wood or coal fire like our ancestors did over 100 years ago.
Next week I will explain the real reason many farmers will watch for shortages or extreme price increases in natural gas. If that happens, we may cry more than our friends in the city.
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