Hurricane Aftermath, Keeping Freezers Frozen, Last Chicken Processing
Helene was worse than we thought. Friday was a rough day. Not as rough for us as for many others. After making the rounds and nearly getting blown away Friday morning, I came back to the house content to hunker down and wait out the storm until the afternoon. My sweet wife, noticing trees falling down across the road both above and below the house, encouraged me to go out with the chainsaw and cut up the impassible trees so that neighbors could make it home. More than just encourage me to go, she came out there with me, pulling limbs and logs out of the road as I cut them with more trees and limbs falling beside us as we went, soaked to the bone. Hallie, who was a nervous wreck, stayed at home in charge of her three younger siblings.
Making our way down the road, we eventually met my 72 year old uncle making his way up the road on his open air tractor with his chainsaw. Further down at the fork, a teenage neighbor was on his family farm’s tractor clearing the road from another direction. This was not an isolated occurrence. This was par for the course. These back roads all through the region were filled with people out there in the storm trying to help other people. Neighbors helping neighbors. There’s a lot of good people out there. Thankful for the many fine folks in the surrounding communities going out of their way to help those in need.
Trees and fences down all over. About six trees fell in the paddock where the pigs were with one tree falling on and crushing a 300 pound hog. Several chickens were crushed by the shelters that were twisted and shuffled by the gusty winds. Some barn siding and roofing was blown off but nothing major compared to others. Water levels the highest I can remember.
With power out and more meat in the freezers than we’ve ever had, keeping our ORVF beef, chicken, and pork frozen became high priority. We were prepared for losing power. We were not prepared for losing it for a week. Thankfully, it all stayed frozen like a rock but not without its challenges.
We have a back up generator for the freezers that kicked on like it was supposed to. After a day or so of running the generator, we noticed that it was going through the propane a lot faster than we thought. Knowing we would likely be without power for a while, I started running the generator intermittently for a few hours at a time as the propane got low. Realizing we would run completely out by Monday morning, Amy’s dad and Big Al came to the rescue with a diesel fueled generator all the way up from Knoxville to help keep the meat frozen. Then early Tuesday, their generator decided to not cooperate. Thankfully propane was delivered Tuesday afternoon and the generator ran until the power came back on yesterday.
On Wednesday, powered by the generator, we processed more chickens on the farm. With schools closed, many of our summer regulars were able to come help, making a really long day be not near as long as it otherwise would’ve been. We got chores done and had 160 chickens cut up, packaged and in the freezer before 2:00. Our crew is the best. I’m ready for chicken season to be over, but Amy and I sincerely look forward to chicken harvest days especially for the fellowship with friends. Watching the kids play hay bale tag and volleyball during our ORVF pulled pork lunch break brought a much needed smile to my face. Ten chicken shelters left to move for a few days.
The tractor is back running. After finishing with chickens, I used it and the box blade to put the cabin driveways back together after their weekend washing.
As stressful as this week was around the Campbell house, at least we still have a house, unlike many others. Losing power pales in comparison to losing homes and loved ones. It’s heart breaking to see and hear of the homes and towns in surrounding areas that were washed away. Some of our farming partners and friends live in Swannanoa. A huge mudslide on the farm caused by 30” of rain washed away their barn, along with their walk-in freezer of meat, pick up truck, and farm equipment that was stored inside. Again, even they fared much better than the many who dwelled down stream.
With most of their fencing wiped out, my brother John and I made a trip down there to help them get their cows off their property. It’s hard to put words to the devastation we saw. Heartbreaking. So much just washed away.
Getting their livestock loaded and off the mountain was not just a challenge. It was a long train of challenges. Requiring a long train of solutions. My brother John had the solutions. Without diving into the details, few people in the world could’ve pulled off what he did. He’s a good man. But don’t tell him I said so. By the grace of God and by the sweat of John’s horse Goose, the animals were all safely hauled out of Swannanoa.
Late nights. John helped me Monday night replace the auger on the feed bin so I could get feed to the pigs. Actually, it was more like me helping him. If I’m being totally honest, it was more like me watching him and handing him a screwdriver now and then. Tuesday night we were catching chickens after dark. Wednesday night I was out trying to prepare for Amy and me being gone on Thursday (in opposite directions). Amy made the quarterly round trip to deliver meat to Farmville. We both got back after dark last night.
I didn’t do much book listening this week. I didn’t do much sleeping either. Even when I laid down, I couldn’t sleep. Again, at least I have a bed to lay down in. At nights my body tired, but my mind not turning off despite my persistently telling it to. Anxious about a lot of things. Not anxious about things I can’t control. Anxious about things I can. About what I should do. With lots of things I should and could do, anxious about how to prioritize those things. As the adage goes, “How do you eat an elephant?… One bite at a time.” Amy has been repeating to me all week, “Just keep taking bites, Will.” I’m chewing as fast as I can as are many others.
If any of you are in need, let us know.
Have a good week.
Will