So Much Can Change in an Instant
Posted by Tracey Vowell on
Tuesday started with a Covid scare, as I really did not feel well late Monday, and worse Tuesday morning. Took the test, and it turns out that whatever my situation, it is more along the lines of a cold. Whew, it felt like a near miss. Unbelievable what I can talk myself into with such a short period of unknowing.
Then the day went on, and we were jubilant that the test was negative, twice, and we could get on with business. Little did we know, my little covid scare was not the event of the day today.
We have a farmer here in town that we have worked with for the entire time we have been in Kankakee. He has big boy farm equipment, and it has allowed us to produce things like the beans, white corn and popcorn. We also work with him to produce our sweet corn and some of our summer vegetables.
Early this morning, there was a horrific fire that completely consumed his two connected barns, and everything inside. We do not yet know how bad it is, and I imagine it will be a few days before we do. The site is quite literally still smoking. I have included a few photos so that you can see that I am not talking about a small fire, or a small barn. Keep in mind that it is winter, and every piece of equipment possible was put away in the buildings.
We store beans, corn and popcorn, not in that barn, but in the white truck trailer along side, in the above photo. We do not yet know what kind of loss we face in product, but from the little bit we have seen, it is substantial, maybe not total. The list of things we do not yet know, is also substantial.
This fire will certainly be life changing both for my friend David, and for us.
I have removed black beans from the site for the time being. When we have had time to reset and know what happened inside the trailer, I will put them back on. With the thaw happening today, and another 8-10 inches of snow expected tonight, it may be a while until we can get to the bin and restock. Unfortunately, we were headed to the trailer to restock when we learned about the fire.
Pardon me if I don’t have anything much fun to say today. This event is proving to be quite a trial.