PBworks



It was the Silence . . .

By Deborah Davis

© 2011

Chapter 1

A Quiet Saturday Morning

It was the silence that wakened me – the silence and the heat. It had been so hot and humid that summer that the air conditioner and fans were running non-stop. Now, shortly before dawn, in late August, there were no fans, the air was quiet and still and it was dark. There were no lights anywhere, and no sounds, not even the refrigerator.

“Denny! Wake up! The power is out and we need the generator!”

My husband growled as he rolled out of bed. He wasn’t the most communicative man, but he was loyal and responsible. I opened the windows in hopes of a breeze but there was not a hint of air stirring in the quiet. I grabbed my cell phone to call the electric company, but received only silence.

“Honey!” Denny called from the bathroom, “there’s no water either!” So, I moved quickly to the electrical box and turned off the power to the hot water. I had learned from prior experience that if it was on when the power returned without water, I would be replacing elements in the water heater.

Since I was ready for power outages (after all I lived in rural Ohio), I headed for the basement and grabbed the camp coffeemaker. I got it ready (with bottled water) so at least we would have coffee. Denny came into the kitchen and asked what the power company said, so I explained that there was neither phone service nor cell service. I think he was glad I could hand him a cup of coffee!

As we adjusted the appliances to plug them into the generator, we discussed the outages. While I quietly thanked God for living in an area where preparedness was a way of life, Denny ranted and raved about the idiocy that couldn’t keep the utilities running. He plugged his computer into the generator and advised me that the internet was down as well. That was no surprise to me since we didn't have phone service. I suggested he go out and learn what he could while I did chores and made breakfast.

While he was gone, I went to feed the animals. The fan in the feed shed was quiet. The pigs were not. I had to smile at the noses pushed through the fence. The pigs frequently made me smile. Despite the noisome odor, I thought they were cute, and funny. They had such personalities. I loved them from piglet to plate and everyone teased me about it.

The light was off in the chicken coop. During daylight it didn't matter, but if we didn't have power by evening, I needed to have one of the children close up the coop to keep predators away. Still, with five eggs this morning, the chickens were worth protecting.

The horses were agitated. I suspected it was because there was no radio. Denny laughed at me for playing a radio for the horses, but it did seem to keep them calmer. Nellie was my big mustang mare, and she would let me handle her and ride her. Chocolate was another mare we had collected, and was not as friendly as Nellie, but was coming around to me.

As usual, the cats and dogs only cared that I was there to feed them. As I counted noses of the growing beef steer, I talked to the animals about the power outage. The storms last night had been no worse than usual. I noticed their water was low and wondered when the water had stopped. Well, hauling water was work for children, not for Mom!

Returning to the house, I started my routine Saturday breakfast ritual -- fresh eggs scrambled with our own sausage and covered with shredded cheddar cheese, biscuits made from scratch (OK, so I plugged the toaster oven into the generator to bake them), and locally grown honey. I loved Saturday breakfast!

I called the children to the table though Denny had not returned. I went to try to call him, but the silence on the line reminded me of the lack of phone service. The children grumbled into their seats, making me chuckle at the predictable behavior.

Celia was fourteen now, and knew everything. She was too big for cuddles, but not too big to hug now and then. She was a bright girl with an impish streak and a princess personality who was stuck with a tomboy Mom. Poor kid. Entering ninth grade at the local high school, her world revolved around her friends, and the desperate need to belong. This morning, she was complaining about the heat and that fact that her cell was not working.

Donny was only ten. Everything was fun to him and he was ready to try it all. He was a big fifth grader now; he had finished his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts and crossed over to Boy Scouts in late spring. He was fresh from his first year at Boy Scout Summer Camp and wanted more. In many ways, he was a typical country kid, into everything outdoors and seldom serious or ambitious. Still, he was young enough to let Mom tuck him in at night and still gave kisses and cuddles on occasion.

I explained that the power and water were out and we did not even have cell service or internet. As expected, Celia was all about the communications -- what about friends, what about school, what about . . . . Donny thought it was a great adventure and promptly asked if he could go hiking and camping since there wasn't anything else he could do any way.

The excitement faded when I explained they would be hauling water for the animals and helping move all the freezer food into one freezer with me. Groans quieted for grace, and silence reigned as they dragged through the meal, delaying the bucket brigade that would water the calves, the horses, the pigs, and any other chores I had for them.

I loved letting them sleep in on Saturday, at least for a little while. They had to get up so early during the school week to help me feed the critters before they went to school. Even though they were on summer break for a few more days, I had started the school week routine this week to prepare them for the shock of an alarm clock. Sometimes, I went to school, too -- as a substitute teacher. While I loved teaching, I had no desire to do it full time, but subbing was fun. Denny's job as a correctional officer at the local prison and our military retirements made enough for us to live on, so my subbing just made things a little easier.

I had the dogs lick off the plates and stacked them for washing when the water returned. The children headed out for the water detail, and I started stuffing one refrigerator with the contents of two others so everything would be more energy efficient. I grabbed a five gallon bucket and filled it for the pigs as I worked.

Sure enough, the children returned -- hot, sweaty, and grumbling about the chore. I was just glad that we had put an old cracked septic tank in the ground for groundwater seepage. I wouldn't want to drink it, but it would keep the animals going for a while. Despite the grumbling, they helped me finish the refrigerators and do the same to the freezers.

Donny took the bucket to the pigs while Celia cleaned up with a jug of water and a wash-cloth. As she finished, Denny returned, and I met him with a bottle of juice and some leftover eggs that I warmed when I heard the truck.

He was shaking his head. "There is no power, anywhere. I checked the next three nearest towns. I stopped and talked with a few people. No one has cell service; no one has power; no one has water. More importantly, no one knows why. I went to the water people, and they said they hope to have generators running soon, but it may not provide water service to everyone. The folks at the prison are running on generators and ham radio communications. This is not good."

“I also stopped down at Roy’s Gun Shop and he is sitting there guarding the place. I’ll go back later and give him a break. Without an alarm system, he doesn’t want to leave the place unattended.”

Donny came into the room, cranking an emergency radio he had gotten for a recent birthday. "Mom?" he said, "Why can't I get any stations on this thing? Even the weather channel isn't working!" He leaned against his father's chair and Denny took the radio for a few minutes to no avail.

"How about this? We clean out a place in the basement, and run an extension cord to a TV and DVD player and watch a movie down there? At least it would be cool," I said, wiping the sweat from my face with a kitchen towel. I then added the catch -- the children could pick the movie if they could agree on a movie. I should have recognized then that drastic changes were in store when they didn't argue, but quickly found one and set up a place to watch.

Chapter 2

A New Sense of Normal

We made it through the weekend, no church on Sunday. There was still neither power nor water. We were all wondering about Monday, the first day of school.

We decided Sunday was a good day to rearrange some stuff to keep us in the basement. The unrelenting heat meant some escape had to be found. We pulled out some more camp gear and set up tents inside to grant a modicum of privacy. We refilled the empty bathroom jugs from the groundwater so we could at least use the toilets.

Denny went out again to see if he could learn anything. This time he took my little car instead of his big truck, but loaded all the gas cans in case he could find a working station. We had reduced the power load on the generators to one refrigerator and one freezer, but I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to keep them going.

He left for a while and came home late with one piece of information that was incredibly valuable. There was nothing open and no power anywhere. The newspaper office was closed. The churches were closed. Even WalMart was closed! He did, however, find one helpful person. Our local mechanic and his brother owned the gas station across from the auto shop, and the brother had been siphoning his own fuel from the big tanks at the station. He let Denny fill all our gas cans and the car in exchange for boxes of ammunition Denny had taken with him to trade. So, we had about 50 gallons of fuel for our generators. That would last quite a while, but we didn't have a clue as to how long we might need it.

Then Denny took off to help Roy. He came back fairly soon and loaded up all of us to go help secure the gun shop inventory. We loaded up most of the inventory into a semi-truck trailer, and Roy drove it up to his home. His wife and little girl were at the house, and the generators were running full blast. He gave us some of the emergency food supplies for our work, though we insisted it wasn’t needed or wanted. We assured him that when the power came back on we would return to help him put the shop back in order.

On Monday morning, I dropped Denny at the prison and took the children to school. High school opened first, so we went there first. The Superintendent of schools was there with a big piece of poster board and a black marker.

I asked him if we could have the children's books and things from their rooms so we could study at home. He said that I should watch the sign, if they had a set time for everyone to meet, he would post it. As I argued the point, more parents, teachers, students, and staff arrived. Finally, he caved.

"The Principals have the keys. Staff enters first, teachers will go to the rooms to hand out assignments and books, and then students with parents may enter to retrieve what they need. The buildings need to be entered, exited, and locked within one hour!" he announced.

We followed the Principal into the High School, grabbing all Cece's books and things from her rooms and checking with her new teachers about assignments. We piled her things into the car, leaving her to chat with friends while I took Donny to the Middle School for his things. His Scoutmaster was there with more of the boys, including his twins, Buck and Chuck. Their real names were Bernard and Charles, but they had apparently been Buck & Chuck since infancy. I chatted with Mr. Stevens while the boys gathered their things.

Mr. Stevens had served in the military as well, and was a great Scoutmaster to the boys. His dedication to his family, his church, and the troop gave the boys a solid foundation in leadership as well as a fine role model. He was concerned that the power failure was bigger than just our corner of the Midwest, but getting news was nearly impossible. We agreed to try to meet in the picnic shelter at the old schoolhouse for the troop meeting on Thursday. The troop normally met in the old schoolhouse, but we felt we could not count on access.

When we collected Celia, we shared with the other parents that we were meeting for the Scout meeting later that week, and suggested we all try to gather together then. After that, we headed home.

I set the children up at the kitchen table in the basement for "school-time" and insisted they study. When the whining stopped, they opened books and notebooks and settled into working. We took breaks through the day, and I answered more questions than I thought I could. We even dug out the old encyclopedias for information we would normally have sought on the internet.

As the day continued, I was still in awe of the silence. It some ways, when I was outside, it reminded me of the weeks after 9/11 when there was no aircraft flying. Here again, there was nothing with an engine flying anywhere. It was weird.

I was turning off the generator for a while every few hours. The only thing it was running was fridge and freezer, but I wanted to preserve the energy as long as possible. When the generator was off, the quiet was intense. Still, we were adapting. I was, however, getting a bit concerned about laundry. At this point, all I could do was hope we had water and power before it was an urgent situation.

I'm afraid I was not keeping good track of time, and I realized I was going to be late getting Denny when the dogs started barking. As I went to investigate, I saw my husband walking across the lawn. I went to see what was happening, and he explained he had gotten a ride to the bottom of the driveway. He further explained that they were going to start consolidating the prisons if power didn't return shortly. The Prison Warden had been to a meeting in Columbus with all the other wardens. They had determined to implement the civil disaster plan. As of this point, they were using ham radio to communicate, and could find no one with power, nor any reason why the power grid had failed. Through the ham radio system, they had learned that the problem was not just statewide, nor even nationwide, but international.

In many places, there was a lot of looting. People in cities were unprepared to survive in place for any length of time. Denny insisted that we prepare to defend our home and our stockpile. He sat down with the children and explained the gravity of the situation.

All I could do was pray. I thanked God over and over that we were basically healthy, and that my couponing had resulted in such a healthy stockpile for us. What we could not imagine is what our relatives and friends were going to do.

That evening, we gathered all our stockpile items from the shed and the barn, and started rearranging the basement. We had started to finish it the previous winter and the only complete room was the bathroom. That, however, was the most important one!

We went out into the cattle pasture and horse field and pulled in all the 55-gallon drums we had left out there for the animals to play with and set them to collect rain water. Then, we started re-aligning the fences to bring all the animals a bit closer to the house, and set dog runs around the outside of the critter fences, so the dogs could patrol the fence-lines and alert us of any intruders. We moved the big kitchen fridge to the basement as it was more energy-efficient, and moved pots and pans and the big stove down as well. We moved our mattresses into our tents and put away the cots. At his insistence, we continued to let Donny sleep on the camp mat in his sleeping bag. Of course, this didn’t happen in one afternoon or evening, but the children and I worked during the day, and Denny helped every evening.

Little by little, the basement started to look more like home. As the days and weeks passed, the children and I would take things we had collected but did not really need, and move those items upstairs. We moved some furniture downstairs so we could have our clothing and such more at hand. We took blankets and hung them to divide rooms for us and put away the tents (except for Donny's, of course).

I figured out the laundry issue, or anyhow, came up with a "make-work" solution. Denny thought I was crazy at first, but finally did as I asked. I moved a desk into the laundry room and put a 55-gallon drum on it, lying on its side. I had Denny take a spigot and fit it to the bung seal on the drum. Then, I ran a hose from a funnel off the downspout from the gutter into the drum. This filled the drum with water. Once it was full, I then ran the hose to the washing machine off the spigot. By hooking the generator to the washer, turning on the spigot, and cracking the edge of the other bung seal, I had enough water for two loads of wash! It was a lot of hassle, and we then hung the clothes to dry on clotheslines I built with the children. It wasn't the best solution, but it worked.

As a matter of fact, it worked so well, we decided to work a similar solution for showers. As long as we had rain, it would work, but I was concerned about when the rain stopped, so I gathered all the things I could think of that would hold water, and started filling them. I staged them everywhere. I'm sure the whole family thought I had lost my mind with my water obsession, but I felt sure that water was the most critical thing we needed.

One day, I took the truck, the children, several boxes of ammunition, and what money I could find around the house, and headed for the feed store. The store was closed, but the owner lived beside it, so I knocked on her door. After a bit of haggling, I was able to buy more than a ton of cracked corn. I was also able to buy all the dog and cat food she had left. I hoped that there would be normalcy of some kind before I ran out of feed for the animals, or gas for my truck.

Before I returned home, I stopped at the mechanic's place, and he and his brother helped me fill my truck and several gas cans again. I noticed the gas station windows had been covered with boards, and asked about it. They told me of the vandalism that had occurred. I thanked them for their help and headed home with my children.

At home, we found everything quiet, and seemingly in place, but I had a sense of uneasiness and worried just the same. I barricaded the children in the house, loaded my .45, and checked on all the animals. It was a good thing I had, as the chickens and pigs were out of water and it appeared that our feed buckets had been used to haul it away as those were missing also. With a heavy sigh, I realigned the water barrels to collect rain from the animal shelters and left things there. I gathered all the small buckets and took them to the shed by the house to store them.

When Denny came home that night, we ran more barbed wire around the edges of the yard again, now having four strands in place. We cleared a view to where it appeared someone had accessed our place, so we could see it from the house. He set targets on the trees there and fired several rounds from the back porch, making neat groups in the bulls-eye of each target.

"Well, they know we're watching and that you can reach out and touch them," I told him with a sad smile. He just shook his head and went in to clean the gun.

Chapter 3

Communicating

One of the few outings each week was the scout meeting. We attended every Thursday evening. Like most of the community, we brought whatever news we had and learned all we could. Mr. Stevens shared copies of Merit Badge books and encouraged us to learn with our children on all their tasks. After all, children throughout the community were now camping, hiking, farming, and working on survival techniques. The boys thought it a fantastic adventure. Celia and her friends were just happy to see each other once a week.

One of the parents, Mr. Mike Johnson, was a ham radio operator, and he collected information about all the relatives from out of the area. Each week, he had a list of updates from people and for people. Back in my days of teaching routinely, I had been a huge fan of using index cards, and had thousands of them. Now we used them to record people's information and requests, and he worked at getting answers all week.

We were usually one of the first families to arrive, leaving Denny at home to watch the place. I would get the completed cards from Mr. Johnson, and post them on a piece of wood we kept near the edge of the building. Mr. Stevens had asked the trustees for permission to use the building, but they had asked that we keep the bulk of the people outside. We did, however, keep some of our supplies inside. I had tried to get the children to walk to the meetings, but they balked at the distance. I did get them to ride their bikes and I actually rode the horse!

I noticed more people walking and riding bicycles or horses, and we talked a lot about the outages and the survival strategies we all were enacting. I marveled again at the blessings of living in a rural community. Even though we had now been without power or water for three weeks, most of our community had not been violated. Some folks had left the area, hoping to find something elsewhere. Our information told us there wasn't much elsewhere. I was glad we were here.

Sometimes the discussion focused on the money issues. With the banks closed, we wondered about money that had been deposited. Supposedly it was covered by national insurance, but how were we to access it? Also, the first of the month was coming, and most of us had bills to pay. If there was no internet, then our electronic billing would fail. If there was no mail, we could not mail a check. If there were no banks, what good would a check be anyhow?

Most of us had some money around the house, if only in a change jar. Money, however, was somewhat useless when the stores were all closed. Fewer and fewer cars were on the road as more and more people completely ran out of gas. This valuable commodity we cherished for our generator and rare errands. We determined that those errands would be as few and far apart as possible, and we locked our truck and car and gasoline in the barn and tied it off with barbed wire.

Like most people, we were beginning to determine what was really important. While the upstairs of our house looked like a storage shed of valuable junk, the basement now held our most valued possessions -- food, water, family photos, guns and ammunition, tools, and each other. The old board games that my family had teased me about keeping were now precious evening entertainment. We saved movies for Saturdays.

Chapter 4

Thieves

The livestock we managed to keep feeding with half of their normal grain rations and weeds we pulled from various places on the acreage. Even the dogs were starting to look awfully thin as I rationed the dog food to make sure they had enough to last, though I had no idea how long it needed to last. The horses and beef steer were fending fine on pasture, though I felt sure they resented the fact they no longer had the extra treats and feed I usually provided.

The children and I oiled up the old reel mower and Celia and I cut the grass near the house and in the fence channels we had made for the dogs. Donny gathered the grass clippings and gave them to the pigs, who acted like it was candy.

The groundwater tank was still filling every day, and the afternoon rains were keeping us with barrels of water at hand, but I knew that the rain would stop and the cold would come soon enough. One morning, when I went out to chores, there were two chickens missing -- one of which was one of my best layers!

I came in and woke the children, angrily blaming them for failing to close the coop and presuming a fox or raccoon or owl had taken my hens. The children responded with force, indicating that they had closed the coop, with all the chickens inside, and it was not their fault if the door was open. After I calmed down and listened, I went out to investigate. I returned sad and angry. I apologized to my children. There was no way either of them had left that big boot-print by the chicken yard gate. Someone had stolen my birds.

When Denny came home that night, we walked out to check on the birds and figure a solution. We attached a padlock to the hasp on the chicken coop door and locked them up tight at least for nighttime. Letting them out during the day allowed them to pasture on the grass in their yard and meant less feed for me to provide. I was worried about the pigs and calves next. Someone was obviously hungry. Denny told me not to worry; he would handle it.

Most nights, I went to bed first. Denny never seemed to need as much sleep as I did. That night was no different. In the middle of the night however, I heard a gunshot. The dogs were barking, and Denny was not in bed. I grabbed my .45 and my surefire flashlight and went to investigate -- insisting the children stay locked in the bathroom. I found Denny on the back porch.

"Stay inside," he said.

"Why? What's happening?" I whispered.

"Just stay there!" he hissed.

"For the moment." I responded quietly.

I realized he had been standing watch with his ranch rifle and night vision equipment. I wondered at what he had shot. The dogs were barking and growling at something, but he had his flashlight off, so I kept mine dark. We waited in the dark for several minutes, perhaps ten or fifteen.

Finally, Denny came in the house and set down the rifle. I noticed his nine-mill holstered to his side. He said, "If you here a shot, stay back. Don't come looking until daylight." I shuddered as he went out the door.

He really wasn't gone very long, but it seemed like hours as I waited. He said we could go back to bed, but we would need to be up early. I was so tired; I just did as he asked. When we returned to the basement, we let the children out of the bathroom and back to bed. It wasn't much of a safe-room, but the bathroom had the only locking door in the basement.

Early the next morning, Denny and I went out to see the results of the night's activity. A neighbor we had always thought involved in drug activity lay dead on the ground by our chicken coop. Together, we stripped his clothes and burned them, and tossed him into the pig pen. The pigs were happy for the fresh meat. My stomach turned at the thought of what had happened. After Denny went to work, I went back to bed, and let the children sleep the day away.

When Denny came home, I suggested that we take turns keeping watch. Perhaps we should even try a roving patrol. He agreed and took first watch. I went to bed for about four hours, and he woke me. I armed myself with the holstered .45 and the ranch rifle and started walking around the dog path that surrounded our animal fields.

Late at night, it was all quiet and calm, and the stars were glowing. As I walked, I marveled at the stars, thinking of the old days when concert-goers would hold up lighters to show support and solidarity. I wondered what the sky was supporting.

For hours, I walked and hummed a variety of tunes -- hymns, show tunes, classical, etc. I don't know if my humming kept away the bad guys, but there was no disturbance all night. As the sun rose, I went back inside to the smell of fresh coffee. Denny had made it for me, and it was wonderful!

Chapter 5

Celia says, "Will it never end?"

Mom says that every day is a new day, but I'm losing track of them. OMG! There has been no power in, like, forever . . . at least a month. The weather is starting to be a bit less hot, but there is still no power nor running water. I, Celia Catherine Denison, do solemnly swear I will scream myself hoarse if we don't have power and water by Christmas!

Donny thinks it is all a big joke. It's not! I have to admit, Mom's creative streak, military experience, and education, have sure paid off. (Oops, I ended with a preposition, she would be ticked.) I mean, I would never admit it to her, but she is almost making it normal. Let's face it, school sucks, but we are learning everything in the books. I like, really miss my friends. I still get to see them on Thursdays, but we can never be gone all at once. Mom or Dad always stays home. I think they stay up all night and watch, too.

A while back, there was shooting in the middle of the night, and Mom wouldn't let us near the pigpen for a week! When we started back again, she goes with us, and she is ALWAYS carrying a gun. It's freaky. I mean, I'm almost 15 years old and she won't tell me anything!

Now, she has made Donny and me learn to shoot the ranch rifle, use the scope, use the handgun, and use the shotgun. I mean, we shot once in a while before, but now it is part of our schooling. That's just weird.

Every day, we move animals from one pen to another it seems. Mom says it is so they don't over-graze, but I think there is more to it. She is also cooking on the old woodstove. That's really strange. I mean, it was in the barn, ya' know? Dad used to use it to keep the barn a little warm in the winter when he smoked cigars. Now, it is in the basement, and the smoke stack goes out the window. Mom says she is saving the propane for the big stove for special occasions. She even set up a water heater system on the old wood stove so we could have hot water for baths and stuff.

She is TOTALLY OBSESSED about water. She has taken anything and everything that can hold water and filled it. She even has drums marked for water to run out of the washer and tub to use for the toilets. Every day, she takes the horse out and checks on neighbors. It is, like, the ONLY TIME she leaves us alone. It is NEVER the same time two days in a row, and she NEVER leaves the same way.

When she finds someone who is leaving to find folks, she asks for all their buckets and water and stuff. Dad still goes to work at the prison. I don't know why, no one gets paid. He says, "Cece, it's the right thing to do. Even if no one else does the right thing, I will." That's my dad.

Most of the prisoners were moved to other prisons, but they kept open one wing. Staff that wanted to leave the area was told to try to come back when the power comes on again. Dad says we aren't going nowhere (don't tell Mom I used a double negative). I wish we could go somewhere, anywhere has to be better. Well, it's a Thursday, so I need to get ready to go to the meeting.

It used to be a scout meeting, and I guess it sort of still is. Now, it is an everything meeting. Mr. Johnson was going to try to find out about our more distant family this week.

- - - - -

I hate it when Mom cries. She doesn't do it often. Tonight, at the meeting, she heard that her mother had died. We didn't see grandma much, maybe once a year. I mostly remember she took us places and made whatever we wanted. Her dad died, too. I guess they are like really old, and couldn't handle the heat without AC. That really sucks. Mom says she is fine, but she gets all sad.

We did find out her sister was ok, but not great. I guess they are having problems with not having enough supplies. Dad always says Mom is the packrat, but I think they both are. At least, for us, it has been good. The weird thing is, that while we have plenty of food and stuff, we are not allowed to talk about it, or share anything.

A guy who lived down the street abandoned his place. He has a bunch of apple trees coming ripe, and Mom says we are going to go get all the apples we can. She made us pick peaches already, and we have tons of them -- dried, canned, and frozen. Now, it's apples.

Oh, and wood. Since we are using the wood stove, Dad and Donny are always collecting wood and stacking it up on this side of the barn. Dad says we have to be ready for winter, and since we didn't used to heat with wood, we need to get all the weathered wood we can. So, when Mom checks on local folks leaving, she asks about woodpiles as well. Then, we take the little garden trailer and drag it over wherever and load it up and drag it back.

She has moved most of the gas powered stuff out of the barn by the house, and uses it for things she thinks folks might want to steal -- like gas. Her little car is still there and the ute. We aren't allowed to use them, but once in a while, and then as little as possible. She says, "Fuel is a vital commodity, we cannot be frivolous with it." I hate it when she gets all educated sounding. It makes me feel stupid.

Most of my friends are leaving the area. I don't hear from them once they are gone. There is no mail, no phone, no internet. It is awful. Joanie Stevens is now my closest friend. We weren't even really good friends in school, but she lives not too far away, and she is my age, so we make it work now. I guess her family is kind of like mine. They seem to be a little better off than some. Her dad is the scoutmaster, and her brothers are twins and they are friends with Donny. I don't think they are going anywhere either.

Chapter 6

Medical Emergencies

I can't believe my parents are dead. I knew when the power went out it was likely they would capitulate to the heat, but I still can't believe it. They lived in Palmdale, California, out in the desert. The heat there is intense. They had divorced years ago, and both remarried and both had their spouses die since. So, even though they lived in the same town, they lived separate lives. I was worried that without AC they would suffer, but Mr. Johnson finally received word from the Sheriff out there that they were dead.

Part of me is glad they don't have to suffer through this mess. Part of me still can't believe it. I understand that in that part of the country, with all those elderly people, the death count is huge. As I understand it, the death count is huge everywhere.

Around here, most people leave before they starve, so we don't see it much. Some of the elderly are discovered in their homes, dead. The police and sheriff deputies are checking homes and posting notices at the township halls. Since our township hall is the same old schoolhouse where we meet each week, we get the lists.

The kids are being real troopers about everything. I know Cece is bored and frustrated, and I know Donny still thinks it is a game, but they are stepping up mightily. They are doing schoolwork with little complaint. They do the chores with me. They don't even protest much when I lock them up in the house for me to go check on neighbors. Then, they come out with me to collect things from folks who are leaving.

It has been two months now, and the weather is changing. The heat is less intense, and the fall rains are lesser than the daily summer storms we had. I had Denny move the wood stove to the basement and am using it to cook and also to dehydrate foods. I also had the kids make a solar dehydrator, and we dried peaches and made deer jerky. Apples are next.

Each day, the kids and I go over to the hay field for a while. We rotate the tasks: Day one -- cut a strip; Day two -- turn the hay; Day three rake it up and stack it in the big barn for winter. We work together, and even have the dogs and horses pulling the little garden trailer to help.

We haven't had to shoot anymore neighbors. I suppose word got around that someone didn't return from our place. We still patrol at night, but not all night every night.

I feel like I am a visiting nurse sometimes. As I ride around the neighbors, they bring me their wounds, and I do what I can with what they have. I can't take my own supplies for fear that I won't have them if my children were to need them. I also worry about what will happen when I run out of my own pills. I have high blood pressure, and take pills for it. I started taking them every other day to make them last, and all this work is getting me in better shape than I have been in years. That is bound to help. An awful lot of folks, I can't help, though, and I hate that.

I was able to help one neighbor though, and I think they will be moving up with us. Randy and his wife Lily have one little boy, and she was pregnant when the outage occurred. So, I was checking on them once in a while. Randy has helped around our place a lot, and we trust him. I don't know Lily well, but she seems quite sweet if a bit naive. Anyhow, I know she has family in the area. Apparently, her parents went to help someone else, and were killed in an accident of some kind. It was related to a girl her brother was dating, but I don't know the details.

What I do know is she was really upset when I arrived one day. He husband was out hunting, and their son Josh was taking a nap. As I talked with her for a while, she was pacing the floor and crying. I tried to calm her, but it wasn't working. So, I decided to leave and she went to walk me outside. As we stepped off the porch, she gave a gasp, and WHOOSH! her water broke.

I wasn't going anywhere but back inside with her. She had been so distraught about the news of her parents she hadn't noticed when the contractions began. As they were less than two minutes apart now, they had apparently been going on for some time. She talked about the birth of her son, and how short her labor had been. I excused myself for getting personal, but checked her progress. Sure enough, she was crowning. Within the hour, a new little girl had made her appearance.

Lily said they had planned to name her Autumn because of her being born then, and they thought it pretty, but gave her a middle name of Katy after me! I didn't bother to explain that my name was spelled Catie, as I had been born in the sixties during a phase of strange spellings, but thanked her for the honor.

As I headed home, I thanked the Lord for the days long ago when I had taken a course for Emergency Medical Technician. Though I didn't work the program long, I remembered the skills, and certainly was glad I had them now. I saw Randy dragging a deer out of a nearby field and told him to hurry home to his new daughter!

That night, as I was telling Denny about my big event, we heard a whistle on the driveway. We had posted a notice to call or whistle a warning, and the few visitors we had respected the notice. It was Randy. He wanted to know if we would consider letting him, his wife, and their two children move up into an old travel trailer we had on the property. He said he didn't like having her all alone there and he would help us in exchange for the use of the trailer. Denny said we would talk about it and get back to him.

Denny's concern was if we were starting something. We could not support a bunch of others on our own stockpile. However, it would be really nice to have another adult around during the day, so I wouldn't worry about the kids being alone while I made my rounds. We agreed to think about it independently for a few days and then talk again.

That had been our method for big decisions for years. We would discuss it together, think about it separately, discuss it again, and then decide. Most of the time, Denny would go along with whatever I wanted, but when he felt strongly about something, he would stand firm, and I would defer to him. It might not work for every couple, but it worked for us.

By the next weekend, they were moving into the old travel trailer. Cece enjoyed babysitting during the move, and Donny was able to help set up the trailer for living. The guys moved it to a more level place, and put a tarp over it providing more shelter. Randy moved his wife and children into it, and set up a wood stove outside nearby.

In what I thought was a stroke of genius, he put a diverter on a water tank over the stove and ran it to some piping that he put through the furnace ducts on the trailer. His idea was that when is became cold, he could run the stove and the hot water going through the furnace ducts would keep the trailer warm. With our permission, he also planned on building a shell over the trailer by winter so that there would be more insulation in it.

Not all the emergency medical situations ended as positively as Lily's. There was a terrible fire near the old schoolhouse, and those family members that managed to escape were badly burned. It happened on a Thursday, and we were headed to the scout meeting when we saw the smoke. We went to do what we could, but it was a terrible sight. Like many of us, this family was trying to cook with wood. They, however, had just been burning wood in the oven of the regular stove, and the kitchen lit on fire. We saw a woman run screaming from the house, carrying a baby. Her hair and clothing were ablaze and we ran to help.

I handed the baby off to Cece and tried to get the woman to "stop, drop, and roll" but she headed back into the house. Donny and I tackled her and rolled her on the ground to put out the flames as she screamed, "My baby! My baby!"

We tried to explain that the baby was okay, when she managed to say, "No, my OTHER baby!" There was nothing we could do. The house was collapsing on itself. Donny went to look around the back and started screaming.

I went running for him, to find him with two other children. They were both black with soot, and unconscious. One was, perhaps, three years old. The other looked about eight or nine. The older one held the younger in his arms as if he had climbed out a window with him and collapsed. As I sent Donny for our canteen and first aid kit, I heard a shriek from Cece.

Hollering to Donny to gently wash the faces of the boys, I ran back to the front of the house. "Mama! She's not breathing!" I took the baby, and peeled back the blanket. The fuzzy blanket had seared to her burned skin, and the skin came off with it like a well cooked chicken. I checked for a pulse, and finding none, wrapped the baby again and sat the bundle next to a tree. I sent Celia to help her brother and went to check the woman.

Now she was unconscious, herself. She was, however, breathing, though raggedly. Her pulse was rapid and thready. I pulled my horse blanket off my Nellie and laid it over the woman, propping on her side as I headed to check on the boys in the back. The older boy was conscious and breathing hoarsely, but the younger one was barely breathing at all. I was able to pick up the little one and Celia and Donny helped the older boy around front.

As the older boy struggled with his breath, he told about the overwhelming smoke and how the fire had swept through the house. He was near the back of the house, and when he realized what was happening, his brother was already out cold. So, he had picked up the little one and climbed out the window. He must have passed out shortly thereafter as they hadn't gotten far away from the house.

We did what we could, treating his burns -- blessedly mild, though painful, and sat watching and hoping for the little boy and his mother to come to again. Then the father came home.

He went from alarm to anger to concern to anger to alarm as quickly as I could explain what had happened. He ranted and raved at the poor boy for having not saved his mother and baby sister as well as his brother. While he was screaming, I noticed the little boy relaxing, and checked again. He was slipping away before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do.

As I tried to distract the man from his rant to his child, he stopped, mid-sentence, and held the little boy, crying as he died. After the boy passed, he went back to raving at the older boy, who stood quietly and took the abuse. I realized that we were also losing his wife, and intervened again. He started to redirect his anger toward me, when he realized what I was saying, and he went to hold her.

After she died, he looked at the boy and said, "You killed my family." Then, taking a sidearm from a holster, he shot himself in the head in front of the older boy, me, my children and some others who had stopped to help or watch.

I spoke to the boy, and learned his name was David, and it was his mother and stepdad with whom he had lived. His own father he was unsure of -- name, address, anything. He did have an Uncle who lived nearby. He was actually eleven, soon to be twelve, but was small for his age.

It had seemed like hours had passed, but the fading sunlight said the weekly meeting would still be in progress. So, we moved the dead together under a tree. A neighbor went and retrieved a blanket to cover them, said he would stay with them, and we took the boy on to the meeting with us.

The boy was suffering from minor burns and smoke inhalation, but the psychological pain had to be worse than anything we could see on his body. It turned out that his uncle was actually his mother's uncle, and that it was Mr. Johnson, the man who was so helpful with the ham radio. He took David home with him that night, and assured me that he would deal with the bodies as well.

My children were particularly quiet for weeks after that, and excessively conscientious about our wood stove. David became a friend of Donny's and the boys started hiking and fishing together as Mr. Johnson only lived one hill away. I would take Donny over to spend a day and then collect him on my way home.

David was a quiet child. I suspect the yelling we had witnessed had not been the first verbal abuse he had suffered at the hands of his stepfather. While I hoped the abuse had been verbal only, I knew there were high risks of physical and sexual abuse as well.

While I worried and prayed about it, mostly I was just glad he had been saved and was safe with Mr. Johnson now. It was also good for Donny to have a friend.

Chapter 7

Friendship

In addition to whatever emotional issues he had, it turned out David had some learning disabilities as well. So, when I would take Donny over, the boys would work on schoolwork together. David should have been a year ahead of Donny, but working together on the same things seemed to help them both.

Mr. Johnson had not really been prepared for taking in a young boy. His own son, Ryan, was seventeen, and expected to graduate high school and join the military in the next year. He was an Eagle Scout, and the Senior Patrol Leader of the Troop. He would turn eighteen in the spring, and was looking forward to becoming an Assistant Scoutmaster.

Mr. Johnson also had a daughter, but she was 22, and married and had moved out of the area. His wife had died a few years back, and he and Ryan had done well together. David changed things.

We ended up spending more and more time with the Johnson family. Denny didn't always like the way I would help and support other families. I think he thought I was neglecting my own, but I needed to help. For me, it was more than being social, it was a calling.

The Johnson's were able to provide for themselves, so my help was more of the "mothering" variety. We let Donny and David camp in our backyard, and Denny and Mike Johnson took the boys hunting a few times. I would draft Ryan for help with the hay, the apples, or whatever the task of the day. We slaughtered a hog and cured the meat -- a new experience for us all!

Celia thought that Ryan was very cute, and was acting goofy around him. I had to sit her down and talk about responsibility and relationships. She backed off, but then Ryan came and asked me about dating her! I told him that she was too young to date, and while they could see each other at our house or at the weekly meetings, they were not to be alone.

One of my friends from before the outage caught up with me at the meeting one week. Oh, how I had missed having Juliann in my daily life. She was a nurse, and I was wondering about her family. She had one of her sons grown and gone in the military, and a younger son still at home. Her husband, it turned out, had died one night in his sleep. While she was quite resourceful, there was more violence where she lived and she wanted to know if there was any place nearer us available.

Randy knew of a few house trailers that people had left, and that were therefore available. Juliann was uncomfortable with just taking someone's home, so we went looking. Mike Johnson found someone preparing to leave who lived in the hollow between our two hills. So, we were able to get her a home in a safe location nearby for the cost of some food, fuel, and first aid gear. As Juliann had been the one to teach me about coupons and stockpiles, I knew she was well prepared. We used some of our precious gasoline and went to her house and cleared her stockpile and personal things into our truck and moved her and her son, Isaac, across the street!

It was shaping up to be quite a neighborhood. We worked together to isolate our section of the world. We had Mike Johnson on the hill across from us. Juliann lived in the hollow between us, and Randy with his family at the edge of our hill behind us. We made a decision that stockpiles were sacrosanct. No one was to steal, take, borrow, or even ask for something from another's. However, there was always the option to barter. Mike and Ryan were great hunters, and were teaching David and Donny as well. Randy was fabulous at animal care and did not mind cleaning the kills. Juliann and I had the best stockpiles and my medical knowledge was second only to hers. Lily was a hard worker, and always willing to help wherever needed.

Lily and Cece were becoming fast friends, and Cece would watch the little ones whenever Lily had tasks to do. We set out a cold frame garden facing south near Lily's place, and planted a few things to prolong the season. So, for at least another month, we would have lettuce, peas, carrots, broccoli, brussells sprouts, cabbage, and herbs. Also, she prepared for her spring garden and planted garlic to root well over the winter.

I worked with Juliann to put together a kitchen greenhouse for herbs and such. She had an extensive collection of essential oils and natural medicines, but we wanted to be able to stay healthy as possible as naturally as possible.

Having Juliann nearby was a fabulous bonus for me. She was my friend, my prayer partner, and a wonderful nurse. We started meeting routinely for prayer and tea. Those times together were true blessings for me.

Chapter 8

Discipline

Of course, there were trials and frustrations as well. Once, when Celia was babysitting for Lily, Lily returned to find Celia and Ryan cuddling on the couch in strict violation of the family rules. Mike and Denny and I sat down with them and went over the rules again, explaining that we understood the temptations and frustrations, but that this was not acceptable. Cece was grounded to supervision at all times, which galled her no end. Ryan was to stay on his own side of the street for a while.

I thought that was an appropriate discipline for their crime, but apparently, others did not. Donny, in particular, was really angry. He started whining and complaining constantly about how Celia always got this, and never had to deal with that. I was having a hard time dealing with him, and David seemed to be provoking things. I would catch Donny and David griping together about Celia. I finally had to ground Donny from David for a while as well.

Separating Donny and David didn’t help. The bickering progressed between Donny and Celia. Every single time I tasked the two of them with something; there was a dispute about who had to do more. Celia would whine about having to do all the work and having no friends. Donny would grumble and moan about having to do all the work and being restricted from his friend. They would start arguing about who was more miserable.

One day, I came out to hear them screaming that they hated each other. Celia even said those hateful words, “I wish you’d never been born!” I tried to explain that all of us feel that we all do all the work, but it didn’t seem to help.

Donny decided he didn't need to follow rules for a while after that. It took nearly a month of continuous challenges and Denny’s daily intervention before the boy seemed to understand that there were still privileges in these difficult times. After a few weeks of no Saturday movies, no popcorn, and extra chores, he seemed to decide that behavior was easier than misbehavior and things returned to “normal.”

I had finally allowed him to return to David’s on occasion. They were again permitted to travel the well worn path between us, and even to camp out in either our yard or theirs if we all knew where they were. These were special treats; we parents used them to help the children have a little fun if school and chores were going well.

One day, however, Donny headed off to David’s for the day. The day passed quietly. When Denny came home, that evening and Donny wasn't back, Denny took Nellie to go get him, presuming the boys had just lost track of time.

I heard hooves pounding and found Denny riding furiously back into the yard not twenty minutes later. "He's not there!" he shouted.

Checking with Mike, we learned of the boys’ deception. They had each told their parents they were headed to the other's house, and they snuck off on a "great adventure." I vacillated between furious, terrified, and confident. I was furious that in these dangerous days these boys would pull such a stunt. They didn't even leave a note! I was terrified that one or both had been hurt, and there was no way for us to know.

Still, I was confident that they would be okay. They HAD to be okay. After all, they were scouts! They both were tough kids. They knew how to survive. Darkness was falling, and the worried mom took over as I sank to my knees by my bed in prayer for protection for the boys.

Through one night and into the next, we searched for the boys. We called; we whistled; we hollered; we shot three times (a signal of distress that everyone knew meant come home now). Nothing. The second day passed into nightfall and a third began.

It seemed like forever as each day dragged hour by hour. Somehow, Cece and I managed to get the chores done. I had been elected to stay at our house and wait in case they returned. Juliann’s house was close enough to Mike’s that it made sense for her to stay and keep an eye on his place. Celia was watching Lily’s babies, and everyone else was out in pairs, looking for the boys.

I could not eat. I could not sleep. I could only pace the floor and pray, and pray, and pray, and pray. I knew Juliann was praying also. Ryan had gone and gotten Mr. Stevens, and his family was searching as well.

Linda Stevens and her daughter, Joanie came to help. Ryan dropped off a haunch of deer. They made a huge pot of venison and beans, and as searchers would come through, they would have a bowlful. The girls would do dishes.

One hour at a time, we got through the days. On the second day, Linda made me take a bath and washed my hair. I must admit, I felt a bit more positive after that, but the second night passed, and there was still no sign of them.

Chapter 9

Found!

The third day began with an overcast sky promising rain later. I had to hope that was not a foul omen. The ominous sky loomed into my spirit. Nothing anyone could say would calm me. My arthritis was hurting fiercely with the changing of air pressure that was a harbinger of a coming storm.

My family frequently joked about Mom’s hip as a weather forecaster. I had injured it in the military, and now knew whenever the rain was coming. Today, the ache in my hip was not as bad as the ache in my heart. The pain was giving way to thinking of all the bad things that could happen when I heard Celia and Joanie talking. Celia was telling her friend about the fights she and her brother had and how they hadn’t really stopped when his behavior seemed to improve, they just went into hiding. She felt guilty that she had told her little brother she wished he had never been born.

Her sorrow was intense enough to get through my own hurt. I went from lost in the gloom to wanting to protect my little girl. As she cried, I held her and told her how she was really okay, and not to blame herself. Reassuring her that Donny would be okay led me to comfort myself. We calmed down and were trying to concentrate on helping with chores.

I heard Ryan's whistle and went running to meet him. He was carrying a dirty and disheveled Donny. As we headed to the basement, I asked about David. He told me David was in better shape than Donny. I started to peel off the dirty and realized it was bloody as well. I also realized that he was not asleep but unconscious.

Somehow, I managed to put my mom-sense aside and my medical instincts came forward. I sent Ryan for Juliann, who was on her way, having checked on David already. I then started a head to toe exam on my child. There was an obvious goose egg on his forehead. Scrapes riddled his face and shoulders. There was a bad cut down his left arm. It was deep and still oozing -- pale blood and pus seeping into the torn shirt tied around it. The forearm was broken, and his lower left leg also seemed to be broken.

Linda was bringing hot water and rags, and we started cleaning the wounds. I was glad Donny was unconscious, but hoped it was not a serious closed head injury. We worked on the bleeding arm first.

Juliann came at some point and Linda headed home with Joanie. Between the grime, the blood, and the pus, we went through several towels and sheets before we felt the wound to be clean. Then, we flushed it with peroxide and started stitching. All down the outside of his bicep we stitched, and found other places requiring a stitch or two as well. We pulled the arm straight and set it carefully -- immobilizing the wrist as well as the elbow.

Though he had not moved, his eyes were still reactive to light and equal; there was no blood in his ears, though he had obviously had a bloody nose -- also broken. I set Cece to cleaning his face and putting the tiniest of water drops in his mouth one at a time. He was so dehydrated, but if he had a concussion (highly likely), he should not eat. We cheered when we saw him swallow reflexively.

While Cece worked on cleaning his face and hair, Juliann and I set his leg. We felt the break, checked the joints above and below, then pulled it straight. We splinted it thoroughly from above the knee through his foot, and dressed him lightly, placing him on his cot. When we finished that, we set his nose.

I had penicillin in the fridge for the farm animals, and we decided he needed it, so we treated him, using the same scale as a goat. He probably wouldn't appreciate the comparison, but it was the best we could do. We left Cece sitting by him and went to clean up the mess, finding Ryan had already done so. Then, he and Juliann headed over to try to learn the whole story.

The boys had thought it would be a great adventure. The only planned to camp for one night. It was going to be survival style -- no tent, no sleeping bag, no tarp, just them and the woods. They had found a place on our property in one of the hollows away from us all. A tree had fallen and made part of a shelter for them, and they had taken small limbs to fill holes, and pine needles to line the ground.

Once they were set up with a shelter, they gathered some apples for food. They found a spring with runoff and had some water. They felt like great wilderness explorers.

Other than being bored, the first night was not a problem. They had carried no flashlight, and discovered just how dark the night is without anyone around. They were far enough away that they could not hear our calls. They did hear the gunshots, but didn't think it could be for them.

The next morning, they scrounged some more food, and then realized they were bored and started playing. They were just being boys, goofing off and wrestling. The big tree shifted and fell, pinning Donny to the ground.

David cried as he told how he tried to lift the tree -- several thousand pounds of tree by the size he described. He could see Donny bleeding, and managed to crawl over to the arm and tie his own shirt around it in an effort to stop the bleeding. Donny, however, didn't wake up even then.

David thought his friend was dead or dying, but didn't want to leave. He tried to call for help, but no one could hear him. He would walk as far as he could without losing sight of the tree, but was afraid that he would get lost if he went too far. Mostly, he sat and talked to Donny, waiting for help to come. That second night must have been as long for him as those first nights after his family had died.

Finally, he had heard a voice. His Uncle Mike was calling! His own voice was weak and cracked, but he managed a weak whistle and hit sticks together to make noise.

Mike and Ryan had found the boys, and dug out under the tree to pull Donny free of the weight that had him pinned. Crossing our property, Ryan had brought Donny home while Mike took David for a quick check at Juliann's and then home for a bath. Other than exposure and dehydration, David was fine. Juliann had headed straight for us.

We watched Donny carefully. One of us sat at his bedside almost all the time. I was thrilled the first time we discovered that his kidneys worked. We switched from ice chips to a cooled chicken broth/egg drop soup. One of us would carefully place a half cc of soup in his mouth using a syringe, and watch to make sure he swallowed.

Though his eyes were equal and reactive, and he was breathing and swallowing, he did not wake. Cece and I peeled and pared apples at his bedside. We read out loud to him -- his schoolwork, her schoolwork, novels, the Bible, etc.

Each day, we moved the limbs that were not immobilized. We rubbed his muscles and his belly. We lifted him to different angles in the bed, and rolled him to different sides. Juliann came over each day to check on him, but there was nothing to do for him other than what we were doing.

A week passed, and his arm wound had healed well. We removed the small sutures at that point. We decided to leave the sutures on the big wound for a few more days. One our greatest blessings was that he had never become feverish. I had been crushing antibiotics into his fluid intake to try to keep infection away. At ten days, I stopped.

Juliann's son, Isaac, had taken to making homeopathic aids, and was providing me with herbal remedies to promote Donny's healing. Every few days he would bring something -- a poultice for this wound, a tincture for that one. This to drink or that to breathe in, whatever it was, it seemed to be working. Isaac was a quiet giant of a boy. Only fifteen, but well over six feet tall and, while not fat, he was big. His quiet presence would fill a room as he brought his gifts and stopped to pray over my child.

Isaac was sitting with him when Donny finally opened his eyes. Celia and I were packing up apples that had dried in our solar dehydrator. We generally tried to get chores done when someone else was there to sit with Donny. It helped.

She saw Isaac come out the basement door and wave. "Mom, check it out," she said, nodding toward the young man who filled our basement doorway.

I turned and Isaac waved me toward him. As I came to the basement, I heard a weak voice say, "Mommy?"

I felt the tears rush to my eyes as I rushed to my boy. I hugged him and kissed him, and realized I was probably embarrassing him, and didn't really care.

He wanted to get up right away, to go to the bathroom. I asked Isaac to carry him. The exertion was enough to put him back to bed -- in linens we changed while he was out of the bed. This time, though, instead of the wan, shallow, lifeless body, he lay in a restful sleep. His deep breaths turned to quiet snores, and brought a smile to my face, and tears to my eyes again. I could hardly wait for Denny to come home.

That night was a celebration for us. Donny was awake. He was a long way from healthy, but he was home, and he was awake.

Chapter 10

A Change in the Weather

September turned to October, and the days were definitely getting shorter. The nights were finally cool and even days were no longer hot. The rains changed from daily to occasional and from the even drizzle to a day-long toad-choker.

We kept Donny in bed for nearly a month, and scrounged crutches for him after that. We had to modify a crutch to support his broken arm, but it seemed to work. Finally, he was on his feet. He couldn’t move very fast at first, but he caught on quickly.

We were also keeping him busy with schoolwork. Several days each week, David would come over to the house and the boys would do schoolwork together. Celia would ride with her father toward work, and he would drop her at Joanie Stevens’ house a couple days each week, and the girls would work together as well.

Linda had been a schoolteacher of younger students, but she kept the girls on task. Between them and her twins, I knew she was busy, so I also encouraged Celia to help with chores while she was there.

I had the men digging deep holes for water supplies. We would put 55 gallon drums in them and run a hose from the barn gutters. We covered them in hay and tarps, and every time it rained, we moved the hose until all the barrels were full. I had used all the 55-gallon barrels I could find, and would scour the area for more on days I felt I could get away from the house. Some days, I would have Lily bring her children to my house for a movie with Donny, just so I could get some alone time.

Autumn had always been my favorite season. When I was little, I loved school. While many kids hated the fall return to studies, but enjoyed the social aspect of school, I was the opposite. Never a truly social child, I would read voraciously. My parents would joke about me starving for knowledge. Where I grew up, fall wasn’t when leaves would fall, but when the fog (what we called June gloom) would rise. Finally, mornings were clear again. The heat would fade, and the clean scent of the ocean would blow across the streets as we walked to school.

Here in Ohio, there was even more reason to love autumn. The air was crisp and clear, and the leaves would change color and fall to the ground. The scents of the moisture in the earth were deeper than the wetness of summer, and the colors were richer.

As I made my wanderings to check on folks and look for things, I would enjoy the seasonal change. Deer and turkey were everywhere, even though no one worried about hunting season anymore. Like most families, we would hunt as we needed to, and just not for sport. I loved watching the wildlife.

The weather factor wasn’t just about the temperature. The days were definitely getting shorter, too. For me, that was an issue. I don’t know if it was “seasonal affected disorder” or just being a California girl, but I didn’t like long nights and short days.

There was brightness in watching my little boy get better, though. We celebrated each milestone in our little group. Since we spent so much time with Mike Johnson, and he always went to the weekly meeting, we didn’t go each week anymore. I realized how insular we were, but I was okay with that.

Denny came home one day and announced that the last of the prisoners would be leaving at the end of that week. Since he had worked loyally through the outage, he was anticipated to return when the power did. He was even offered a transfer to a prison up north where all the prisoners had been shipped. We, however, weren’t going anywhere.

For us, this meant that Denny would be home all the time, which was good, but had its own challenges. We had a routine set. His steadfast presence would change our routine.

It was lovely to have him home. It did, however, change things. Denny was a quiet man, but an industrious one. He now took charge of our little routine. Each evening, after dinner, he and the rest of the men would get together and plan for the next day. Then, the next morning, they would work on something.

Denny had decided that winter was going to be harsh and we needed to be better prepared. He was stockpiling cordwood. He, Randy, Mike, Ryan, David, and Isaac would go to peoples vacant places and take firewood, leaving notes for the people to tell them we owed them for it.

Each day, the pile of wood near the barn grew larger and larger. They started bringing back rotten garden growth for the pigs and grain for the animals, and hay.

Each week, Mike Johnson checked at the mechanics’ place, and when those families got ready to leave the area, our men gathered what they could to buy gasoline. We had hundreds of gallons now, and ran only the refrigerator and freezer and occasional computer for a movie.

Juliann was stockpiling all the foodstuffs and medicinals she could find. I was keeping track of food and medicines at our house. All baby supplies went to Lily’s house. We worked together to make sure we had enough for all of us.

Then, we planned a Thanksgiving Day celebration.

Chapter 11

Being Thankful

It had been a tough fall, but there are so many things for which we could be thankful. To celebrate Thanksgiving, we planned a royal feast and invited our friends to join us. We had unbound Donny from his splints, and he was back to his old self again in many ways, though he was more reflective than he had been. Celia and he seemed to get along better as well. Each of us had reason to be thankful! As we sat around the table together and ate a fantastic meal, we each told of our reasons for thankfulness.

Denny – I am so thankful that my son is alive and well. My family is healthy. My daughter is strong and lovely. My wonderful, intelligent wife has held everything together. Oh, and the turkey Ryan shot is delicious!

Celia – I am thankful that we have all made it so far. I am also thankful that Mom can still make pumpkin pie!

Donny – I am so thankful to be here. I am alive. I am finally out of bed and on my feet. David is a great friend. I would never have thought we could have the whole meal with all the trimmings and no power. We even have our family’s traditional sweet roles.

Juliann – I am so thankful to be a part of this group. We are alive and content. We have enough. This has to be the best turkey stuffing ever!

Isaac – I am so thankful that there is enough – enough meds, enough food, and enough friends. I am thankful that we serve an awesome God who will watch over us and keep us. And thank you for keeping such great food going.

Mike – I am so thankful to have David and Ryan in my life, and all of you. And these are the most wonderful mashed potatoes!

Ryan – I am so thankful that Dad and David are my family. I am so thankful that Donny and Celia and all of you are in our lives. And great food!

David – I am so thankful that Uncle Mike and Ryan took me in and gave me a home. I miss my Mom and my little sis and bro, but I know they are with Jesus, and I feel good about that. And these are the best deviled eggs ever.

Randy – I am so thankful that you guys let us move up here, and that we all feel good. I am thankful for my new baby girl, and my beautiful wife, and my healthy son. And for teaching Lily to cook!

Lily – I am so thankful that we have a home, and food, and health, and each other! And a sense of humor.

Me, Cat Dennison – I am so thankful for all of you. You are the best friends anyone could have. That said, let’s go! We have that gigantic bonfire waiting!

We left the dishes soaking and headed out to the middle of the field. Our field had been emptied of the hay, and we had piled all the bits and pieces of scrap firewood into a huge pile. Onto that pile, a little wick of hay had been carefully crafted. Against that wick, a lit match was applied, and the whole pile started to burn.

It was a beautiful sight. The flames reached up and the heat radiated. Juliann and I joked about keeping the ashes to make soap, and everyone laughed. It was certainly not what we would have joked about a year before.

We sang songs and told stories of events in our lives before the outage, and since. David and Donny led some of the others in a few skits. I had noticed at dinner that Celia had seated herself between Isaac and Ryan, and noticed at campfire that she had done it again.

Denny was deep in discussion with Mike and Randy, plotting something that would make all of us have sore muscles, I was sure. Lily was cuddling her baby while her son slept against her. My family was content and so was I.

We sat by the fire as the flames died and the ashes glowed, and our community drifted apart to individual homes. Donny and David wanted to stay by the fire all night. We denied them the opportunity without discussion. Mike, Ryan, and David left for home. Randy and Lily took their babies home.

Juliann and I were chatting, but we realized that Isaac was nowhere to be seen. Then we realized that Celia was nowhere to be seen also. Then, we started looking. Flashlights came out and we lit up the area. We found them around a corner behind a tree in the grass. They were only partially undressed, but we couldn’t be sure if the clothes were coming off or going on again. What we did know was they were caught doing something they knew we wouldn’t approve.

Because it was so late, and we were so angry and so tired, Juliann and Isaac went home and we sent Celia to bed. Denny and I talked about what to do, and we were completely at a loss. I prayed, and I prayed, and I prayed. Finally, I held onto my husband and cried.

As I snuggled into my warm bed that night, I decided we needed to make more permanent arrangements as far as rooms were concerned. Apparently, we also need to find a way to communicate with Cece. Mostly, I was thankful that we had built the basement in the first place.

Chapter 12

Now what?

The next morning, I woke up early, strapped on my handgun, grabbed a dog, and headed out for a walk. I needed this time. I needed the early sunshine rising over the trees. I needed the peace and quiet of our walk. As we walked, snow started to fall, covering all the debris of our work with its gentle white coat. It was cold enough to stick, even though it was our first real snow that year. .

The thick whiteness led me to return to the house fairly quickly. I did get the animals fed while I was outside. I also noted that the men had implemented a plan I had for years – solar water troughs. We had insulated the troughs and built a clear panel on the southern side, and built covers with a hole for the animal access. I felt sure that it would work beautifully.

By the time I returned to the house, there was a “powdered sugar” coating across the yard. I was in a much better state of mind, having prayed and exerted myself a bit. I entered the basement to the lovely smell of coffee, and met up with Denny over coffee as we prepared ourselves to address our daughter.

We sat with her at the table, leaving Donny asleep for a while. She was very defensive, but we just let her talk. Finally, she wound down (I think Denny thought she would shear a pin), and we learned what we wanted to know.

Since Isaac had been coming over to help Donny through his injuries, he and Celia had been spending time together. Every day, they would sit and chat. Isaac would share his knowledge of natural healing methods. Celia would drink in his knowledge, and his quiet strength.

While I would work with Donny, they were taking walks, and getting physical. I hadn’t noticed because I was so wrapped up in Donny’s health.

-----------------------

NO SCHOOL UNTIL POWER RESUMES

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download