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Post by sniper69 on Feb 14, 2024 21:22:59 GMT -6
Oh a tasty MOAR-sel indeed! pbbrown0 - thank you for that lovely treat. Only problem I see with the last two chapters is that I wish it was 40 more! I hope you and your bride had a lovely Valentine's day, and I'm sure I can speak for everyone that reads your writings, that we will gladly devour more as it is offered. In other words, thank you sir for the chapters.
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Post by feralferret on Feb 15, 2024 6:01:34 GMT -6
Yes indeed, thank you, pbbrown0!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Feb 18, 2024 20:53:01 GMT -6
Post # 86 Peach Cobbler
Harry was quiet for a moment looking intently at Patty and Gerry. “It's Gerry, isn't it? And Patty? … Gerry, you aren't from Texas. You're from somewhere in this area, aren't you? Patty I haven't heard you say anything yet, but you don't strike me as the wall flower type. I also noticed that you offered your phone to Jenny? In my position it is often helpful to understand who I am talking with. It helps me to put a context around what they are saying.” Harry was about to ask about the phone, but Patty responded before he formulated his next question.
“I guess I have an unfair advantage then.” Patty replied. “The legend may be fading, but some of the old timers in Fox County still remember your playing against our High School years ago. When they start talking about you, they eventually get around to your success in business here as proof that you had a head for the game as well as having your height advantage.”
“You almost make it sound like I'm an ancient relic.” Harry chuckled. “I suppose some young people might think I am old, but I don't feel that old, yet.”
Patty chuckled, too. “Well in all fairness I had a mental image of you as a really tall High School basketball player that was now dressed up in a business suit. So, the legends were kind of timeless rather than making you out to be over the hill.”
“Okay, so both of you are from around here, but some of your group clearly are not. I'm not going to ask, and I guess I shouldn't try not to speculate about the phone thing, but, Gerry, I am interested in where you are with raising cattle. One of the early keys to my business was that I was able to connect local farmers with small operations to more grocery stores wanting to buy locally. This drought has put a strain on that, and I am uneasy about my sources from larger operations. Let's set that aside for the moment, though. Please, tell me more about where Linda was coming from when she warned me about trouble that is coming.”
“How well do you know the Bible, Harry?” Gerry asked in non-challenging way.
“I'm not sure how to answer that. What exactly are you wanting to know?” Harry answered cautiously.
“That's a fair question.” Gerry nodded his head. “I'm trying to understand who I am talking to. I don't want to talk you in terms that you don't understand, but I sure don't want to sound like I'm talking down to you. Some people have formed opinions about it primarily based on what others have told them, some have read bits and pieces, some have read through it front to back, but they were pushing to get through so they could say that they had done that, and some people have studied it … to varying degrees. Tell me something that will help me understand where you are both in knowledge and attitude, if you don't mind.”
Harry paused but not as long as before. “I suppose I was really asking for some of the information you all seem to have from current sources about what is about to happen, but I also see that you are convinced that there are connections between those happenings and things you see in the Bible. Honestly, I have read bits and pieces, mostly when someone was pointing out various verses that they wanted to use to make a particular point. I still have a sense, or maybe it is more an intuitive feeling that there is some very old wisdom in it. Does that help you to size me up for a pitch?” Harry seemed good natured, but he carried a bit of cautious skepticism in what he was saying.
Gerry glanced at Patty and then proceeded. “Harry a few in our group had made a serious commitment to personally study the Bible. Then there were a couple of others who came to a logical philosophical decision that the Bible was most likely the best source or tool for learning how to separate truth from fiction with all the biases surrounding us and all the filtering of what is being said and argued all around us. Some of us were relying on digging hard for the truth in what is going on around us until they found out that there are plans afoot to eliminate all currency and to replace it with digital records. That little piece of news that was being kept in a hidden inside pocket, so to speak, was disturbing because of the potential for unknown persons with an agenda to arbitrarily hack into a persons resources. The discussions about that prompted one of the Bible students to show a convincing argument that this very scenario was written down as a warning nearly two thousand years ago in the Revelation, or the last book of the Bible. Long story short, when they looked at it, even with a bit of skepticism, it hit the ones who didn't consider themselves to be Bible students like a huge wake up call. That opened their eyes to let some light in about a lot of other things the Bible was warning about.”
“Okay wait a minute.” Harry interrupted. “You are talking now about 'they'. What about you two? Where are you regarding this perspective?”
Again Gerry looked at Patty who nodded back at him. “Patty and I met the rest of them shortly after they had that eye opener, and we also became convinced of the same basics conclusions pretty quickly. Since then we have seen, what is to us, clear evidence of the reliability of that warning and quite a large number of other warnings.”
Harry was quick with a reply. “Like what? Tell me about the real world. Don't just give me a bunch of ideas and inferences. Tell me something real that is happening.” Harry was getting frustrated.
“Okay, how about this.” Gerry responded. “The same day as one of the earthquakes that hit hard in Memphis, two of our people bought some large chunks of the land which we are on now from two different men who were willing to sell their land for considerably less than the going rate. They were willing to do that, because their bank accounts had both been frozen that same day without warning, and without them having broken any laws or being suspected of criminal activity. Less than two weeks ago Patty's father had his bank accounts also frozen, without him having broken any laws or being indicted, simply because the 'authorities' got cross ways with him. All three of these men were respected business men with long standing businesses in their communities right here in this state. Technically the freezing of those accounts was illegal, but it happened just the same. Their ability to buy and sell has been effectively blocked just like it was described in the Revelation.”
Harry looked at Patty. “You are Patty Decker? Your Father is Jim Decker?” Suddenly Harry's eyes were intense and dancing around here and there even though his head was turned steadily toward her.
Patty was very hesitant in her answer. “Yes. What is going on? You look disturbed.”
Harry hesitated. “Gerry would you mind stepping out of the room for just a moment? I need to ask Miss Decker a somewhat personal question. It will only take a moment.”
Before Gerry could respond, Patty glared at Harry. “No, sir! If he goes out; I go with him. Do you understand that? If you have a question for me that you cannot ask in front of Gerry then you'd best not let that question see the light of day. Do you understand me Mister?” Patty looked like she was about to leap across the table and strangle Harry. Gerry, too, was tightly gripping the arms of his chair.
Harry lifted his hands and held his palms forward with fingers spread in a signal to hold back. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. My mistake. I just wanted to make sure you are safe, Miss Patty.” He looked back and forth from Patty to Gerry several times. “This is so messed up.” Harry shook his head back and forth. I should have seen that without asking. I was just distracted trying to process what all you have been telling me. I'd gotten some misinformation second hand about you and your father, Miss Patty. Apparently the sheriff's department over in Fox County is spreading the word, without any official bulletins, that you might be a person of interest in an investigation, that you might be a missing person, or that you may even be a hostage. It should be obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain that the relationship between you two, Gerry and Miss Patty, is a mutual preference rather than something forced.” Harry look incredulous. “You're telling me that the bank over there actually froze Jim's accounts without ...”
Harry never finished that sentence. His countenance morphed from incredulous to fearful to angry over a span of mere seconds. “You two please sit tight for just a couple of minutes. Miss Patty, you called this morning to make an appointment. I need to talk face to face with a couple of employees to make sure word of your appointment was not mentioned or overheard by anyone. We need to squelch this immediately for the sake of your safety!” Harry got up and walked out leaving Gerry and Patty alone in his office.
Patty was holding her breath and Gerry reached over to take her hand. “Patty, I'm here for you. We will find out more from Harry, but we need to be more careful if Sheriff Carter is spreading notions about you all over the area. There's no telling who might see something and report back to Sheriff Carter about it just because they think that if a sheriff is looking for you, they must have a good reason for doing that. I've got to keep you safe, Patty.”
“Thank you, Gerry. I never thought he would push it this far. I sure didn't intend to cause trouble for you or the others. I appreciate Mister Huffstetler trying to help contain this even a little.”
“Patty, you did not bring this trouble. All you did was to help us and to help the people who lost their jobs from all the trouble with the virus. If someone chooses to imitate the Evil One by causing you grief for showing love to others, then that is on them; not on you. You must not take on any blame for helping others. As for Harry helping, It says something to me that he turned his thinking enough to help contain the information about your whereabouts. I get the feeling Harry knows of your father at least as the owner of a business in the area if not personally. I don't know how much he knows about your Dad, but I'll bet the reputation of your Dad's business helps in Harry's perception of him as a fellow business owner in this area.”
Harry was back in just a few minutes, and looked more relaxed now. “Sorry for that interruption. I think I've got that information contained now. I can't believe I almost got sucked in by that head fake from the Carter boys. Those brothers caused a lot of trouble during the virus event we went through. We had to route our trucks around Fox County to get the groceries to number of stores off to the east. That added to our fuel costs as well as the cost to me for the extra pay for some of our drivers. We also had to adjust work schedules to accommodate the longer hours required to get the products delivered to the stores in a timely manner. Of course we were dealing with all manner of other issues, but the Carters just added to the list of troubles. Of course, they made an exception to their own rules if we were delivering in and out to get food to their people. As long as we came directly in to their store in Hollerton and right back out along the same route they allowed it. But they would not allow us to drop off a load there and continue through to another county with the rest of a load.”
Harry was narrowing his eyes and scowling a bit, now. “I really should have seen through the disparate reasons being given for them to be looking for you, Miss Patty. I am truly sorry for that mistake on my part. When you think about that, especially with there being no official notice sent out to our sheriff, it was an insidious ploy for them to plant false ideas about you in the minds of people around here. That is so underhanded, it really chafes me. You all said you are in a truck pulling a small cattle trailer. Do either of those belong to you, Miss Patty?”
Patty answered, “Yes the truck is mine, but the trailer is Gerry's.”
“Okay, that should help.” Once again Harry relaxed for a moment. “It will be hard for a deputy trying to help Sheriff Carter to spot the tag on your truck if the trailer is right behind it. Apparently there are deputies in this county that are friends with some deputies in Fox County. If you can, on future trips here, I would recommend leaving your truck parked, Miss Patty, and using a truck belonging to someone else in your group whenever you are driving in any of the counties adjacent to Fox County.”
Harry grimaced and tapped the side of his fist on the table, while trying to hold back on the force of the impact. “This makes me angry. I don't know what is behind this, this problem between you and the Carters, but their tactics alone, even beyond the troubles I have experienced because of them, make me want to side with you. This is just wrong!”
Harry turned slightly toward Gerry. “You all have been mentioning troubles that were predicted in the Bible and this thing with Patty is something that you cited as an example of the predictions materializing. This one caught my attention because it is closer to home for me, and I now have a little more personal context for this example than the others. It's clear to me that I need to pay attention, but figuring out what to do about it is not so easy. My first reaction to the idea you introduced of not being able to buy or sell was that I need to move as much as possible to cash. Then I thought about the trouble you experienced with a merchant not accepting cash. Now there is the issue of someone in authority going outside the law to bedevil Patty and her father.”
Harry once again spent a few moments pondering. “Folks, I'm in a quandary. I told you I wanted to talk with you, but more issues keep coming up, and a whole mess of issues are coming to my mind that we have not mentioned directly. I was very curious at first, but the more I think about it, the more serious and complicated this gets. I don't want to put you on the spot about where you all are located, but I need someone I can talk with on a regular basis about the trouble you say is coming and how I can deal with it. I feel a responsibility to my employees and my customers. I can't just say 'timeout' and stop the clock while I sort this out, and I suspect having one of you commit to driving here every day or two is also unreasonable.”
“Harry are you serious about learning more about the Bible, or do you mostly want a heads up about events that may hurt you business?” Patty was being blunt but without a tone of criticism.
Harry looked at Patty with a furrowed brow like he was thinking. “Patty that is a fair question. I guess I always knew that the Bible was a book which taught people that they should choose to be good rather than bad. I was also taught that if you are good you will be rewarded, and if you are bad you will be punished. I saw the Bible as a treatise on living a superior moral life. When I was young I saw some evidence in life that good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is punished. I also saw in some cases that kids got away with being bad, if they were sneaky enough to not get caught. I myself got away with some things that I was ashamed of, but I mostly wanted to be good. When I grew up, I saw more and more where people got ahead and captured more things as rewards by doing not such good things to other people; again they got away with stuff when they were not obvious about it. I also saw people trying hard to be good that seemed to fall behind others or even get walked on apparently because they were holding to the moral high ground. So I frankly stopped reading the Bible, because what I was told it said didn't seem all that practical. Yet, I still wanted to get rewards in life without doing bad things.”
Harry paused again. “You all have been talking today about things in the Bible that I was clueless about. I guess the truth is that I am re-assessing what might be in the Bible. I am thinking now that I missed a whole lot of what is in there, or maybe I didn't have very good bible teachers. So maybe I was missing some things about what being good is really about, and maybe there are a lot of other important things that I also missed. I guess my answer now is that I want the truth about that stuff in the Bible whether I missed it before or I simply got it wrong, previously.”
Patty looked at Gerry. “I think he needs to talk to Joann, don't you?”
“Yep.” Gerry affirmed. “Then she probably needs to talk with Pete so he can ferret out a brother in a congregation here in Jemimasson that can help him with a Bible Study.”
“Hold on a second.” Harry protested. “I don't want another Sunday school kind of Bible study. I've had plenty of those already where someone reads a passage and proceeds to lecture me on what it means, and how I am going to be punished if I am bad. That's how I got those notions that didn't seem to fit. I want help in finding the real story.”
“We get that, Harry.” Gerry was talking in a reassuring way, but there was a subtle enthusiasm in his voice. “These folks do Bible study differently. When they do a Bible study with the full congregation at their Sunday meetings they all have a copy of the study outline in advance. At the meeting itself the leader doesn't even pretend to be the teacher, and doesn't fill in the gaps in the outline. It's the people in the congregation that fill in the gaps from their own observations. The leader is simple controlling the traffic so that they share their observations one at a time, and making sure they get through the whole outline rather than getting bogged down with too many people commenting on one section but not getting to the rest of the lesson.”
Patty jumped in here. “What is really exciting is when you get into a one-on-one or small group Bible study. In that kind of study, once again, the one leading the study is not interpreting the scripture for the student. The leader is providing passages related to the topic or simply helping the student track through one of the books within the Bible. The student is asked to read the passages and even search for related passages, elsewhere in the Bible. They show you how to do that and they have tools for searching for the words or phrases you are looking for. The student is the one who is responsible for reading the scripture and providing the answers about what they think the passage is saying about that subject. The student is asked, rather than told, how the things written in the Bible can be applied to real life, especially their life.”
Harry was a bit skeptical. “How am I supposed to know what the Bible is saying? I'm not a Bible scholar. If that is how they lead a Bible study, how would they keep from getting all kinds of crazy ideas about what the Bible is saying?”
“I suppose that can happen sometimes,” Gerry stepped in. “But according to Pete, Joan's husband, the leader tries to ask simple, straight forward questions to get the student to think and give honest answers. The teaching method is based on the Bible being a reasonable book rather than a verbal mess. If a single passage doesn't seem clear as to what it means, there will be other places where the Bible talks about the same thing and provides additional context for understanding what it means. If the student's understanding doesn't match what the 'teacher' thinks it means, the teacher must not try to correct the mistake, but should continue on patiently, letting the Bible speak for itself.”
Patty stepped in to add a little more. “Gerry and I remembered a few things that we had heard about the Bible in the past from parents or grandparents. We just started studying recently with Pete and Joann, and it's a new experience for us finding out how this book that so many know about can suddenly start to make so much sense. I'm sure there is a 'brother' in a congregation here in Jemimasson that would be glad to help you study if you are interested. That is something that is very important to people in their congregations.”
“This is a new concept to me, you all.” Harry seemed a bit dubious. “ I always thought of the Bible as a book full of mysteries or puzzles that you had to have a special kind of knowledge to understand.”
Gerry looked down and started shaking his head. “Best way I know of to keep someone from understanding a book is to convince them it is really written in a code they don't understand. That way if they do try to read it, they will think it doesn't really mean what it says.”
Harry looked at Gerry like he was a bit confused. Then you could see a light come on in his eyes. Then he spoke very quietly, “Satan is a lier, and the father of lies. Okay, you two. The only way to understand what peach cobbler tastes like is to actually take a bite and taste it. Let's go find your friends.”
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Post by gipsy on Feb 18, 2024 22:10:24 GMT -6
Fine update
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Post by feralferret on Feb 19, 2024 1:06:04 GMT -6
Pbbrown0, thank you for another great chapter.
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 4, 2024 20:34:00 GMT -6
Post # 87
Where Are We Headed?
After Pete and Colleen had talked with Bruce about the troubles of the morning, they decided to go together to see how things were going with Carl's team, even though Pete suspected seeing Carl for a few minutes was a higher priority for Colleen than getting a status update on the building project. As it turned out Pete was very excited about the concept of a modular construction plan. For one thing It meant that he and Joann could move into their home sooner and start working on getting the basics set up. It also meant that they had the possibility of having usable facilities to help a few other families without having to decide once and for all how many families would be their limit. Colleen spent a little time hearing the update and then excused herself to go check with Randy.
Her conversation with her Dad had started her mental wheel spinning around some of the ideas Randy had thrown out to her when he first convinced her of the design he had worked out. She had mentally categorized some of those ideas as future refinements, but now she was seeing more clearly the advantage of having those refinements in play much more quickly. She was keenly aware of the 'wasted' fuel, man-hours, and risks required just today because the reach of his design had to be proven before it could be trusted. During the drive time this morning she had been contemplating, one of his concepts that if proven, would greatly reduce the probability of their system being isolated by any monitoring or eaves dropping operations. She wanted to be more sure of her understanding of what Randy had in mind, so she could help to answer the cross checking that was sure to come up after today's experiences. What she had heard so far reminded her of some concepts she had seen in movies where hackers routed their queries through multiple internet servers to hide where the hacker was really located. She needed to better understand how his design would really work.
- - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, Betty was running around the lodge coordinating all kinds of tasks and responsibilities, like watching over small groups of children at play. One of the games they used to occupy some of the children beyond toddler age was letting them have the “privilege” today of slipping the eggs out of some of the nesting boxes. To play the game they had to identify which hens were using each of the boxes designated for egg harvesting. Then they had to watch for one of those hens to be out in the yard scratching for food. That was their clue to check the right box for a new egg. Other children were tasked with gathering specific types of plants and grasses in their baskets. Then they took their basket to an adult to be checked before dumping the contents in one of the designated feeding boxes. Other children were assigned to the watering team. They filled small buckets with water and carried them to the garden areas to help water the seedlings that were just starting to sprout. The also had to check to make sure the watering troughs for the chickens were supplied.
Some of the women were taking responsibility for laundry today. The lodge was equipped with two non-electric washing machines from years ago. Both had been fitted, by Brother Issac and a couple of his trusted friends, with bicycles set on a frames where the back wheel rims replaced the original electric motors for powering their operation. The women were taking turns on sitting on the cycles and pedaling, manually turning on and off the faucets to fill or drain the washing machine tubs, heating water to add to the washing machine tubs when needed, sorting the laundry going in and coming out, and taking the washed clothes to hang outside to dry. Through all this process, they had to keep track of which clothes belonged to which family.
Each family was responsible for general cleaning in their own quarters so there was little “house cleaning” shared except as part of the cleaning up after meals in the kitchen and main hall. There were also two common restrooms, one for women and one for men, that had to be cleaned. The ladies insisted that the men take care of their own restroom. The men were also responsible for setting up and taking down the tables and chairs for meal times in the main room of the lodge, in addition to the outside tasks like building, fencing, and such.
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Harry had given Gerry and Patty a quick drive around tour of his facilities before taking them to the local grocery store, which was conveniently located with its loading dock backing up to a turn around area next to a gate accessing Harry's facility. They did discover in that tour that Harry had his own slaughter house and butchering operation going. Local cattle farmers and ranchers could bring the cattle to him and negotiate for any level of processing of their live stock. They could bring the cattle to him on the hoof and sell them to Harry's company outright for full processing to deliver to the stores, have the beef slaughtered and returned to the farmer in quarters, or have the cattle fully butchered and packaged for the farmer to take home to his own freezer for his personal use. They could even do a custom deal if they only wanted a partial cow for their personal use. Harry was also set up to take fresh produce, and raw milk, and 'raw' eggs in for prepping and packaging for distribution to his stores. He was not set up to handle canning of fruit or vegetables or milling and packaging grains. Those and other products he obtained from outside commercial operations to act as wholesaler to the stores he serviced.
When Harry spotted the other ladies in the grocery store they were corralling a collection of grocery baskets that were already full. A man was standing there talking to the three women but his back was toward Harry. A store clerk was rolling another empty cart toward them. And the man with his back to Harry motioned for the clerk to come closer. He handed the clerk a piece of paper and spoke briefly to him just as Harry, Gerry and Patty reached the group.
“Good morning, Jacob.” Harry's greeting from behind, and above, startled Jacob Sterling but only a little bit. “I see you have met these ladies. How are things going here, so far?”
Jacob had started turning around toward Harry, but stepped aside a bit to avoid turning his back on the three ladies he was helping. “Good morning, Harry. We are doing pretty well, I believe.” Jacob paused for a moment after looking up to Harry and glanced at Gerry and Patty with a nod before looking back to Harry. “Are these new friends of yours, Harry?” The store clerk had by this time already left to go to the meat section of the store to fill more of the order request that Jacob had sent with him.
“Actually they are friends of Jenny, Joann, and Linda.” Harry was carefully calling out their names with a nod to each. “I hope I got those right.” They all nodded and smiled in response, so Harry continued. “Gerry, Patty, this is Jacob Sterling. He is the owner and manager of this store. Jacob, I must ask you to keep this under your hat,” Harry lowered his voice for the last few words. “Patty is the daughter of Jim Decker over in Hollerton. The Cooper brothers over there are giving him a ton of undeserved grief right now and they are even spreading lies and innuendos about Miss Patty asking for people to help find her. We really don't want that to happen, if you know what I mean Jacob.”
Jacobs face tightened, and he glance toward Joann. Joann in turn showed a slight chagrin in her expression and added a slight nod of acknowledgment toward Jacob. Jacob took a breath and held out his hand to Patty and Gerry. “Good to meet you two as well.” he said, shaking their hands.
Harry spoke to Jacob again so that the whole group could hear. “Jacob, I warned them that even though they were buying considerably more at a time than most of your customers, you would have a hard time giving them much of a discount. What I failed to explain was that your profit margins are razor thin already. I called you about their coming because even with that I thought you might find some way to help them even if it is no more than helping them find everything.
This time it was Jacob that was speaking softly to Harry. “Harry now I need you to keep something under your hat.” Jacob grinned. I learned from 'Sister Joann' that her husband 'Brother Peter' was influential in getting this group together and is helping to guide them along a challenging and hopefully righteous path. I know it is only a small discount, but I am going to provide these groceries to them at cost. So please keep that under your hat.”
Harry looked mildly surprised. “You called Joann and her husband Sister and Brother. Does that mean they belong to that same religious 'Brotherhood' that you do?”
“Yes, Mister Huffstettler. That is correct.” Now Jacob talking in a normal tone of voice again.
“Jacob I knew you are part of that Brotherhood Congregation here in Jemimasson. Do you give that same discount to all of the members of that congregation?” Harry was careful to look around and lower his voice when asking that question.
Jacob was also cautious in his answer. “No, sir. That is not my practice. There may be a few members that I try to help out from time to time because of their personal circumstances and needs, but that comes out of my own pocket. This is arrangement I am making with Joann and her husband is a little bit different.” Jacob looked over to Joann and they read each other's expressions for a moment. Jacob turned back to Harry and continued. “I'm not at liberty to discuss all the reasons for my decision about this arrangement, but that is a decision I am sharing with you as a close and trusted business associate. Let's just say I see more good in what they are doing than merely keeping their family fed and leave it at that. Again, I would ask you to keep your knowledge about this unique arrangement under your hat, for reasons I think you do understand.”
“Of course, and I am grateful for your trust, Jacob. I … perhaps you can help me with something, Jacob. I wanted to ask these people for a favor, but their are some geographical issues in the way. Do you suppose you could help me find someone in you congregation that would help me with a Bible study? I am assuming your approach to that would be similar to what I have been told a Bible study with Joann and her husband might take.” Harry seemed a little hesitant but earnest in his request.
Jacob was surprised but delighted in his response. “Mister Huffstettler, I would be more than happy to help set that up. I can talk to you more about the particulars of that after we get these folks squared away. I am excited to hear you are interested in that. Ah. Here comes Harry with that order.” The group turned and saw the store clerk that had been sent off coming back with a flat bed cart loaded with freezer packed boxes of packaged meats. Behind him was another clerk pushing yet another grocery basket filled with other groceries. “Harry, why don't we meet for lunch. We can talk then about your Bible study arrangements. I also want to talk with you about some food related products that I think both this group and some of our other customers are going to be needing soon.”
Jacob thanked the two clerks for their help then turned to the group of new customers Harry had sent to him. “I need to get one of my people to bring a special scanner so we can get all of these items inventoried and settle the bill. Then we'll help you get this all loaded so you can be on your way. If you will give me your number I will give you a call when I find out more about those other supplies we talked about.”
Gerry stepped closer to Jacob and spoke softly. “Mister Sterling, We need to talk with you about that. We try to avoid using phones. We will try to get back here in about a week so we can talk with you and maybe Mister Huffstettler some more.”
“Oh?” Jacob responded and waited like he was expecting an explanation that did not come. He was about to leave to get that scanner he need, but stopped. “I'm just curious.” He turned to Joann. “Were you all close enough to any of those earthquakes for them to cause any damage where you were?”
Joann answered Jacob. It shook us pretty good but none of the Brothers and Sisters in our congregation were hurt and we couldn't find any damage. One of the brothers lost his phone line where it shook loose at the pole. My husband Pete and his grandson drove out to their house to check on him and his wife. Why did you ask, Brother Jacob?”
“You mentioned about not using phones, and I got to thinking. I heard some of the brothers mention that those earthquakes were apparently more troublesome than they sounded like on the news. I was just thinking about how the brothers check on everyone in the congregation when there is a bad storm or something like that to make sure everyone is accounted for and safe. Around there the first thing they do is all the group leaders call everyone in their group. If they can't reach someone then they have to go to their home to check on them. I just wondered about you and your husband.”
Joann smiled. “Pete and Carl, Pete's grandson, drove to the meeting hall to let them know we were okay for one of those earthquakes. The last one wasn't as bad where we are, but by that time the elders had accepted the idea of having a radio link for those of us who don't use cell phones.”
“Hmm!” Jacob responded. “That makes sense. I hadn't thought of that. That's really a good idea. Harry and I use handheld radios for some of our supervisors. And it really helps. I never thought about using them for reaching far enough to connect with people around town. How far out in the rural areas can they reach?”
Gerry answered that question for Joann. “Jacob, if you are talking about using them for the congregation, from one home to another using a hand held can vary from half a mile to maybe a couple of miles. If you get a base station like at the meeting hall, it could probably reach everyone. A base station could almost certainly reach another base station at a congregation meeting hall in the next town. We have been experimenting with antenna set ups that can reach even farther than that.”
“I'm afraid I've gotten lured into chasing down a rabbit trail. That is not why you folks came here. Let me get that scanner so we can get you all squared away.”
Fifteen minutes later the groceries were all loaded in the trailer. Gerry had recommended that rather than the truck bed. The truck bed, with no cover or topper would leave all their groceries exposed to the August sun and heat. The small cattle trailer was mostly covered yet well ventilated so the heat absorbed by the metal shell would be quickly dissipated by the wind as they were driving along. When they left the grocery store, Gerry headed to a home improvement store. There he bought a plain-Jane chest freezer and a small generator. They got those loaded into the bed of the truck, and then they made a radio call to the Haven before heading home.
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When the crew bringing the groceries home arrived at the Haven they headed straight for the lodge. Bruce and Rob joined them. With no one on the road, they did not see the need to monitor the radio base station any longer. Joann had seen to it the the radio in Patty's truck was left on and tuned to the channel now being used by the local congregation as their emergency hailing channel. The three men and some of the ladies got to work unloading the groceries. Then the men set to work getting the chest freezer unloaded and put in place. Then they began working on the generator outside a window so a cord could be used to connect the two with the gasoline motor running outside of the lodge.
Later in the afternoon Bruce and Rob were checking in with the various groups to learn about their progress. They were also talking with each other as they moved from one group to another. After touching base with each group, Rob had an observation to make. “You know, Bruce, I've been thinking about the problems you ran into this morning. You were taking a lot of coordinating responsibility on yourself, but you were also trying to carry everything in your head. Back when you were working as a manager you had a secretary, calendars, planning tools, predefined procedures, and a whole system you had in place with people experienced in doing their special job with little crossover among the structured jobs being handled.”
“Out here there are a lot of different efforts being addressed,” Rob continued. “However, each of these efforts have fluctuating resource needs, and we are having to share the people resources. We need a kind of staff meeting every day to keep those needs properly communicated and prioritized. We have been trying to do that, but it has been very in formal and sometimes things get missed. Maybe we need a little more structure so we help each of the people who have responsibility for this or that project to think like a manager regarding present and pending requirements and the impact of those needs on the efforts of other teams. We need some sort of check list for each team leader, or at least for a coordinator of the meeting, so we don't overlook an important resource issue. That would also be the best place to clarify the priorities among the combined efforts.”
Rob paused, but Bruce could tell he was not through. “You know that concept, Bruce, about type 'A' and type 'B' personalities? That concept is an oversimplification, because when it comes to personalities they are multidimensional and there is a spectrum of intensity along each dimension of peoples' personal characteristics. For the sake of simplifying the discussion concerning the two of us, though, I lean toward the 'B' and you lean toward the 'A' style of management. You see a need that you know something about and you want to grab that hat so it gets done. I have been willing to help, but I have also been willing to let you grab the hat while I rock along supporting you because I have confidence in your abilities. Maybe I need to step up and take one or more of those hats you've been wearing so the stack of hats doesn't get precariously high on top of your head, Bruce. Just because you are good at so many things doesn't mean you should be the only one who is expected to be responsible for all of those things you can do well.”
Bruce was now looking like he was doing some serious contemplating. “I appreciate the back handed complement, Rob, but it's not all on you that we got out of balance. I'm the one who grabbed at hats the instant I identified a need rather than taking the time to consider more carefully if I was the appropriate person to take the reins on that task. I know processes and procedures can get over bearing and burdensome, but we all make mistakes. If processes are designed and handled correctly they can reduce the chances of our mistakes becoming disasters. I think your idea of a check list of considerations is a great idea. I also think that list should be put out there as a tool for each person who takes responsibility for either a project or a category of responsibilities. That helps to place the responsibility where it belongs. It also keeps someone who raises a question from looking like a critic or a bossy type. A question about something we all know needs to be considered can be framed as looking for clarification rather than implying that something was missed.”
Rob nodded in agreement with Bruce. “I know we need to get our group together to discuss a number of things tonight. How about you and I work on our checklist and agenda ideas. Then we can spread the word about getting together after supper.”
Once again the meeting of the family was being held out on the front porch of the lodge. All those outside the Smith, Cooper, and Kerry families were either inside or farther away from the lodge sitting in the shade of some trees. Rob was the one who spoke first to the group. “Folks, this has been a very full day. Some really good things happened, and some not so good things were dodged. Some of us have heard most of it, but I doubt any of us have heard all of it. I want to start off with with the good stuff. That radio design that Randy cobbled together worked much better than we thought. I want Colleen to talk more about that situation in a few minutes. I understand that Carl and his crew have a design strategy now for building another house or lodge for Pete and Joann that opens up some significant new possibilities. We want to hear and start talking about that as well. Gerry and his crew of our wives, except Colleen, managed to make some interesting contacts, and came back with a bunch of groceries as well as a deep freeze plus a generator to power it. That is going to lead into even more reporting and discussing. Bruce and I have started getting our heads together and want to share with you some guidelines or cheat sheets, that we think will help us all do a better job of communicating and coordinating our people resources. That is a lot to talk about so lets get started. One thing I want to recommend is to remember we won't be able to finish all our talking about everything this evening. Use some discretion in how we report and comment. Colleen why don't you start out and tell us all a little about the radio situation.”
Colleen started talking. “I'll try to keep this simple without keeping anything important out of this. First you need to understand that Randy is almost a technical savant. The antenna rig he set up is kind of crude at the moment, but it was possible to communicate with Patty's truck all the way to Jemimasson and back without any changes to the antenna on her truck. The problem was that he had to manually adjust the antenna here while they were traveling so that the signal to and from the antenna here stayed focused in a narrow beam as they moved. There are two improvements that he wants to make and those are waiting for parts and devices that are on order. One improvement is to set things up so the the radio operator here can aim the antenna by remote control so no one has to be up on the mountain while someone else is using the radio base station. The second one is also waiting for parts, etc. It is more technical, but it seems very prudent once you understand. He wants to put up more than one antenna so the base station can be programmed to switch which aimed antenna it is using at any given moment. link. Using a directional beam type antenna means that there will be a very strong sounding signal along the aimed path. Any snooping equipment that is in that path will notice an unusual signal and that is bound to draw their attention if they happen to be in the right place. His design will allow is to send a signal along a totally different path so unless the snooper is right near our vehicle it won't even hear the new signal coming from a different antenna. If they are near our vehicle and they catch the transmission from two or three different antennas of ours, their directional equipment will be spoofed because of our code talking trying to confuse identification and the direction finders jumping around to look in different directions for where the other side of a conversation is coming from.” Colleen paused.
“There is another change I want us to consider and this is not from Randy. It's from me. I think we need to move the base station to the lodge rather than where Grandpa Pete started out. We need to be able to monitor the radio traffic at any time without having to send one person to sit by themselves nearly half a mile from the lodge.” Colleen finished and waited.
Everyone was quiet for a moment until Gerry asked a question. “I mostly understand the concepts behind Randy's design, although it is kind of out there at the limits of my knowledge about these radios. The question I have is how many different antenna repeater set ups does Randy think we need in order for us to be safe in spoofing the snooper's equipment?”
Colleen frowned. “That is something we need to talk about in more detail with Randy. He has a very complicated formula that I honestly haven't studied enough to grasp, yet. All I know is that it takes into account the angles on the compass from the different antennas to the target, the distances from the target of each of those antennas, the number of antennas being used, the area of the polygon and the perimeter measure of that polygon that is defined by those antenna locations, and the total number of radio calls made with the system in a given time period. Basically it boils down to three is good, four is really good, and five or more get super good, as long as the two closest to each other are far enough apart and are not lined up in a straight line trying to aim at the target.”
“Okay, I need to talk with Randy some more, then.” Gerry replied. “ These other components that were ordered; when are they coming in and how many uh stations will they cover?”
Colleen looked a little uncertain. “The supplier we talked to said that normally they would be at his store by tomorrow, but 'with all the trouble that did not happen along the river' he couldn't be sure.”
Gerry thought a minute. “Okay. We need to move on for tonight. We'll get back to this later. Let's get Carl to update us on his work.”
Carl proceeded with a summary of what his team had decided and how they were proceeding with designing the core and first module of family spaces for the new lodge and home for Pete and Joann. He also mentioned the progress in making more troughs for the cattle. After that Jenny summarized the results of the trip to the wholesaler in Jemimasson including their purchasing a freezer chest and a generator to run it. She also brought up the subject of the clothes and personal property that had been left in Hollerton during the sudden bug out that happened about a week before. After those reports Gerry gave a supplemental report about Patty's father, his plans, and a little about Patty's response to that news. He also talked a little about Harry Huffstetler's conversation with them and the interaction between Harry and Jacob Sterling.
When everyone had been updated, Rob took the lead again. “Okay, everybody. Rather than drag this meeting out all night, I have some recommendations to make. First, I recommend that we do not plan to send any more excursions away from the Haven until at least Thursday. I think we need to focus on work here while we gather our thoughts and see what progress we can make on the new lodge and establishing a better focus on what we are doing here. Second, I think we should try to make contact with the supplier regarding that radio equipment order. With our ability to reach farther, I would think he might be listening in on some of the standard hailing channels. That sounds better to me than making a trip over there late in the week and just hoping that our order had arrived. All these other items need thought, decisions and work. Before we run ahead in the dark. Bruce and I have put together an outline or checklist of what we need to bring to our next meeting. At our next meeting everyone needs to be prepared based on the check list. This isn't ironclad, and we will take suggestions, but here it is.” Rob handed out several sheets of paper with the following written in hand on them:
What progress has been made and what is the status for your area of responsibility? What answers do you have for questions raised the last time we met. What are the next steps for your area? What needs to be done? Where does this effort fit in urgency? (What are consequences of delays? Is it a stop gap or a long term solution? What is the benefit of completing it? ) What resources are required? How much work effort will it take to finish? What material resources are required to finish? What questions/decisions do we need to address in order to move forward? What are the uncertainties or possible pitfalls regarding completing this project? What new items or needs do you need to bring to the group's attention? Rob gave them a minute to read over the sheets and then Bruce spoke. “This is not meant to be perfect or rigid. This is primarily a set of questions to make sure we are all thinking about what we want to do and what the rest of us might want to know about it. It is also meant to help us think about the things we don't want to miss. We sometimes need people to shift from one activity to another in order to help another group meet a critical time frame. Also you may realize the your project or area of responsibility is going to impact a different persons responsibilities without them being aware of that, so you can help them with a heads-up. That last item also includes your ideas abouit changes or improvements on the cheat sheet and how to use it. Any questions?” Bruce and Rob looked around.
Gerry rather than raising his hand simply asked a question. “What do you want me to tell everyone in the big group about today and tomorrow?
Pete spoke up about that. “Tell them we had a good day today and with the results of today we expect for a better one tomorrow. Remind them who they need to talk to about their ideas and concerns in the different areas we have divided ourselves into. Tell them if they are not sure who to talk to they can talk to anyone in our family.”
Gerry nodded. “That sounds like a plan to me.”
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Post by kiwibutterfly on Mar 4, 2024 21:13:16 GMT -6
Many thanks
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Post by gipsy on Mar 4, 2024 21:29:42 GMT -6
Cool update thanks
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 12, 2024 17:45:51 GMT -6
Post # 88 Crazy Glue
The next several days were uneventful. The trucks were kept idle. The entire group seemed to be settling in to a routine. The troughs were finished for now and the focus was on making progress with clearing ground for the new lodge. It was fortunate that several of the former employees of Jim Decker actually were experienced lumber jacks. The chains saws that had been acquired worked much faster than the hand saws and axes, though there were times when someone picked up a hand tool for a small task while the motorized tools were all in use already. The ladies were also getting more comfortable working as teams in the new home environment they had landed in. They had managed to get the issue of clothes and items they had left behind during the bug-out onto the agenda of the meetings of the core council. Everyone recognized that the summer clothes they brought would not be adequate when the fall weather moved in. There was also the issue of most of the families having only one change of clothes; the clothes they were wearing and the clothes they were washing. This also meant that the only clothes they had for wearing to the Sunday meetings were the same clothes they had already worn for three days of work that week. Other smaller projects, like expanding and improving the chicken coops and yard features were being planned, but these plans were not yet as pressing as getting the new lodge “dried in” before the fall weather arrived. There were also a number of ladies planning for some garden space, but with their experience in the local weather patterns they could wait just a little longer before planting the fall garden. You could be certain however they had a list of seeds they wanted, and they were already raking the leaves and ground cover where the garden was to be planted. Gerry, Patty, Bruce, and Colleen were also spending time tending the cattle. A couple of the men in the group outside the Family were also getting more involved in helping with that, so they could learn more about that work. Most of this work was being done before breakfast and after the evening meal and group meetings were finished. This meant that these few were putting in longer days than most of the rest, but they never mentioned that to anyone. There were a few others putting in more time than some within the group, just because that is the way they were, and they found their own satisfaction in of the work they were doing. Colleen had recruited Gerry, because of his radio experience with C. J., to help with a mini project of connecting by radio with C. J. Sullivan, who in turn connected with the store manager at the radio supply store. They learned that the equipment they had ordered was expected to all have arrived by Friday or Saturday of this week. They made arrangements to get a confirmation of that over the weekend and had worked out plans with the Family to make a trip to pick the equipment up on Monday. Plans were also worked out to send another truck in the opposite direction to get seeds and some construction supplies in Jemimasson after the first truck returned. As it turned out Carl, Patty, and April were tagging along for these “after hours” meetings to plan and work with the antennas and radios. Those six were also seen grouping together at meal times. Joann was gradually adding activities for the ladies and children, some of which were group bible study times with those interested divided in to small groups, as well as holding classrooms in nature teaching those of all ages more about the interwoven bio-subsystems at work in the forest surrounding them. They were also integrating these lessons with the planning for the gardens and the additions to the provisions for handling the chickens. Saturday was a mixed day with some people taking more down time than others. Once again as Sunday approached it was apparent that they would have all the vehicles filled in order to carry all those wanting to go to the congregation meeting at the Brotherhood's meeting hall in Bear Creek. The large group from the Haven were greeted even more warmly at the meeting hall this Sunday than they had been the previous week. After the meeting everyone seemed okay with hanging around a little longer before leaving, so they could chat a little longer. Several of the sisters started up a conversation with Joann about the clothes and little bits of information they had heard and pieced together. Long story short, they agreed to get back together with Joann later in the coming week to work out a way to quietly get their husbands involved. They wanted to help out with retrieving some personal possessions for members of the community at the Haven. The sisters were very tight lipped about it but they let Joann know that they understood far more than had been spoken or would be spoken about what was going on with this new group that was coming to the meetings. They also knew that there were other families they had not seen yet, who were also quietly being helped. These sisters were determined to support what Joann's family was doing to help these families without drawing attention from a larger group to the effort that was being undertaken. On the way back to the mountain, Joann and Pete in their little truck were the only couple who did not have other passengers with them for the trip to and from the meeting hall. There was only about a half of a seat of width unoccupied in the middle of their bench seat. Joann was able to talk with confidentially with Pete about what the sisters had told her, and their intentions to severely limit who was aware of that effort. “They know just like we do that some of our brothers and sisters are in countries where our people are already, or should I say once again, being prohibited from practicing our faith. Not only were they being harassed, but in some countries they were being arrested and imprisoned. Even in countries that claimed to allow people of different faiths to practice their religion, obscure and contrived charged were being used against them. They are very aware that when arrested the brothers and sisters are threatened and even tortured in attempts to make them not only to stop practicing their faith, but also to tell the authorities about others who are living by their beliefs. Pete, we know the time will come when that is also happening here. I'm glad to see some of the Sisters are making the effort to mentally prepare now for when that will happen.” Joann and Pete were very contemplative as they drove along. “Peter, when we first decided to come here together we knew it was the right thing to do, but we did not know how it would work out. We didn't even know if Rob and his family would ever come here. There were moments when I wondered how anyone whom we might help would even find us with our place being as isolated as we thought it was back then. I kind of imagined that one or even two families accidentally stumbling upon us and needing the kind of help we wanted to be ready to give was about as much as we might hope for. I guess we just didn't consider how much He is capable of doing when we decided that the Creator was leading us to do this.” Pete chuckled. “I guess we are a bit predisposed to underestimate rather than over estimate when it comes to gauging the scope of what the Creator is working on.” Joann pursed her lips. “I wonder what that says about the new house they are starting?” “You mean the new house WE are starting, don't you?” Pete smirked as he kept his eyes on the road. “I can't help but think there is a little inspiration at work in that project. I don't think that group has much experience at all with building houses, but they came up with a great idea for building the next lodge. It is a flexible design for being able to easily expand it as needed. We can build now and move in soon. Then later as we have time or need, we can increase the capacity. It also lets us fit it in among the trees rather than having to remove a whole stand of trees before we even get started.” Pete's enthusiasm was starting to show. “That's exactly what I was wondering about.” Joann seemed deep in thought. “Just how expandable do you think it will need to be? Changing the subject just a bit, How expandable do you think Gerry's house is.” Pete was taken aback just a bit. “I didn't see that one coming, Joann. You want to let me in on what you're thinking there?” Pete glanced over to his wife and then turned back to the road. “We all were curious from the beginning about the size of the house Gerry built 'just for himself'. I saw through that from the get-go. I'm pretty sure everyone else is now beginning to see the intentions there when they are not distracted by all the turmoil around us. This drought won't last forever, and when it breaks, his well is going to be refilling. That place he has, is pretty isolated too. We refer to it as being in Rockston, but that is just the nearest small town to his farm. In truth it is over twenty miles of twisty up and down roads, some of which aren't even paved, from Rockston to his place It's not the kind of view along that drive that looks all that promising to someone looking for resources, either. It wouldn't take anything to mask the entrance to his place if you had a mind to do that. You know that old adage about not putting all your eggs in one basket. – Oh, yeah. How is Brother Issac doing? Didn't he say something not too long ago about the Creator providing the workers that would be needed. I'm just saying.” Pete started chuckling again. “I sometimes forget that I shouldn't ask you what you're thinking, unless I have a few minutes to listen. You do have an active mind, don't you, my Darling?” “Oh, come on, Pete. Yes, that was a very clever dodge, but seriously what are you thinking?” Joann poked him in the arm as she grinned back at him. “Joann, in all seriousness, I am not a prophet. And I'm not going to presume that I am going to receive a vision of the future, beyond what is already in the Bible. I think that we need to continue following those principles in the Bible and deal with what comes our way following those principles. We need to be hospitable and respectful with those that the Creator allows to cross our paths. We need to be as prepared as we can be to deal with what we believe is coming. Beyond that, we will depend on Him and what he has taught us in deciding our next steps. We may go a while before any more right hearted people come our way, or we may feel flooded with a wave of more people needing our help. Either way we will deal with it with a confidence in our Creator's loyal love and the help He gives to us.” Once again on this trip to and from the meeting hall Gerry and Patty were “driving” Patty's truck, while Carl and Colleen were “driving” Gerry's truck. Patty, rather then riding shotgun, took the middle front seat in her truck. Sam and Martha with their two kids were assigned to their truck. Martha had started to get in the back seat just before leaving the Haven to ride to the meeting hall, but Sam had insisted that she should ride up front and he would ride in the back seat with the kiddos. Sam had worked on building the troughs for the cattle and he was one of the workers that had made a point of helping Gerry and Patty tend to the cattle. On the way back from the Sunday morning meeting, the conversation in Patty's truck turned to the cattle. Martha spoke to Patty about her appreciating how she and Gerry were letting Sam help with the cattle and letting him learn from them. Patty responded, “Martha, it's really Gerry you should be thanking, not me. They are his cattle, not mine, and I'm trying to learn right along with Sam.” “Well,” said Martha. “According to Sam you know way more about handling the cattle than he does, and the way you and Gerry work them so well together it seemed clear that they belong to the two of you. He was saying you two were the ones who led all the way in getting all of them moved over here from your place out toward Rockston and teaching others just how to work them.” Patty stammered a bit. “Uh, Martha that's not 'our' place. It belongs to Gerry. The whole set up he had over there, he built every piece of it by himself. He built the herd up and worked them without any hired help for years to get it where it is. That was all done before I ever met him. I'm almost as new to this as Sam is. I had never even met him before the first day the crew came out here to start working, and I had not seen his farm until the day before we started moving the cattle.” Gerry stepped in here. “It's okay, Martha. I can see how Sam could make that mistake. I have been amazed at how well Patty and I work together as a team. I wish I had met Patty a lot sooner. The years of building my operation and my home would have been so much easier and better if she had been with me to help with all of it.” Everyone was quiet for a moment until Martha tried to recover the conversation from her misstep. “I'm sorry about that mistake. I guess it's none of my business, but Sam got the impression that you all, uh, I mean you Gerry, had a pretty nice set up for the cattle already. Why did you decide to move all of them here, to the mountain. That took a lot of work to get set up here when you already had a better setup at your own place? Isn't it a bit expensive for you to pay for all the new fencing to be put up in addition to the cost of paying the Smiths or Coopers for grazing rights?” “Martha? Don't put them on the spot like that. If they wanted us to know they'd have told us. I'm just grateful they are helping us out right now. I'm sorry Gerry. Martha means well, but she has a powerful curiosity that just has a mind of its own sometimes.” Sam was anxious but trying to make light of his wife's inquisitiveness. “I have a long time mentor,” Gerry replied, “Who says that curiosity is a prerequisite for an intelligent mind. That in fact is one of the characteristics of Patty that I find quite endearing, so no need to apologize, Sam. Martha, it has gotten complicated but I will try to simplify it. The drought was taking a toll on the land where I was. The grass was being eaten faster than it was growing back this year, and the well was no longer keeping up with the thirst of the cattle. Here at the Haven because of the stream, the forest, and how those affect the nearby vegetation, the grass is weathering the drought far better than at my place, and it looks like there will be plenty of growth to be able to store up hay for the winter months. So we, the Smiths, Coopers, and I, went into a partnership. I would appreciate it however, if you don't go telling everyone about that because there are a lot of details I left out and a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous, if you get my meaning. I told you this Martha, because, like Patty, you have both curiosity and intelligence. I do trust Patty, and I hope I can trust you some, too.” Martha was quiet for a moment. “I'm afraid my excitement and my mouth got ahead of me more than once here with you two. I'm sorry. Really, I am sorry. I do get your meaning, Gerry. I see why you are not talking to just anybody about all this. I appreciate your trusting me with this information, and I promise this won't go anywhere else because of me.” Martha turned in her seat to look back at her children. “Timmy, Annie, you two listen to me. You remember that talk we had before we left home to come up to the mountain?” The two young ones in the back seat by Sam looked very intently at their Mamma and nodded their heads vigorously. Martha continued. “The things you are hearing in this truck among the adults is tied to what I told you that morning. You must not talk to anyone but Papa and me about anything you have heard us talking about here. It is seriously important. Do you understand me?” Martha was talking to them in a calm but serious tone. She waited until they both nodded their heads. “Okay, then. Mamma and Papa, love you very much, and we want to protect you. But you have to do your part in our family so that we can protect you.” She was about to turn around when Timmy asked in a very young but serious voice, “Mamma, Mister Gerry and Miss Patty are two of the good people, aren't they?” Martha was slightly surprised. “Yes, Timmy. I think you are right. Why do you think that?” “When you and Papa first started talking to me 'n' Annie about good people and sometimes bad people. I started watching and listening. I can kinda hear it when they talk. When Mister Gerry talks, you can just hear that what he says is... is what he really means and that he means is good. And when he talks about Miss Patty it's like when Papa talks about you, Mamma. No matter what words he uses, what he is saying about you is always really good in his heart.” Gerry very subtly eased his right hand off the steering wheel and gently squeezed Patty's left had that was resting on her knee. Martha suppressed a grin and turned it into a sweet smile. “Timmy,” Martha said. “I am very happy that you have been listening and paying attention to what Papa and I are teaching you. It is very good that you are learning from that.” Martha turned back to the front of the truck and patted Patty's right hand. Then she whispered in a voice that Patty could barely hear over the sounds of the truck running down the road, “I think my son is a genius. He sure got that one right and he didn't hear that from me.” “Speaking of hearts, Mister Gerry,” Martha continued in a normal voice, “If I'm even half as smart as my son your heart is still longing to be back in your own home with what really is yours own in spite of any business partnership. I have the sense that the partnership you were referring is the result of a reciprocal generosity, at least it was at first. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but that herd of cattle may turn out to be a life saver. If you are right about problems coming in your ability to use cash, I would think those cattle would be super valuable as a barter commodity.” Gerry did not respond at first. Then he decided to talk cattle raising strategies. “Yep, but its not as simple as deciding to get all the cows pregnant so we have more barter currency. More mouths to feed means you have to have enough to feed them until you take them to market. When you take them to market is another decision that makes a lot of difference in getting the most out of your resources. Is it better to sell them or use them as barter while they are still calves, or should you feed them longer and wait until they are older? Get them beefed up so you get more for each one. Long term if you keep a cow constantly pregnant she may not live as long, and you'll have to wean her calves sooner. Believe me I have been thinking about that.” “That's exactly why I wanted to help you with the cattle and learn from you, Gerry.” Sam spoke from the back seat again. “I know you also have to take into account whether or not you are going to make milk a bartering or selling product. I heard that this breed you are raising is exceptional for both meat and for milk. Before I had always thought you had to choose either beef cattle breeds or dairy cattle breeds. I had never heard of a breed that was exceptional for both.” “Yeah, its pretty ironic when you think about it.” Gerry responded. “For a long time big cattle raisers have been working hard using selective breeding to develop breeds that were better for producing meat or for producing milk more efficiently. They were very proud of the results they achieved. But there was this Irishman who wasn't fooled by all the bragging. He realized that this natural breed, which no one developed, was already top of the heap in both categories as far as efficiency. It was being over looked partly because the cattle were smaller and partly because no one had put any work into improving their brand. Those big cattle barons tried to discount them and called them the poor man's cattle, like that was a derogatory assessment of them. In fact they are a perfect fit for a family that cannot afford the more infamous breeds.” “So when the drought breaks and the grass is growing better again, are you going to move your cattle back home?” Martha asked. “We'll have to play that as it comes,” replied Gerry. “We can't afford to gamble on when the drought will break and my fields are growing enough again. When they do I'm considering splitting the herd between here and there. When we have good rain both places together could support a much larger herd. Until then we need to be cautious about making changes in the herd too quickly.” Liam, Sheila, and Shannon O'Hara were riding with Carl and Colleen in Gerry's truck. Liam was smirking a bit in the back seat as he asked, “So, let me get this straight, Carl. This is Gerry's truck, but you are driving it, and Gerry is driving Patty's truck but she is just riding along?” Carl suppressed a grin to reply deadpanned, “Of course, Liam. And Gerry is sleeping in my parents trailer while Patty is sleeping in Colleen's parent's trailer, while Colleen and I got married so we could take charge of the lodge that Grandpa and his wife were trustees over because they are going to be so busy building another lodge for themselves; you know that lodge you and I and the rest of our team are designing and working on right now?” Liam was silent for a while and Carl was waiting to see his reaction. Carl had developed a growing respect for Liam from working more directly with him recently. “Liam, I am just messing with you. I just wanted you to understand that not every decision that is made in our family will seem logical to someone who is not bound up inside of it.” Colleen giggled lightly and then added her perspective. “My Daddy, Bruce, thinks he is a very logical and structured thinker, but he shoots from the heart a lot more than he wants to admit, and I love him for that. He wouldn't consider separating Patty and Gerry into separate vehicles, right now, because what is going on with them is way more important than who owns what vehicle. Yet, like Gene Lassiter, she has volunteered her vehicle for our use, and he has too much respect for that to ask her to ride in a vehicle belonging to someone else rather than her own truck.” “But what about Gerry?” Sheila asked. “This is his truck and you two are taking it, aren't you?” “That's true, Sheila, but the heart wins over the rules.” Colleen continued, “Think about … First let me back up. Gerry is all in already. He is still adjusting to it but we took him into our family already. Yes, he is a partner to all of us, but Carl and I see him more as an older brother than as a business partner. Technically we are business partners with our parents and Carl's grandparents, but we see it more as our family working together in the family's joint effort rather than as a business with a partnership structure. Carl is just driving his older brother's truck right now so his older brother can work on the relationship he is developing with his sweetheart.” “So how about your parents?” Sheila asked. “Are you sure they see this the same way you two see it?” Carl stepped in to answer Sheila. “I have been paying more attention to Colleen's parents since we got married and I can tell that they are right there with my parents on this point. They all four are well beyond looking at Gerry as a mere business partner. Yes, it is much more like he is an adopted son, and I can tell you that they love him, already. Of course he was too old for them to legally adopt him, but they fully included him in the entirety of the family business without a second thought.” “What about Patty?” Liam asked. “If she and Gerry end up getting married, how are your families going to deal with that?” Colleen sounded confused when she replied, “I'm not sure what you are asking, Liam?” “I mean, if she gets married to Gerry,” Liam was trying to pick his words carefully, “Are you going to add her to the partnership and redivide the assets or the shares to include her all at once or do you have a waiting period to see if it sticks?” “Okay, Liam.” Carl replied. “I think I understand what you are asking. Please don't take offense, but you are not quite understanding what Colleen and I have been saying. Let me try to explain this in another way. The 'partnership' that we have is a collection of outward facing documents. They are not defining how we as a family have divided and shared our resources. The documents define how those outside our family can or legally must deal with us about our assets. Inside our family we deal with all of that based on our love and respect for each other. There are no rules, just love and respect. Inside our family a marriage is not 'all or nothing'. It is simply 'all and forever'. That is it. If Gerry and Patty get married there are no conditions or caveats allowed. It is a vow before the Creator and you do not mess up a vow like that. Period.” No one spoke for a while. The mood was sober but there was a peacefulness about it that was encouraging. Finally Liam spoke. “Thanks, Carl. I guess I was looking at things in the wrong way, wasn't I? So about that new lodge for your Grandpa, How big do you think it needs to be?” Carl replied quickly, I honestly have no idea how big it will need to be. A month ago none of us had any notion there would even be half has many people here as there are now. But, what I really want to do is to to completely finish it in to hold three families, Grandpa and Joann plus two more families, as quickly as we can. Once we get that finished, then we can look at what is needed next, and what lessons we have learned from building that.” “Carl I have to say, I am impressed with your approach to this project, especially for you being as young as you are.” “Speaking of 'as young as you are',” Sheila interrupted. “How old are you two, and how long have you been married? I'm sorry. I don't mean that to be rude. You two certainly act competent, yet you look so young.” Colleen answered Sheila. “We are both eighteen. Carl and I finished high school just a couple of months ago. We got married the day before Liam was picked up to start work here.” “So your two families left Texas and moved up here,” Liam said, “ and with the situation you found yourselves in you two quickly decided to get married?” Carl started laughing. “No, no, no. Look, Liam, Sheila. I'm going to tell you some things that even Gerry doesn't know that much about. Colleen and I have been best friends since preschool age. Our families lived next door to each other and even our parents became best friends with each other. As I got older, early high school, I began to recognize my feeling for Colleen were maturing as well. Of course as a teen aged boy I wasn't all that mature, and I was honestly very insecure about a serious relationship with a girl. With all the trouble caused in a big city due to the epidemic, our families grew that much closer. When our families started talking about things getting worse after the virus and about having to make some radical changes before it got too late, Colleen was starting to get very anxious. That really affected me to see her that way, so I decided to man up and tell her the truth about my feelings and my commitment to her. I wanted her to feel some security, because it was killing me to see her like that. What I did not realize until I told her, was that her anxiety was about the possibility of our families moving apart, separating the two of us. We were both in love with each other, but we had been too uncertain about the other one's readiness to commit to a permanent adult relationship. I proposed to her before our parents committed to moving up here together where Grandpa was already.” “So that part about you two getting married so you could manage the lodge...” Liam started saying. “Was, like I said, me messing with you, Liam. I just put a frame with different trim on it around a snapshot of the truth.” Carl finished Liam's sentence. “I don't care how you wrap it up or not,” said Sheila. “I think your story is a very sweet one.” Later that evening when the 'family' was having their meeting, Bruce was reviewing their plans for Monday. “Let's recap. Tomorrow morning after the cattle are tended, Gerry and Patty are going to drive Randy back to the radio supplier to pick up the remaining items that are on order. Colleen and Carl are going to stay here tracking their movements by manually adjusting the aim of the antenna. One of them will actually adjust the antenna and the other will operate the base station that we have now moved to the lodge.” Colleen interrupted. “Daddy, I think it would be a good idea to let April ride with Randy. He has been working hard on this, and April understands what is going on. There's plenty of room in the truck. They don't have any kids to take care of yet. I just think it would be a nice thing for them to have some time together away from here when Randy is just riding rather than focused on checking and rechecking his design and rigging.” Bruce looked a little surprised, but turned to Gerry. “Do you see a problem with that Gerry?” Gerry shrugged slightly. “Not a problem here. Patty and I get along fine with both of them. If it was just me driving and Patty was staying here it might seem a little awkward, but with both ladies coming along with Randy and I, it will probably be more relaxed.” “Sounds like a good idea to me.” Pete chimed in which surprised Bruce yet again. “Well, alright then.” Bruce replied with a bit of enthusiasm. “I missed that, but it is obvious with that many backing it we obviously need to do that. Next, we have a truck heading to Jemimasson for gardening tools and seeds and such. I get the feeling that Gerry and Patty made more of an impression of Mister Huffstetler than they realized, and I would like for them to just say 'Hi' to him, if nothing else. I would suggest we follow his advice, though and have them drive Gerry's truck this time. I am also thinking that Patty needs to use her phone again and contact her Father and maybe Frank, too. Pete and Joann mentioned some sisters wanting to help retrieve clothes and such. We ought to coordinate with someone on the ground, so to speak, inside Hollerton before we let anyone try to slip in and out of the lion's den. That is just my idea, and I will gladly listen to any other ideas on that subject.” Rob and Pete both voiced agreement with the latest ideas Bruce had shared. Bruce continued. “Carl is you involvement with the radio antenna going to cause a problem with your lodge building project? We have to keep that as a high priority.” Carl thought a moment and replied. “No, I need to be on the antenna adjusting the angle as we track Gerry's progress in the morning. I have to be on the handset to coordinate that with Colleen so if an issue or question comes up with my team, they can reach me by radio. As long as Randy can pick up that responsibility for the group heading to Jemimasson, it should not be a problem. He has already tracked a truck, or several trucks, on the road to and from Jemimasson, so that should not be a problem for him.” “Okay.” Bruce continued. “Now, who do we send with Gerry and Patty to get the garden supplies? I would think Joann and or Pete, but I don't know what kind of experience or significant input we have gotten from people in the group outside of our family.” Jenny spoke up next. “I know I am supposed to manage the food arena and Linda is suppose to be our chief negotiator, but I have two others to suggest for this trip. Susan Hinkley and Katy Richards are who I would recommend going along with Joann. They seem to have a lot of practical experience with fall gardens and cost effective measures to take with the garden production issues.” “I have to agree, Jenny.” Linda added. “I read the notes taken when the ladies were discussing the issues and those are the two that sounded to me like they had the broadest practical knowledge base on those issues. Besides that, I really enjoyed the last part of last week when we weren't living in the seat of a truck cruising up and down the country roads. I am starting to feel a hankering for putting some roots down. I know, I know. Go ahead and tease me. This former city girl is starting to get in to this country living. I found one of the ladies who is going to teach me how to make bread. Not biscuits or dinner rolls; I'm talking real honest to goodness hand kneaded wood fired oven baked loaf bread.” “That sounds fine to me, Honey Bear.” Bruce was beaming. “Until further notice, Linda is taking a sabbatical from supply runs in the trucks. I guess we are set for tomorrow. Gerry, you need to let the rest of the folks know the plans.”
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Post by gipsy on Mar 12, 2024 18:41:20 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by feralferret on Mar 12, 2024 22:24:33 GMT -6
Another wonderful chapter, pbbrown0. Thank you.
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Post by cashless1 on Mar 12, 2024 22:40:44 GMT -6
good one, thank you
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Post by sniper69 on Mar 13, 2024 3:53:45 GMT -6
Another great chapter. As always, thank you for sharing your writing talents with all of us here.
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 17, 2024 9:43:20 GMT -6
Post # 89 Friendly Deception ?
The trip to the radio supplier went smoothly. Patty and Gerry had enjoyed the company of both Randy and April on the way over. When they got out of the truck Randy's demeanor changed. He was suddenly tense and his eyes were darting around under the bill of his ball cap. There were no other cars on the small dusty gravel and clay parking lot in front of the store that was a former residence converted into a store. Randy turned his back to the front door and stood facing Gerry. “Gerry, Patty lower your head like we are talking together and looking at the ground. Try to look like you are uncertain rather than trying to hide. Kick some gravel like you are thinking through an uncertain decision while you are talking to me. There is a new security camera just under the eaves of the porch steps leading up to the front door. It wasn't there when Colleen and I were placing our order. Let's get back into the truck like you are chickening out on spending your money on a radio. We need to back out with the sun visors down and figure things out. Gerry and Patty were playing along. Gerry put his hands in his pockets and Patty moved in front of him with her back to the store. She started waving her hands like she was having an intense conversation with him and Gerry in turn shrugged his shoulders and kicked some gravel. Patty stepped closer and gave the appearance of poking him in the chest with her finger a couple of times. Gerry threw up his hands a little and then turned back to the truck. Patty all but stormed ahead of him toward the driver side door and waited for him to open it and let her in. Meanwhile Randy and April half turned to each other and gestured like 'what brought that on?' They proceeded to the back passenger side door and climbed into the back of the crew cab. Once they were all in Gerry backed his truck all the way into the street and drove away. He drove a couple of blocks and turned into the driveway of a house with some kind of notice posted on the door. “Okay, Randy. Talk to me.” Gerry said in a calm but firm voice. “I'll try to make this concise. Radio waves are regulated to keep them usable. It just won't work for civilians to jabber away on the same frequency as emergency responders use. You can't have a kid flying a remote control toy airplane using the same radio frequencies that are used by medical devices to fine tune a pacemaker in order to steady the rhythm for a person's heart. Some people in government think the more control the better, and others think there should be only as much as is absolutely necessary. Sometimes people who disagree on this get really twisted when the final decisions don't go the way they wanted.” Randy continued. “The radios you chose to use were intended to offer tons of freedom and capability for folks like us, but a lot of the bureaucrats were determined to keep limits on them. They seem to think the more versatile and long range a radio can function, the tighter the restrictions should be. Some congressmen wanted a simple set of regs for this class of equipment so they did some cut and paste on certain areas of the regs, like the restrictions on antennas and a couple of other common considerations. These legislators were limited in their understandingof the technology but were able to grasp that generally speaking at these frequencies the lower the power, the shorter the range. They were told that the power restrictions at these frequencies would put natural constraints on their reach and versatility. So they were very strict in the rules for manufacturers of the radio units, at least that is what they thought. What few people realized was that the ability to properly use repeaters required a programmable capability that went far beyond the original intention of merely allowing a business to stretch the range when they had multiple facilities ast some distance apart.”
Randy paused and no one spoke so he went on. “The bureaucrat tech heads hate the gaps in regulating these radios because we don't have enough restrictions to suit them when we stick to these frequencies and the products that are manufactured for these frequencies. We can use antennas that increase the range too much in their opinions. We can set up repeaters that are only limited by the permission of the land owners where we place them rather than having to plow through a complicated and draconian license morass that the bureaucrats control. So, they bend the laws trying to find out who is using the full capability of these radios. That way they can harass those who are pushing the envelope, and they nit pick them to pieces trying to find a violation or infraction so they can remove their right to use any radios, at all.” Gerry turned in his seat to look back at Randy. “So you are telling me now that you are setting us up to be harassed and targeted by government regulators?” “No, Gerry. I am telling you that this is one more case where a government agency is bending the law to do things that the law does not allow them to do. They are pressuring Ross Bartley to let them use a security camera to catch violators, who are not violating anything. They don't have a warrant for that but if Ross doesn't let them, they will find a way to ruin his business. They probably used the same tactics to gain illegal access to his order records, because he isn't wealthy enough to hire a lawyer to sue the government agency, and they know that. Because of wht I proved at that science competition, they now know with the stuff we are ordering, once we get it in place they won't be able to find where we are, doing stuff that is perfectly legal, but which violates their desire to have control over us that even the laws says they should not have.” Randy was getting very passionate about what he was saying, and Gerry was concerned about him getting too wound up. “Okay, Randy. I hear you. I just have to make sure I understand the risks here for the sake of what it means for my family.” Gerry was trying to reason with Randy without it sounding like he was discounting Randy's input. Patty has also turned so she could look back at both Randy and April. “Randy even if there was a video being made of us coming into the store, we are paying cash and there is no record of where we came from. How can that be a risk? I'm not saying it isn't a risk. I'm just trying to understand.” Randy looked down and shook his head. “I was about to graduate from High School, and I had recieved acceptances from several universities with strong technical and engineering departments. They were even offering full scholarships. The geek Nazis tried to intimidate me into signing a contract to work exclusively for them because of this science project I had done that caught their attention, just like it caught the attention of the universities. I would not play with them so they pulled a couple of radio licenses I had acquired a few years before. Then they went to the administrators at those universities and made it sound like I was a rogue violator of multiple federal communication laws, and if they took me in and supported my continued work it would make the institution and accomplice. They implied that would allow them to pull all the communications licensing of the school. This was coming from the agency that regulates WiFi, wireless phones, radio and television broadcasts, even the internet connections with other schools. After that I made myself disappear, but they still know me. I'm a long way from home, but if they get a picture of me it will wake them up and they will badly want to find me. I'm sorry.” “Don't be sorry, Randy. Just work with me here. How sure are you about them setting up that camera to look for you?” Gerry was persisting. “Oh, I don't think that one is about me, but it is about my ideas. They don't want any one running with my ideas because it gets really hard to stop once it gets started. I want to set up a repeater with a remote controlled directional antenna attached at either end of the mountain. I would really like to set up another one at your place, too. You know where you use to live. Then with some programming which was the real key in that science competition, we can skip our signal from the bases station back and forth among several repeaters in short bursts toward our target receiver. Your schema for changing the call handles around and basically code talking in short snatches actually adds to the effectiveness of this. When you put them all together it will make it super complicated for them to get a fix on where we are broadcasting from or to.” Randy relaxed a little once he began describing his design. He smirked and chuckled. “If we could add a couple of more users and base stations, maybe another repeater into our network we might even drive them to early retirement. I'm sorry. That was a vengeful thought.” Gerry kept pressing. “So you think the store owner is cooperating to help them catch whoever is using your ideas so they can track them down without having to rely on the radio monitoring to be able to find them?” “Yes and no.” Randy replied. “I talked with him. He's not the kind to cooperate voluntarily, and he will use any opportunity he can to find to get around their demand for cooperation as long as they can't nail him for being deliberately uncooperative.” “Do you think we can make contact with the store owner without getting him in trouble or getting ourselves caught on camera.” Gerry asked Randy. Randy got a gleam in his eye. “I'm willing to try.” he started to reach for the radio mic in front of the console, but stopped himself. “I need one of you to do the talking. I haven't practiced your code talking yet, and, more important, I'm also pretty sure 'They' have a voice print of my voice. I told myself a couple of years ago that I could never speak over the radio again.” Gerry looked over to Patty with a slight frown. “Randy, when you and Colleen were here last week was anything said about your call signs or your names? Did the owner have a clue about who you are from the agency's point of view?” Randy paused. “We introduced ourselves as Harry Potter and Song Bird. He got a chuckle out of that. He said we could call him Marty McFly. I think I messed up once and called Colleen by her first name. I'm not as into call signs as I once was back when I was actually talking over the radio once in a while, and I just forgot her call sign for an instant. I am not so sure McFly is really his call sign either.” “Good. It's even better if it isn't.” Gerry responded. “Did you get any feel for what he was thinking when you two were putting the order together? Was there any hint at the need for security or his grasp how you were going to use these pieces? I'm trying to get a feel for how risky it might be going through with this with him, and how I can communicate with him cryptically over the radio.” “Ah, yeah. He caught on pretty quickly that we wanted anonymity. I think that was why he used a bogus call sign. I mean really. McFly was more of a goof than a tech-head. Anyway he started figuring things out as I talked with him about the pieces I needed. He mention the location of the contest demonstration where I first presented my project. He knows what they are for. He even cautioned us about having the cash to pay for it, because using a card quote 'would be like waving a red flag at an angry bull and shouting come and get me.' Colleen pulled out her clip of money to show him and he rolled his eyes. He made some comment about it being a good thing he didn't have security cameras. Which I don't think Colleen understood. I haven't exactly told her all I've told you about my past.” Gerry leaned his head back on his headrest and closed his eyes for a minute. He said a silent prayer before asking more questions. “Randy, I have tried to talk with you before about being honest with me. I can sort of understand that you have been hiding a lot more than I realized for several years and it has become like a habit for you. I need you to really think, and tell me if there is anything else you should tell me now because it might possibly become an issue of an unexpected surprise for me if I find out later on that you had not told me about about yourself or your past?” Randy did not answer with any information he had left out, but he also did not deny that he was holding something back. Patty and Gerry both glanced at each other but did not turn to look into the back seat. They just waited. “Gerry, Patty, I'm really sorry, we've been lying to you.” Randy was somber now and hanging his head. “Patty, your Daddy was helping us for a while and we are really grateful, but we are not Randy and April Roarke. Neither one of us graduated from High School. When those guys from the government pulled that stuff with those universities, I was just a kid and it really scared me and … well it scared both of us. We got together with both of our parents. We all saw what the big brother folks were capable of doing. Rachel was amazing. She was steadfast in her commitment to me in spite of her parent's initial objections. The decision was that Rachel and I got very quietly married and then just disappeared before the school year was over. No missing persons report. Nothing to trigger a sudden flag to alert the government folks. We even left our phones at home. We took a photocopy of our old drivers licenses and our marriage license, folded up and tightly packed in our back packs and left one night ” Randy was in a zone as he recounted their tale. “I had the prize money from that science competition to help us get started until we could find a place to land. I bought a cheap tablet with cash. That let me hook up to the net with the customer WiFi's as we traveled. We stayed off the main highways and dodged the cities, which wasn't easy when you are hitch hiking and determined to stay alive, but you have grownup as a techie geek. We kept heading generally east away from the coast, but trying to avoid the Great American Desert. When we were getting closer to fall that year we knew we needed to make our way farther south. Finding our way to Hollerton was totally random. The only reason we stopped there was that Patty's daddy was so decent in his response when I asked about the possibility of getting a job. He went through the whole nine yards of getting me interviewed and such, but it threw him when I balked at the ID issues. He wanted everything legal and all, but it also got his hackles up when he wrested my story out of me. It took some doing, but he made arrangements with his lawyer so he could report my earnings and pay the taxes to the IRS and still assure my anonymity and hide my true location. Apparently I was not the only employee he was paying in cash after deducting all the withholding taxes to the various governments, but I don't know all of their stories.” Randy was lost now in his own thoughts. Gerry, too was thinking. “What is your real name, er, uhm, Randy.” Gerry wasn't sure how to even word the question, yet. 'Randy' scrunched up his face. “Don't laugh. I went by Kyle, but my real name is Hezekiah. Hezekiah Benjamin. And yes, there is irony about Rachel being my wife so her name is Rachel Benjamin.” Patty suddenly reached for the mic. “Folks, we need to talk about this at another time, like when we are heading home with the supplies that we came for. Kyle, what channel will Mister Bartley be monitoring?” “Mr. Bar... oh yeah. You mean McFly. He'll be monitoring lots of channels but use our channel 13. It is a low power channel and we are close enough for him to hear us with very few others even getting the signal.” Patty keyed the mic. “Peppermint Patty calling Marty McFly. Peppermint Patty calling Marty McFly. Come in Marty.” She waited a minute, then repeated. “Peppermint Patty calling Marty McFly. Peppermint Patty calling Marty McFly. Come in Marty.” she waited again. She tried a third time, “Peppermint Patty calling Marty McFly. Peppermint Patty calling Marty McFly. Don't be shy, McFly. I know who you are. Hermione just wants to be sure that Principal Strickland, Biff, or any of those clowns are not onstage for a performance right now.” A few seconds later they heard a response. “The curtain has dropped and the footlights are off. Waiting for you to queue up back stage.” Patty keyed the mic one time and set it down. “Okay guys, time to slip in through the back door.” Gerry started the truck and pulled into an alley way behind Ross Bartley's store. There was a gravel area there off the alley at the back of the store where suppliers could unload merchandise for the store. Gerry scanned the back area for cameras, then backed his pickup into a space near the back door. Patty grabbed the mic again and keyed it once, then double keyed it, then triple keyed it. Gerry gave her a puzzled look, and she replied. “How should I know? We haven't exactly worked out a code system with him yet.” Just then they heard a distinct pop like someone nearby had keyed their radio mic and released it one time. Gerry spoke to Kyle and Rachel. “You two stay here and keep watch. Actually, Kyle, you get up here and be ready to drive. We will make this quick.” Patty and Gerry hurriedly climbed out of the truck and moved toward the back door of the store, while Kyle climbed into the driver's seat. Gerry and Patty slipped inside without knocking or pushing the delivery door bell which was clearly marked. They found themselves in a large store room and a door opened ahead of them. A smallish man stepped in scowling at them. “I'm Patty. This is Wrangler. You must be Marty. Thanks for picking up on the conversation.” Patty reached out her hand like she was going to shake his hand. “Where are Hermione and Harry. Are they okay?” The small fellow asked. “They are keeping the truck running and avoiding any more cameras.” Ross Bartley smirked. “You saw the clown's camera, but you missed mine. Who is the girl with Harry? She is not the one who was with him before?” Patty answered. “Song Bird was with him before. She had other responsibilities to handle today. That new girl is actually his wife, if you can believe that. Now can we please move this along. Not to be rude, but this is a bit risky, remember?” Ross sighed and relaxed. “Here, the shipment is all over here. I'll help you get it out to the truck.” As they were carrying the boxes and packages out Ross kept talking quietly. “I had a hard time believing who he was at first. That kid is an underground legend. He didn't seem to understand that, beyond his caution about revealing too much. He seemed clueless about how widespread the repeaters are now. Of course it was his coding that tapped into the unrealized potential of the radios. Of course the feds absconded the code he included in his project, but the underground mavens have big dreams of someday rediscovering how he actually harnessed that potential. Oh, Hi, er, Harry. Is this really your wife? I am so pleased to meet you two. I know I can't tell anyone, but it just confirms for me that the legend is real.” Ross was practically gushing. Kyle looked totally confused. Patty and Gerry said they would keep loading while the other three were talking, but Gerry insisted that they keep their eyes open. “Don't worry, Wrangler. If someone pulls up in front or back, I'll get notified.” Patty and Gerry continued making trips back and forth as Ross talked with Kyle. Kyle did learn some things about his unexpected infamy having grown over the last few years while he was in hiding. It also was opening up new vistas in his mind contemplating how much effort was being pursued by users to increase the number of private and 'shared' repeaters even without their having figured out just how to fully utilize the potential of that loophole in the regulations. Kyle found himself taking great pains to emphasize to Ross the importance of not letting even a hint of where within the whole country he was hiding out. He told Ross that with these supplies he would be able to continue his work and eventually open it up for really widespread availability. But, he emphasized, if the goons tracked him down before it was all ready, then it might all be lost. He reminded Ross of what happened to that code that was briefly public after the contest. Now everyone laments that it got locked up before they had a chance to look at it. “Listen to me, Ross. I know you are excited, and so am I. But, the feds came to you just because of the equipment that you ordered for me, without knowing it was actually for 'me'. Think about what it means that they could even have known about this order from your store and that they sent a team here to install a camera. They have to be watching orders and purchases for specific combinations of supplies all over the country! If they even get a hint that people are starting to say 'the legend is real' in one region or another, think of how hard they will increase their focus in that area on finding and stopping me? You can't be the one who let that happen, can you?” When Gerry and Patty got the last of the equipment loaded in the truck, they notice a total change in Ross Bartley's demeanor. Suddenly he seemed to have his game face on like it was the last five minutes of a tight championship game. He stopped to shake hands with Patty and Gerry. He saw Patty reaching into her pocket and he told her to stop. “I can't let you pay me. I am going to see if I can doctor some recordings and then belatedly report this stuff as stolen or something. If you need more of this kind of stuff, buy it in smaller bits from scattered merchants. Take good care of Harry and Hermione, but don't come back here again. That would be taking too much risk.” Patty performed a very quick radio check as they were leaving town and they made good speed on their return trip. The four of them agreed that going forward they would keep referring to Kyle and Rachel as Randy and April. Gerry insisted, however, that he needed to talk with the family about the truth of the situation that was now surrounding them. He also forewarned “Randy”that there would be more questions for him to answer honestly. There would quite likely be some rules, as yet to be determined, that would need to be carefully followed because of this new level of risks. When they arrived back at the mountain, the three women, Joann, Susan Hinkley, and Katy Richards were ready to go. They would be taking Gerry's truck out again but it was loaded up still with the radio and antenna equipment. Bruce once again was kicking himself for his lack of foresight on that detail, but Gerry stepped in. “Patty?” Gerry said. “would you mind bringing your truck over here and backing it up bed to bed with mine so we can slide everything easily from one truck to the other?” “Great idea.” Patty replied and ran to her truck. Five minutes later she and Gerry were closing the tail gates on both pickup trucks and the new team was climbing into Gerry's truck. Gerry stepped over to Bruce. “Why don't you get someone to drive Randy up the hill to replace Carl, then bring Carl back down to his team. Let April stay up there with Randy to help out if he needs anything. Just leave all these supplies in Patty's truck for now. When we get back from Jemimasson we'll need a private meeting of the family to discuss some new information. We'll wait until Randy is in place for our first radio check, before we leave. I'll need to top off my gas tank before we leave, unless you want me to fill up while I'm on the road.” Bruce nodded. “I'd recommend you top off before you leave. We only used a little out of each of our trucks going to the meeting yesterday and our reserve tanks are pretty full. Better to have as much reserve as you can have, though. Do keep your eyes open for the prices out there. If you see a significant price anomaly anywhere give me a heads up and we can talk about that tonight, also.” Gerry ran through a checklist of things that needed to be ready for the trip including water and food, since he and Patty had not eaten, as well as checking out his truck for another trek of over three hundred miles. At the last minute he decided to hitch up the small cattle trailer, just in case. While Gerry had been talking with Bruce and getting the truck prepared, Patty had converted the center console in the front seat of Gerry's truck into a third seat. When Gerry climbed in he realized she was sitting shoulder to shoulder with him rather than sitting in the more comfortably cushioned and adjustable window seat by the passenger door. As he started the engine without making a comment she did have something to say. “I like this seat better, if you don't mind. If I get to crowding you just say so, and I can make more room.” she kept here eyes straight ahead looking through the windshield as he put the truck in gear and pulled away. Gerry responded softly, “That ain't gonna happen, sweet darlin'. Just ain't gonna happen.” Soon they were off and running down the road once again. Susan Hinkley and Katy Richards were very appreciative that they were being included in the team to go acquire gardening supplies, They also were effusive in expressing their appreciation for what the 'family' was doing for everyone at the Haven. They were not just giving generic thanks, either, they talked with enthusiasm about the many particulars and extra steps that to them showed how the family saw them as people who mattered. It was clear to them that this went beyond just keeping the hired help happy. When they arrived in Jemimasson, The trio of ladies were dropped off at a farm supply store, then Patty and Gerry got out her phone to call first Jim Decker and then Frank Rogers. Long story made short, nothing new had developed except that Patty very briefly thanked her Dad for how he had helped Randy and April. They did talk some, mostly with Frank about the issue with the clothes. Frank suggested that whoever the sisters and brothers were, they should talk by phone directly with him at the Hollerton end of it. He also recommended that Joann get the families to put down detailed directions for those Brothers and Sisters who would be coming to get the items out of their rental property. He promised to do what he could to get in touch with the landlords of their places to avoid any hiccups. He said he would be able to find out who the landlords were by cross referencing county property records with the employees address records from the store. When they finish the calls to Hollerton, Gerry suggested giving Mister Huffstetler a quick call. When they reached his secretary, she recognized Gerry's voice and told him that Mister Huffstetler was in a meeting with Mister Sterling at the moment. She said he would probably be available, and she was sure he would want to talk with them in about an hour. While They were waiting for Harry's meeting to be over, Gerry and Patty decided to check on the ladies. The ladies were very excited about all they had learned. They were thrilled about being able to buy seeds in bulk, but were somewhat disappointed in the limited variety of seeds that were available that way. They had however gotten some interesting advice from an old man that had worked at the farm store for many years. Now they were pouring out on Patty and Gerry all these new gardening ideas. This older employee had asked them more detailed questions about the surroundings for the garden area they were planning. He was intrigued about them planning to plant vegetables in the forest. Two of his main ideas stood out to the ladies. One idea was to build raised beds rather than planting directly in the ground. He told them that the forest likely did not have deep soil. And by gathering fallen leaves into the beds, then adding soil from the surrounding spaces on top they could work toward building better soil right where their crops were growing. Of course he urged them to be composting, but they were already doing that, even though they had only been there a few weeks. Especially with them planting on the side of a hill, the wood surrounding the raised beds would reduce the erosion of their garden soil if a heavy rain came cascading down the hillside. Another suggestion that caught their attention was doing cold frame gardening. Cold framing was traditionally used for starting seedlings earlier in the spring by building mini greenhouse like raised beds. With a light weight plastic covered frame for a top you had the green house effect to keep the seedlings warm in case of a light frost happening. As the weather warmed in the spring the seedlings could be transplanted or the covers could be removed to let the plants grow in place. His suggestion was to build the raised bed boxes to plant their fall gardens. When the weather turned colder they could have the plastic covers ready to add on. That would allow them to extend the growing season for their fall vegetable crops. One other advantage of raised beds that he pointed out, if you build them right, is that you can attach trellises or climbing structures to the sides to support plants that tend to climb or to lay their heavy fruits on the ground. Of course some vegetables like peas, beans, and cucumbers grow on vines and need something to climb on or they will tangle up everything else you are trying to grow. Lots of vegetables and fruits like squash, strawberries, tomatoes, melons and such have fruit that are much heavier than the vine or plant can hold up. If you provide a support for those, like a small sling tied up to long sticks or cut limbs crossing over the raised bed, the fruit is more likely to mature without becoming bug infested. He also pointed out the advantage of suspending light netting over the beds to discourage the birds from eating all your juicy produce before you can harvest it. With all this information getting the ladies excited about possibilities, Gerry decided his intuition about bringing the trailer may have been a good idea. He remembered seeing a garden section at the grocery store the last time they were in town. He recommended that they get in the truck and let him drive them over there to have a look around before they finalized their decisions about what to purchase. As they made the short drive Gerry was thinking of running over to a lumber yard to see what materials they might have for making the frames for the raised beds. He was parking in front of the grocery store when Patty spotted Harry Huffstetler and Jacob Sterling at the front door. The whole team climbed out of the truck and moved toward the entrance. Joann introduced Susan and Katy to Harry and Jacob. She mentioned that they were wanting to put in a fall garden and wanted to check out what Jacob had in the garden section of his store. Jacob immediately took his leave from Harry and and personally escorted the three ladies back there. “I didn't expect to see you two back so soon. How was your week?” Harry was his typical outgoing self and shook both their hands enthusiastically. “We had a really nice discussion at the Meeting Hall on Sunday.” Patty said warmly. “As for the Haven, things are moving along and getting better every day.” She grinned. Harry could tell that she was sharing more than mere niceties, but he did not have enough details about what they were doing at the 'Haven' for him to put the puzzle pieces together. “If you two are happy with the progress, then that is a good thing. My secretary texted that you were looking for me. What can I do for you?” “Nothing today, really.” Gerry replied. “We had to bring the ladies over for garden supplies and just thought we might say 'Hi' while we were here.” “Well, thank you. That's might friendly of you. While we are talking I might put a bug in your ear. The prices on beef are really leaping right now. We didn't get to talk much about that last time, but I know you have some cattle. This appears to be more than just the effects of the drought. Something else is squeezing the supply right now. If you are interested in selling or even just butchering some of your cattle for you, we can make you a sweet deal over the next week or two.” “Thank you, Harry. I'll think that one over. I appreciate the heads up. Patty and I need to look at some things in the lumber yard, so we'll let you go now. We'll keep in touch.” Gerry walked Patty back to his truck headed over to the lumber yard. Patty was asking, “How will you know what lumber to get for the planting beds? You never talked to them about the sizes or how many they wanted.” Gerry chuckled. “Patty have you looked at where we are living or the people you convinced us to hire. When it comes to wood, they have all the materials, tools, and skills they need to make anything they want to out of the 'woods' they are working in. I'm looking to get some screens, netting, cords, and plastic to help with the cold frame planters and for tying up the squash, strawberries, and such. They didn't mention it, but I've also seen plans for sun powered dehydrator frames. That will help us with storing vegetables, fruit, and even meat so it can keep longer. Our folks can work the wood from our trees and all those tools you and your Daddy provided, but we need screens to let the air flow through for the dehydrators and some kind of plastic to let the light in but contain the warmth and humidity in the cold frame planters. I would prefer some clear acrylic or Plexiglas for the cold frames so we won't be constantly replacing torn plastic sheeting. I'm pretty certain we don't want real glass. The trees in the forest are too prone to drop nuts and small branches from a pretty good height. Shattered glass is not something we want to be working around in our raised beds.” Gerry and Patty worked together considering the supplies they might need for the beds and dehydrator frames. Gerry had to describe in some detail for Patty, what he had seen before and what he remembered of how they had been designed, so she could better visualize them. It took almost an hour for Gerry and Patty to find and select the right supplies from the lumber yard. They loaded them in the small cattle trailer then they returned to the Grocery store where they found Susan, Katy, and Joann checking out at a register near the garden extension of the store's building structure. “What is it about you folks?” Katy was quietly asking Joann. “You and mister Jacob were calling each other Brother and Sister, and he gave you an 80% discount on any seed packets and 50% discount on any hand tools for the garden that are in stock. Is there some extended family tradition that he is obligated to honor, or is it some secret coop contract that you have?” “No, Katy, it's nothing like that.” Joann spoke quietly. She was aware of the employee checking them out who was following the directions of their boss. “Those of us who are members of one of the Brotherhood Congregations consider each other spiritual family and we love each other as much as, and in many cases more than, our physical brothers and sisters. There are many places in the letters the apostles wrote to the early Christian congregations encouraging them to be of one mind and to be bound together in brotherly affection. We take that guidance seriously, and within the Brotherhood those feelings have become palpable and pervasive. It is not like it is an obligation or rule to us; it's just the way we are. I think Brother Jacob senses something about what we are doing at the Haven, even though we have not told him about it. He owns this store and made a choice to help us by discounting some products that were seasonal and overstocked, so he can make room for the new stock that he will be selling more of once the fall gets here.” Joann noticed the checker, pausing as if a light was going on inside their head. Patty stepped closer. “So it looks like you are finding some things we needed, Joann. Do we still need to go to the Farm Store for other supplies?” Joann smiled. “Yes, Patricia, we do. They have some of the larger garden tools we need and also they have some bulk seeds in varieties that we decided we want to plant in larger quantities. Maybe after that we can talk about how much money we have spent and what we need to do about the raised bed framing we were talking about earlier.” Patty grinned. “Gerry and I already have that covered. We got a bunch of stuff from the lumber yard already loaded in the trailer.” Joann gave Patty a curious look, but did not say anything more at the moment. The team finished buying and loading all their supplies, and went through another quick radio check before getting on the road back to the Haven. On the way back Patty explained Gerry's thinking about the wooden forms and also his idea of making solar dehydrators. Katy was enthused about Gerry's thinking, because she knew how much her husband Jeff and his buddy Sam Kline enjoyed working the finer wood pieces and fitting them together with their practiced skills. They particularly enjoyed opportunities to fit them together and fasten them without using nails, screws, or even glue.
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Post by gipsy on Mar 17, 2024 10:07:13 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 23, 2024 12:19:13 GMT -6
Post # 90 Choosing
The family meeting after supper that night got interesting. There were several updates and reports on progress being made. There was some real interest generated in the discussion about raised bed planting, cold frames, and solar dehydrators. Carl was very open the the idea of Sam Kline and Jeff Richards focusing on building those out of the available wood plus the special supplies that Gerry and Patty had acquired. Once again Bruce did not question where the money for those supplies had come from, even though he knew he had not sent much extra above what they had agreed upon for the seeds and garden tools. Bruce carried inside himself a constant awareness of the cash they had, that is between his own and Rob's family, plus an estimate of what Carl had, and the rate at which it was being dispersed. He really did not know what Gerry's, Patty's, or Pete and Joann's cash positions were but he assumed those three had considerably less than he and Rob. Gerry did mention that Mister Huffstetler had raised the idea of purchasing some beef from them since prices were suddenly rising. He even mentioned giving us a really good deal if we just wanted to use his people to slaughter some cattle for our family to use at the Haven. That last part seemed to confuse Bruce and Rob until Gerry interpreted it. “You guys understand market economics, but your experience is in a narrower niche of business models. Small town businesses sometimes have a different perspective about their employees because of the smaller population. They see their employees in passing every day outside of work. If the available work slows down they are more reluctant to cut hours or reduce their employee numbers because those people they show to the door will be seen by them over and over for weeks to come. His mentioning the good deal on butchering means that not only are prices going up, but he is also worrying about supply lines failing leaving him with too little work for his meat cutters to process. He was very clearly stating that this is something much more than pricing fluctuations because of the drought. Oh, and one more thing, gasoline prices are roughly 8% higher than last week.” Pete brought up that Brother George Rogers, Frank Rogers brother, had dropped by the lodge today to talk about the clothing situation. He and his wife along with two other couples in the Bear Creek Congregation had taken it on themselves to take care of the issue. He had told Pete and Colleen to get all the families to write down the particulars, and their group would work with Frank to get all of their clothes and essentials picked up and brought to the lodge over the next week and a half. He also told them to talk discretely to the mothers about clothes that would be need in the fall and winter due to the kiddos having grown. Finally the discussions circled around to the project with the radios and antennas. Gerry had to give an abbreviated version of Randy and April's situation and their apology. Colleen and Carl were surprised but not shocked. There were some that seemed sympathetic but worried about the situation, while Rob and Bruce were growing more agitated. The arguments were being tossed back and forth, about repeated problems with Randy and his ideas being less that totally transparent. There were concerns raised about the cost of implementing something none of the family really understood, and which they were not certain would work anyway. The fear of this effort opening them to even greater scrutiny from the government. The anxiety and intensity of the discussion kept escalating the longer it went and even growing gradually louder as emotions got heated. Suddenly Pete stepped into the middle of Bruce, Rob, and Gerry and with very uncharacteristic firmness called a halt. “STOP! Right now!” There was a sudden silence. Pete started reciting scriptures, not like he was reading from a lectern but as if he were personally and passionately pleading with his own words, even though they were words from the scriptures. “Now I urge you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you should all speak in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you may be completely united in the same mind and in the same line of thought, earnestly endeavoring to maintain the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Make my joy full by being of the same mind and having the same love, being completely united, having the one thought in mind. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, fellow feeling, brotherly affection, tender compassion, and humility.” The whole feeling of the meeting had turned 180 degrees in just a few seconds. Pete stepped back and took Joann's hand. “Please listen to me a minute. I have something to say. A couple of years ago I left my old life behind. I knew then there was a storm coming, but that was not exactly why I left. I left because I needed to sort out some things about my life and who I was going to be when the storm hit. I can't state for a fact that God told me what to do, but I do believe He helped me find what was right for me to do, and Joann joined with me in that belief and effort. I have to tell you plain out, right now that finding a place so isolated that the storm would not touch us was not what we found was right for us to do. What we did decide was right for us was to find and build a place that might, for a short time, offer just a brief and loving respite for a few from the scary storm that was coming. We knew that storm, where the evil one was trying to cause as much trouble and terror as possible for God's children, was not one we would be successful in hiding from without direct intervention from the Creator himself. What we hoped for was to be able to show even just a few, whom the Creator saw fit to send our way, that there is a good God in this world that loves them, even if the world is turning into a nightmare.” Peter paused, looking around the group and making it clear he was not finished. “Rob, Bruce, we were stunned that you two brought your families here. You both did so, not because of your faith in the Creator, or because you were on board with what Joann and I were doing here, but because you were running scared from the danger you saw that was being generated by the evil one at work in this world. Your motivation was selfish. Your primary incentive was to keep control of as much of the wealth you had accumulated as you possibly could. Even if you ended up spending all of it you wanted to be the one to decide that rather than having someone else getting control of it. Then you got here and parked on the land Joann and I had acquired so you had a safe harbor or a haven until you could get your feet under you.” “But after you got here,” Peter continued, “You started changing in ways even you did not realize. The things you were longing for were transformed faster than you could pick up a pebble and toss it across the pond. Suddenly you were in a rush to give up control of all your wealth and gave control of that to others. I don't have to go back through everything that has happened in the last few months or go around the circle describing how each person here had been changed. The facts are that huge changes have taken place in the directions your lives were going and what you were planning to do next. These changes have been happening so fast and so far from what you expected , you would all be fools to think it was your idea or that you had any real control over the course events have taken you to where you are. Oh, yeah, and all along that way you were all so adamant that you had to keep everything a secret or it would all fall apart.” Peter took a breath and spoke now in a deep and very quiet voice. “Would anyone here dare to explain to me, with any semblance of integrity, how what they have done here was so different and more noble than what Randy was doing?” Once again there was a deafening silence. Finally Colleen spoke. “Daddy, Papa Smith, This world is scary. The more you know, the scarier it gets. The only way I know to get past that fear is to understand the reason behind it being the way it is. Carl And I started learning about that with Brother Isaac and are continuing to learn more about that with Grandpa Smith and Joann. I think it would help you to be less anxious if you were studying with them, or even with one of the other Brothers. Bruce peered into His daughter's eyes pondering what she had said. He glanced at his buddy, Rob, who was not looking at anything except the back of his eyelids. However the look on Rob's face was one of deep thinking rather than avoidance. Bruce turned back to Colleen. “I'm sorry sweet girl. You are right about the world getting scary. I apologize for letting that get to us. Pete, you are right about this too. I appreciate your wisdom in seeing this for what it is. I'll defer to your judgment, but it seems to me that maybe Randy needs some guidance from you as well.” Rob spoke up now. “I want to apologize to all of you. It was all there plain as the nose on your face, yet I was blinded to it. I'm really embarrassed about how I was so over the top on the wrong side of this. I am sorry. I also realize this apology needs to go beyond y'all right here. This argument got out of control and whether or not they heard the details, our guests are not stupid. They know we were in conflict and it was a serious rift. That put all of them at risk and will cause continuing anxiety among them, unless we reassure them in a way they can trust. At the same time we must not allow them to identify Randy as a scapegoat for their fears.” “Gerry,” Rob continued, “I know you have been our spokesperson to our guests, but under the circumstances, If you don't mind, I'd like to take responsibility for this apology. Considering my role in the conflict I think it should be me rather than you who communicates both the cause and the result of the conflict that they heard. Again I think this must be done without identifying Randy to the group while still communicating to him the sincerity of our apology and our acceptance of him.” Bruce interrupted here. “Rob, I think you are taking on more of the responsibility and belongs solely on you and I also think you will find it difficult to adequately apologize to Randy before the whole group, without giving clues as to who you are talking about. How about you explain our mistake generically to the group and them outside of the group meeting I can take responsibility for making our sincerity clear to Randy?” Jenny, who had been standing back from the intense arguing along side of Linda through all of this had an arm around Linda's waist as she spoke up. “We all have made mistakes of the past months, but Bruce, you and Rob have stayed steadfast friends through all of the stress we have been through. Even when big mistakes have been made, you two have been big enough to admit it without casting blame and without letting things fall apart. You have been a good team and still are.” “Okay, then.” Gerry responded. “We're all together in this. Tonight it's your show in there, Rob. And Bruce, you get the clean up after the lights dim.” Pete said a short prayer before the family trooped into the lodge. When they stepped inside the main room Rob stepped forward and Gerry hung back. “Folks?” Rob called out. “Y'all listen up for a few minutes. We need to get a few things straightened out.” The general noise level dropped off and people started turning to hear what Rob was about to say. “Let me start out by offering an apology. Our family was discussing some concerns about our situation and the discussion got pretty passionate. The fact is we are human and we don't always get things right. There are a lot of crazy things going on in this world and it gets a bit stressful at times. I know when the discussion gets loud and intense in a family, it usually causes some anxiety and uneasiness for those not included, especially for the young ones. We are sorry and we apologize for that. We also feel that because you are our guests we owe you an explanation of sorts for making you listen to that.” Rob paused to collect his thoughts. “I'm not going to go into the particulars, but the issue was about what some of us thought might become a risk to our secret place being discovered. You all know that has been a sensitive subject for us, since all of you first got here. Now I have to be really honest with you about this. We got into a heated argument that made us face the question of 'what are we really doing here and is that purpose realistic?' The bottom line is that we settled those two questions and decided what we are going to do, no matter what we use to think or what others think. We know that the troubles ahead of us will eventually touch everyone in hard ways. So the idea of completely hiding out to miss any and all trouble is a delusion. What we are determined to do, however is to be ready to offer a small and temporary haven, whenever we can, for those that the Creator sees fit to send our way. We want those who do come our way to be able to get a glimpse of the fact that there is a Creator who loves his children even if the evil one doesn't want them to believe that. That's why we are here and that, believe it or not, is why you are here. Y'all rest easy tonight, and we'll see you in the morning.” The room was quiet, until the family standing up in front of them started hugging each other, then dispersed into the room and started talking to the house guests. As the meeting disassembled that way, none of the guests paid much attention to Bruce walking over and shaking Randy's hand and talking quietly with Randy and April for several minutes. Gerry and Patty soon made their way outside and headed toward their nightly check on the cattle. As they walked Gerry started talking to Patty about planning a trip over to his place to check on the well and to see if there was any sign of the meadow grasses there recovering without the cattle grazing on them. He also mentioned that he wanted to ask if Pete and Joann might come along with them. About five minutes after Patty and Gerry reached the cattle, Bruce had joined them along with Colleen, Carl, Joe Hinkley, and Tom Wooley. They all repeated their routine of checking the water troughs, checking the level of the grass in the paddocks, and comforting the cattle one on one then letting the cattle follow their pattern of getting settled in for the night under the shade of the trees. The crew then headed back to the lodge except for Gerry and Patty. Those two detoured to the old camp site that Pete and Joann had set up originally. The small empty chicken coop was still there, as was the open sided shelter Pete and Joann had build to use as an open air kitchen and shelter for their stored goods. They still had tarps tied over those supplies to protect them from the rain that had never come. Gerry sat down on one of the bench seats and Patty joined him at the table where the family use to meet and eat. “This is where it started.” Gerry mused. “I had no idea then where this was going. I doubt anyone else, except maybe Pete and Joann had a clue at that time either. It seems so long ago and yet it was only a couple of months ago. At that point it was only a small patch of land. Pete and Joann were living in a tent right there.” He pointed just a few yards uphill from the shelter. “Patty, it's going to start raining in a couple of weeks. We'll need to get most of this stuff inside before that. I need to get with Pete and figure out what all is here and how we are going to work that so we don't get caught in a last minute rush.” He stopped talking and turned to look at Patty as the shadows were getting longer. “I'm hoping the rain comes early enough to get some more growth in my own fields; at least enough that we can get some of the cattle through the winter back at my place. We probably need to put up some hay just in case, but there is plenty of growth here to cover that for the whole herd. I want to breed some more of the cows, soon, so we have a good spring crop of new calves. With this many mouths to feed, and more coming, we need to be careful not to butcher too many before we can build the herd up more. It's going to take both locations to sustain a large enough herd to keep it from staying on the edge moving forward, don't you think?” Patty turned her head and looked at Gerry. “Gerry, I've never done this before but that makes sense to me. I trust you. We'll make it work. I'm guessing the men could use your help tomorrow with the construction project and I need to help Joann and the ladies get this garden thing going. I suspect we won't be riding together much for the next few days. Let's see how much we can help get things done around here for a change. Maybe we can get over to your place with Pete and Joann this weekend.” Gerry agreed and stood up from the rustic table along with Patty. Patty looked up and asked Gerry why he thought it was going to rain in a couple of weeks. Gerry pondered a moment. “I suppose you could say I'm hoping for that, but the truth is I'm praying for that because I think it would help a lot with things working out for us. If it doesn't rain soon there are a lot of things that will be harder to work out, at least in my mind. Of course I may be wrong about how I am seeing all of that. We'll just have to see what happens and deal with what actually happens in the best way we can figure it.” Patty was quiet as they walked back toward the lodge. “Gerry, before I met you all, I was getting more and more anxious about the changes that are coming. Studying with Joann and even seeing with my own eyes what has been happening lately, has convinced me that things are actually going to get worse than I had been imagining before I met you all.” Gerry reached around Patty and hugged her shoulders with his right arm as they walked. Patty leaned into him just a bit and continued quietly. “Gerry, the crazy part is that now, rather than worrying or dreading what might happen next, I am looking forward to tomorrow, every day now.” Gerry continued along that line of thought for her, “...and everyday I am grateful for the day that the Creator just granted me.” Patty smiled to herself. “I have to agree, Gerry. That's the way I'm seeing it, too.” She slipped her left arm around Gerry's back. Gerry in turn gave her right shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Patty, let's get on back to the lodge and have our Bible study time with Pete and Joann. I want to talk with them about our plans for this coming weekend.” Gerry's energy had suddenly risen from the leisurely stroll through the forest they had been taking together. He reluctantly dropped his arm from her shoulder and stepped to the side just a smidgen. He caught her left hand in his right and picked up the pace of their trek through the woods. For the rest of the week all of the family and all of the guests stayed at the Haven. Periodically Brother Rogers would appear unannounced at the main lodge with a load of clothing and incidental items for one of the guest families. The ladies at the lodge became curious and asked Joann if this “brother” was driving all the way to Hollerton and then to the Haven by himself. Joann explained that Brother Rogers had known the location of the Haven, before any of the menfolk had started working here. As a precaution, only a few couples in the congregation were making the trips to Hollerton to retrieve their clothes. Once they got them to Bear Creek, they were transferred to Brother Rogers so he could get them to the families on the mountain without adding to the number of people who know the actual location of the Haven. It didn't take long for some of the mothers to come back to Joann to inform her of something having gotten crossed up in the process. It seemed that the mothers were finding a number of children's clothes in the bundle for their families that did not belong to their children. Apparently the brothers and sisters were getting things mixed up in the transfer process. Joann reassured them that those clothes had been added to the bundles because they were assuming that the children would be outgrowing their clothes over the course of a year. If the newer clothes did not fit they were free to hold on to them until the children grew into them. They were also free to trade around with each other to find clothes are a better fit for their children. One of the mothers, Becky Ross, was stunned. She asked if Joann and her family were paying for this or if someone in the congregation was helping arrange for the extra clothes. Joann responded that she had not arranged any of it. She had provided children's approximate ages at the request of the brothers and sisters she knew about, but she had not been told who had bought or collected the extra clothes. It was all done anonymously as far as she could tell. “Ms. Joann, I don't understand.” Becky seemed very confused. “Arnold and I have not been visiting at the congregation meetings like some of the others. I can almost understand if some one has seem some of the families coming to meetings and wanted to encourage them, but surely … they don't have a clue about who we are. Why would they want to help us?” Joann paused a minute. “Becky, do you remember what my stepson said last night about why we are here?” Becky was hesitant. “Well, he was saying something about the Creator loving his children. Wasn't he?” “That's right, Becky. We are here because we believe that and because we want some other folks to understand that. Do you know the story about the good Samaritan?” Joann asked. Becky rolled her eyes. “I'm not real good at remembering Bible stories. I never went to Sunday School when I was growing up.” “That's okay, Becky.” Joann replied gently. “Let me see if I can help you. We ought to sit down together and read it sometime, but long story short, it teaches a principle. It doesn't matter how religious you think you are or want others to think you are. If you can't show kindness to your fellow man when they are right there by you and you see them hurting, then what good is all that religion you claim you have? In the Brotherhood, we try to apply those lessons that we find in the Bible. Does it make more sense to you now, Becky?” Becky was thinking hard about that. “I don't know, Ms. Joann. Maybe it does. If you manage to find out who paid for those new clothes, could you tell them 'thank you', for me?” “Rather than trying to find out,” Joann replied. “I think I will just pass that along to Brother Rogers, for him to pass along to the right people.” “Thank you, too, Ms. Joann.” Becky said, just before she hugged Joann's neck. Randy was working diligently on his radio system set-up. There was a lot of coding and testing of the coding to see that the signal pathways were being activated correctly. He was doing this on lowest power channels and with small antennas to the signals would not be picked up any where off of their mountainside. Once he was sure of the functioning, he would have to get help setting up the antennas and the repeaters in the proper locations, along with the remote controls for the antenna aiming motors. The work on the new lodge was moving rapidly now. The plan was to build out the core of the lodge first, all the way to completion. Then they would start work on the residence and restroom modules. The team had determined it was impractical to get a load of concrete up to the site to pour a concrete slab for a foundation. Instead they had chosen to lay a foundation of crushed rock on top of a large natural, mostly level slab of stone on the side of the hill. Crushing the rock had been physically challenging. Once the rock was in place and leveled they had used materials available nearby to pack those crushed in a hand made cob of clay, sand and dried grass. After packing and tamping down the rock and clay mixture they smoothed out the surface and carefully leveled the surface. The next step was to cut heavy planks from tree trunks then and lay them on the foundation. The ends and edges of these thick pieces were carefully grooved and notched along the sides and ends so that when they were tamped into place with mallets, they formed three dimensional locks to prevent separation vertically as well as on two horizontal planes. This was a special feature that had been designed into the plans by the wood working experience of Sam Kline, Jeff Richards, and Tom Wooley. They had used these principle in building all wood furniture, but this was a first for them, trying to apply these techniques to such large pieces of wood. The next step had been to build a low stone wall, combined with foundation buttresses surrounding the slab and heavy flooring. Rather than using rebar, these cob and stone outer structures were interlaced with long, thin sapling trunks and tree limbs that had been seared over a fire. They had to form passage ways through these stone walls to allow for doorways to be built. They also had to form log grooves and anchor holes in the stone walls to hold anchor pegs holding the wall logs firmly into the top of the stone walls. They also formed mortises in the stone walls at the doorways so the door frames could be securely fastened to the lower walls. This whole work process had been started the previous week, but with all the men focused on this project by Friday afternoon the wall cap logs were being trimmed, tapped, pegged, and pounded into place. In spite of the hard work all day long, a few of the men had been working after supper to get the planting beds built and to gather enough soil to add the the leaves gathered by the women and children. Friday afternoon they were actually planting seeds and carrying water to the beds to water the new plantings. A few of the adults were thinking how nice it would be to have plumbing in place to simply turn a faucet on to water the planting beds. The younger children, on the other hand were feeling good about being able to do something that was really helping, like carrying a partially full bucket of water to the garden bed so the plants could have water. At the Family meeting after supper on Friday evening, Pete raised a new issue of a different sort. “Rob, Bruce, I don't have to tell you that I am pleased you two have decided you want to start having a regular Bible study time with me. I've been doing that with Carl almost since we got here. Gerry and I have been doing the same for several weeks now. Joann has been essentially mirroring that with the ladies, including Patty, if y'all remember our early connections with here. We haven't been been discussing with everyone about when all of these Bible studies have been going on and with who, because it is a personal thing for each person. Among those personal aspects has been when, how often, and whether or not the time is being shared with another 'student'. The reason I am bringing this up is that Joann and I have been getting requests this week from some of our guests for study time with us. There is also our concern about Isaac and Mark James. We have gotten very busy in the last few months, but we must not forget the importance of the work that was done before we ever arrived to make this possible. Brother Isaac and Brother Mark have missed the last two Sunday meetings of the congregation and I did not hear any mention of their absence. I feel a need to renew our contact with those two brothers, and to sustain that contact as much as possible. What this all boils down to is that I need to make some adjustment in my schedule in spite of the urgency of several projects we have going.” “Grandpa, That is not something that should be on you alone.” interrupted Carl. “Brother Isaac was very instrumental in Colleen and I joining the Brotherhood and without him, we would all be in a dire position right now.” “I can't argue with your logic there, Carl,” put in Joann, “but I'm also sure that if you tried to tell that to Isaac he would humbly disagree. He would say something to the effect the he has just been one more tool being used by the Creator to achieve His intentions.” “Yes,” said Carl with a calm intensity. “But Isaac has been a very willing tool, as we all need to be. You cannot tell me that the Creator has the same attitude toward unwilling servants as He has toward willing servants. A faithful servant deserves respect.” “You are right, Dad.” Rob responded. “We can't neglect things that are important, just because other important things are closer at hand or in our face, so to speak. Help us figure out how to help with this, and we will do what it takes.” “Thank you son.” Pete nodded to Rob. “Joann and I need to be away tomorrow. I'd like to have Gerry and Patty come along, because we might need help getting Isaac and Mark to the meeting on Sunday. That means the rest of you will have to arrange for getting everyone else to the meeting who wants to go. I know Carl and Colleen want to see Isaac again, but I want them to be here in charge of the lodge while Joann and I are away. They will have to see Isaac and Mark at the meeting on Sunday, and we'll work out something more regular for the following weeks. Joan and I are going to try to schedule for Bible study times in the evenings and on Saturdays so there will be less disruption of work schedules. We will also see what we can do with small group Bible study times when we can.” After the family meeting dismissed Bruce was quietly asking Linda what Pete was really getting at with that non-problem he brought up. Linda raised one eyebrow. “Pete was doing his own version of code talking if you ask me, sweetie.” Linda was trying to hold a smirk that kept slipping into more of a grin. First of all he was forewarning us that he and Joann are expecting more people asking for study time with them. That statement Rob made earlier has apparently stirred up some family conversations among our guests. You have been coordinating transportation for running a lot of errands in the last month. You might start thinking about handling more people wanting seats at the Brotherhood's meeting hall than we have seats in all our vehicles. These people are starting to realize how fortunate they are to be working here rather than still scrambling to put food on the table out there.” Now Linda began to grin with a twinkle in her eye. “As romantic as you are, my love, you surely could read the code about Gerry and Patty helping him with Brother Isaac.” Bruce thought about that for about one second. “Colleen and Carl who spent so much time clinging to what he was teaching them until he shocked them with handing them their dream in a neatly tied up package? Yeah, I kind of picked up a subtle clue when he did that business about needing them to keep charge of the lodge.” Bruce was grinning and shaking his head from side to side as he chuckled. “I wonder just how Joann and Pete are going to help those two move this along?” Linda smiled. “That's not their style, Brucie. They are probably just going to help them feel comfortable and ease their anxieties without them realizing it. You don't suppose Isaac has another hideaway that Pete thinks he might hand over to Gerry and Patty to manage, do you?” “Ha, Ha, Ha.” Bruce burst out laughing until he got himself under control. “No, Gerry already has a hideaway, that nobody thought was worth the trouble, but he made something impressive out of it, anyway. What's more likely is that talking with that studious old man might prompt Gerry to do something even more noble and impressive with what he already has.” “Do you mean something even more noble than working hard to provide for and raise a family, teaching them about loving each other and treating others with respect and fairness?” Linda grinned with not so mocking a tone. Bruce turned directly to Linda. “Seriously, Honey Bear. You get what I'm talking about. Don't you?” Linda spoke with an uncharacteristic soberness in her response to him. “Yes, I do Bruce. We worked really hard to rise above our past to make something good of our lives. We didn't do bad considering everything, but now ... I have a hard time imagining where we would be if it hadn't been for Rob's Dad being so generous and accepting of us. Then there was Isaac and how he took Colleen and Rob under his wing. Can you picture what a mess we all would be in if it hadn't been for Isaac's foresight? Even Isaac's father played a role in that. And there was more, wasn't there? The affects of Isaac and Pete on our children and on us. Could you imagine us as we were six months ago doing for and with all of these families what we have done just in the last month? It feels good, doesn't it?” “Yes, Linda. It does feel good. It is a little intimidating, but it feels really good.” Bruce reached over and pulled Linda into a long and tenderly loving hug.
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Post by gipsy on Mar 23, 2024 13:16:32 GMT -6
Thanks for the new chapter
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Post by feralferret on Mar 23, 2024 17:09:36 GMT -6
Pbbrown0, another fine chapter! Thank you.
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Post by rep1270 on Mar 24, 2024 7:30:32 GMT -6
Thank you. Ralph
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 28, 2024 17:05:51 GMT -6
Post # 91 Gifts From The Creator
Early Saturday morning Gerry and Patty were out tending to the cows and checking the fields where they had been grazing. As they had become accustomed to doing, the cattle were moseying out from under the trees to come and greet their handlers. Gerry and Patty told the others who came to help that they would not be there that evening nor the following morning, so they were depending on their help in keeping the cattle until they had returned. As soon as breakfast was over Gerry, Patty, Pete and Joann climbed into Patty's truck and headed careful through the forest toward the west. Gerry was being careful because he had not taken this route but two times before and he did not want the ride to be any rougher for his passengers than necessary. It was about a half hour later when they pulled up in front of Mark James house. Pete had called ahead on a hand held radio to alert Isaac and Mark that visitors were coming. Colleen was taking responsibility for monitoring the base station from the main lodge and listening for any issues that might arise. Randy had not quite completed his work on the new setup so the base radio was using a standard antenna and a repeater up on the mountain which would be able to reach the truck radio as far as Bear Creek and also keep a link until they reached Gerry's farm, this side of Rockston. Randy had assured them this interim setup would be a relatively safe configuration with both the base and repeater units broadcasting from two relatively near points. They would essentially be sending duplicate signals from two different points. The micro delay in the repeated broadcast signal from nearby would effectively blur the signal source location for any devices trying to pinpoint the broadcasting device. Brother Mark invited the four of them inside and Pete introduced Gerry and Patty to both Isaac and Mark as two new Bible students from the Haven. They all sat down and spent a while catching Isaac and Mark up on developments and progress at the Haven. Isaac seemed pleased with the news, but his interest gravitated more toward getting to know Gerry and Patty, than to all the logistics of getting the Haven up to full speed. After nearly an hour, Gerry again tried to redirect the conversation toward Isaac and what he had done getting the Haven established in the first place. That wasn't easy, because Isaac was very skilled at answering questions with other questions. It wasn't so much a way of dodging responses as it was Isaac's curiosity about why the question was being asked and what the questioner was thinking that had prompted the question. After a bit, Pete suggested that one of the reasons he and Joann had brought Patty and Gerry to meet Isaac was so they could enjoy some Bible study time together. Once again that prompted some questions from Isaac. “Before we start that,” Isaac mused. “Why don't you to young folks tell me why you want to study the Bible.” Gerry grinned back and Isaac and said, 'I think I will be as courteous as possible, not meaning to put Patty on the spot, of course, and let Patty give her answer that first, if she doesn't mind.” Patty gave Gerry a playful smirk and started, “Isaac, fortunately I have learned that Gerry really is trying to be polite, or I might have accused him of just delaying so he didn't have to answer first.” Isaac did not comment, but he did raise one eyebrow slightly. “Isaac, when I was a little girl, my mother would read me Bible stories and then talk with me about them. It gave me a sense of security as I started learning that there were truths to be learned beyond what was immediately apparent on the surface of what you observe. In recent times I have become more and more concerned about what I was seeing on the surface of things, but my mother is not here to talk with me about what is beneath the surface of things. I met Joann and her, uh ... stepdaughter, Jenny, and they began showing me that my mother was on the right track with finding answers in the Bible. They also began to show me the Bible not only helps us to better understand things, but it also gives hope for things to finally getting set straight.” Gerry paused as he considered what Patty had said, then he turned to Isaac. “Mister Gambrell, I'm kind of like Patty, in that my grandfather taught me about the Bible being full of more wisdom than you'll find anywhere else. I've been thinking more recently that a treasure chest of gold isn't worth much unless you understand how to get the most out of that gold. I want to find out from the one who created us how to get the most out of the life He has given to us. I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so it would be kind of stupid for me to think I can wing it, just flying by the seat of my pants and figure out the best way to live my life.” Isaac looked at Gerry a moment, then he asked, “Gerry, how about you quit talking in analogies and figures of speech. Just tell us what you really want to get out of studying the Bible.” Gerry was taken aback by Isaac's blunt question. He was starring at Isaac for a minute. Then he looked around the table at everyone there like he was searching for the answer to that question. Finally he looked back to Isaac and said, “I want to learn how to build a family that does not get screwed up, because I didn't know what I was doing as a father and a husband. I figure that if I learn from the Bible how to do that, I will likely learn a few more things about living the life of a good person in addition to learning how to do the right things as a father and a husband.” Isaac was considering what Gerry had just said. “It sounds like it is very important to you to be a good person, a good father, a good husband. Do you really have questions about what it means to be good?” Gerry grinned at Isaac. “What is this? A test to find out how much I know about the Bible? Well here goes. The reason the whole world is … so messed up is because Adam and Eve bought into the lie that they could figure out what is good and what is bad without any help from the Creator. We all see how well that turned out, don't we? Like I said I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I don't want to be stupid enough to deliberately keep repeating that terrible mistake.” Isaac was chuckling, and then laughing, then looking up at the ceiling and shaking his head gently side to side. “Gerry, I admire your clarity and freshness. I don't know why you were masking over things before, but if you are going to keep up this focus on the root of the matter, I would love to study the Bible with you anytime.” For the next two hours the six adults were involved in a lively Bible study. It was lively because they actually talked about how the ideas they found in the Bible spoke to the very things they were seeing and dealing with in the world today. It was also lively because the discussion kept reminding Isaac, Mark, Pete, and Joann of other passages they remembered which related to the current topic being discussed. Isaac made a point of addressing Gerry's desire to learn about the best ways to build a good family, but he limited the time spent on that topic. “Gerry, you need to understand that studying the Bible takes more than reading a few verses on a topic and thinking you are done. It takes time for all the truth that you find to sink in. It also takes time to cut away the false notions you may have acquired over a lifetime of being exposed to the lies of the world. There are more passages than you can imagine right now which offer guidance in how to make your family strong and good, but also there are countless examples of those who did not follow the good principles and the misery those failures brought to the families involved.” Eventually Gerry mentioned that they needed to be heading over to his farm to check on things. Patty brought up what she already knew was on Gerry's mind. “Mister Gambrell, we've noticed that you and Mister James have missed a couple of congregation meetings. Would it help if we came by tomorrow morning and help the two of you get to the Meeting Hall?” Mark and Isaac both looked to Patty and then Gerry. “Miss Decker, that would be very much appreciated.” Isaac replied with more emotion than expected. “Brother Mark and I manage as best we can to help each other here at Brother Mark's house, but we have accepted the fact that our driving on the roads is just not safe for us or anyone else anymore.” Patty looked up to Gerry, who was already standing. “We would be more than happy,” Gerry said, “to help you two get to the meetings on Sunday morning. We understand that is something that means a lot to both of you. We will be here to pick you up about a half hour before meeting time.” Mark James did not try to stand, but Isaac pushed up on the table to stand and to steady himself. He reached out his hand to Gerry, and said, “Young man, I cannot tell you how glad it makes both Mark and I to hear you offer that. That would be such a blessing to both of these two feeble old men. This time with Brother and Sister Smith and you two young folks has been such a joy for us. Thank you all so very much. Consider our door open to you at anytime and for any reason.” The foursome took their leave and got on the road through the town of Bear Creek and on north and then eastward toward Rockston. They briefly checked in with Colleen by radio and did not check in again until they had arrived at Gerry's farm. Upon getting inside Gerry's house Joann looked around just a bit before shooing Gerry and Patty outside. “You two have been eager to get here and check things out. Go on now while I get some lunch together for everyone.” Pete stayed to help Joann, but Patty and Gerry were quickly out the door. Gerry went first to the pump control panel to check the gauges and circuits. There was still enough water in the reservoirs for their stay today, but he went ahead and turned to pump circuits on to see how much fresh water might be pumped from the well today. The solar panels had been keeping the battery bank charged, and the charge controllers had been doing their job to keep the batteries from being over charged. Gerry took Patty's hand and started walking toward the fenced in pastures. He studied the grass and sedges along with the broader leafed native 'weeds'. He checked out the brush and forage plants at the perimeter of his fenced paddocks, too, talking to Patty all along the way about what he was observing and considering. He stooped in multiple places to dig carefully into the dirt with his knife to check for soil moisture and to examine some of the plant roots. “Patty it looks to me like there is good news and bad news here. The soil moisture is all but gone until you get several inches down. Plants and grasses with shallow roots have dried up like I haven't seen before. I don't know if those are still dormant or really dead. I don't know about tiny seeds they may or may not have dropped to sprout back when the rains come again. The good news is that a number of the plants and grasses have deeper roots and there is still some moisture in the ground if you dig deep enough. Most of those plants have gone into a semi-dormant state. They are not putting on more growth sensing the sparse moisture available, but the leaves are still viable, keeping the plant and the roots alive and functioning. Those are ready to respond quickly as soon as they get some rain.” Gerry was thinking out loud, but also informing Patty of his observations and assessment. After lunch, Gerry wanted to do something different. He had been talking and mulling over the state of his fenced fields and the potential of rain when the weather started turning cooler. But it had been a while since he had looked at the rest of his property. His fences only enclosed a portion of his property, because he had been working to build up the quality of the soil and wanted to have some areas of usable soil as quickly as possible. There were only so many cattle he could tend by himself, and a limit to the number of acres that many cattle could help improve in just a few years. When he had first bought the property it was generally hilly and the vegetation was sparse. It was basically land that was seen by most people as worthless. He had bought the plot of land for barely over $100 per acre from a family who had done nothing with it, other than pay minimal land tax on it, for several generations. In all that time no one but Gerry had approached them with a query about buying it. He had managed, just barely, to swing a deal for buying a clean quarter section (160 acres or a half mile by a half mile). Of course, having been a part of the original Louisiana purchase the parcels here were laid out in a meticulous grid of squares, with slight adjustments every six miles to compensate for merging lines of longitude, totally ignoring any natural geographical features like stream beds, cliffs or ridge lines. On paper that looked nice and neat, but on the ground, especially on hilly or mountainous land it sometimes seemed like a bunch of nonsense. Gerry and Patty were trekking along heading away from the area familiar to Patty. There were scattered trees and scattered vegetation with a lot patches which had little soil and mostly bare rock or cracked and broken rocks. Patty was struck by the difference between this part of the land and the fenced acres about a hundred yards behind them. “Is this what those pastures looked like when you bought this land?” Patty asked Gerry. Gerry looked around a bit. “Not exactly but close. I chose that other land to work into the first pastures because it was flatter so there was less erosion. It had about an inch of poor soil in some places, less in others. The big factor was that the rain did not flow off as fast so the moisture soaked in to what soil there was, and some had time to seep into the pores of the rocks. At first the pasture areas were closer to being like this than to what they are today, though. It took time and easing the cattle into it gradually for the soil to build up to where it is now.” Patty was dumbfounded. They crossed up over one of those ridge lines at an angle and Jerry stopped. Ahead of them the hill side sloped down at a moderate slope to a sizable gully followed by the slope ascending to another ridge line about a hundred and fiftyyards away. To their left the hills and ridge lines gradually ascended even higher for a couple of miles. To their right the gully gradually descended between the hills until it reached a pile of rocks and debris, including a few large thick slabs of rock. How far does your land boundary reach,” she asked as her eyes swept the terrain. Gerry didn't respond right away, but after a few seconds he answered quietly, “Almost but not quite to the top of that ridge across the gully. It stops about four hundred yards up that way,” he pointed to his left, “and then down just a ways past that landslide.” He nodded down the gully to his right. Patty looked at the rocks and pile of earth that disrupted the down hill terrain lines of the small valley between the two hills. She could not determine by looking from this distance from which side of the valley the slide had come into the gully. “How long ago did that happen?” she asked. Gerry was still staring at it and talking like he was half listening to her but was deep in his own thoughts. “I'm not sure. I haven't been over here to look around since winter right after our last good rain. There was a pretty good flow of water down the gully then and the cut down there was steeper then. I've seen worse torrents coming down this gully before. When it rains up in those higher hills, there just aren't enough trees and vegetation to catch and slow the down hill flow. I check on it from time to time to see how much erosion there is on my property, especially in this valley, but with all the rock here it doesn't seem to change much, until now. I'm guessing the periodic torrents finally undercut some of those larger slabs on that pile just enough. They must have broken loose during one of those earthquakes we had.” Gerry still seemed lost in his own thoughts “Are you ever going to be able to use this rocky land over here for anything useful? It doesn't look to me like it is any good for grazing, plowing, growing trees, or anything else I can see.” Patty sounded pretty skeptical. Gerry turned and started walking back toward the house with Patty. “It will take time and a lot of work, but it can be improved. I want to bust some holes in this rocky hill, nearer my current fields, to plant some trees and bushes that can provide forage. Then we can gradually introduce some cattle into the fringes. They will gradually add organic fertilizer, and the trees and bushes will break up the rocks and provide some shade. Gradually the land can be rejuvenated just like my other fields. Who knows, if the roots start breaking up the rocks, and the bushes and trees provide food and shelter for small animals and birds, this land might begin to flourish.” Patty began to see the potential that Gerry was talking about. She thought about what he had said about the state of his current pastures back when he started, and how productive they had become until the drought hit. That was a critical factor though. Without adequate water it just would not work. She was daydreaming as they walked together and saw in her mind's eye rains falling down and running down the slopes. She pictured the cattle where they were now at the haven with the rain coming down and filling the creek. She thought about Gerry's cattle here at his place in the rain. She pictured herself and Gerry herding their cattle into their barns here to get them out of the cold winter rain. “Gerry! We need to build some shelters for the cattle at the Haven. Winter is coming and so are the rains! They have adapted to this dry summer heat and the cold rains will be hard on them.” Gerry stopped in his tracks. “You're right, Darling. I've been so busy looking at things day by day and way off in the future, I'd forgotten that time in the middle.” Without thinking he leaned over, caressed her cheeks in his hands and gently kissed her. Then he wrapped his arms around her giving her a big hug. “You are a treasure and a Godsend, Patty. I am so glad you are here with me.” After a second, it dawned on him what he had just done and said. He eased out of the hug and leaned back wondering how Patty would react. When Gerry eased back he stood there starring at Patty with a confused uncertain look. Patty was trying to read his face for a second trying to decide what to do. The only thing she could think of was, 'Don't blow this, girl!' She reached up to wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips. She pulled back just far enough to say, “That's exactly how I feel about you, too, Gerry.” Gerry was still looking down at Patty. “Patty, you don't need anymore uncertainty about us and I don't want that either. No more dancing around how we feel or where we stand with each other. The only thing that has been holding me back is my concern for you. I don't want to mess this up because I don't know how to do family right. My family life growing up was not exactly a shining model of healthy stability. I want to do this right, really right, because I want to do the best job I can, better than I know how to, for you, because I'm in love with you.” “Gerry Kerry, nobody is perfect,” replied Patty, “and nobody will ever make himself into a perfect person no matter how hard or how long he tries. But you are perfect for me. I will pick your commitment to keep doing your best over waiting forever for you to finally learn how to be perfect. The commitment to be loving and steadfast doesn't have to wait. The achievement of perfection is a false dream. I choose you and what you are already doing, rather than what you wish you could be. I already trust you, Gerry. Please trust me.” “But Patty, I want you to have the best of everything. You deserve a better husband than what I know how to be.” “No, Gerry you are wrong. I don't deserve you, but you don't deserve me either. That is not about my thinking too much of myself or too much of you, and don't you dare try to argue about who is better or who deserves better. You called me a Godsend. I think you are right. I think we, you and I Gerry, are Godsends – wonderful gifts from our Creator – to each other. I also think we both need to trust His judgment about what is right for you and me rather than second guessing whether He knows what he is doing with the two of us. And as far as your not knowing how to be a good enough husband? Ask any experienced husband with a happy marriage, and they will tell you this is Rule Number One. Talk with your wife, but never, never, never argue with your wife.” Patty finished her speech with a very serious tone before the smirk and grin on her face broke through the facade. She wrapped her arms tightly around Gerry's ribs and buried the side of her face in his chest and neck.
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Post by gipsy on Mar 28, 2024 18:31:39 GMT -6
About time they saw the light.
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Post by feralferret on Mar 28, 2024 20:11:16 GMT -6
Fine chapter! Thank you!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 30, 2024 9:19:18 GMT -6
Post # 92 Time Pressures
Gerry took Patty to the barns on the way back to the house. She wanted to take a closer look at them in light of their recent realization. She had not paid much attention to them before and honestly had thought of them more as large sheds than true barns. Gerry had built them himself without any one around to help. He explained that he had been concerned about keeping them warm in the winter if there was too much open air space in side. He had also been concerned about the danger of working by himself on a high roof. Most popular barn designs tried to include enough height to allow plenty of hay to be stacked in a small floor space and to allow very large farm equipment to be stored inside. He on the other hand could not afford the super sized farm equipment, or more honestly was unwilling to shackle himself with a mind boggling loan to acquire such equipment. Because of his unconventional attitude toward farm equipment, he had no means to stack the hay much higher than his own head, so a high roof was pointless.
Inside his 'barns' had rocky soil for a floor. They were, for the most part divided up into rows of pens with open lanes running between the rows. Rather than having his hay stacked high in one section of the barn, the bales,which were hand tied, were stacked along the outside walls of the barn so they were close at hand when they needed to be broken up and tossed into the pens. The pens themselves each large enough to hold several head of cattle and were constructed of low fencing. The cattle could easily stretch their necks over the top of the fencing into the lane or the pen next to them. The gates to each pen consisted in almost every instance of two strands of rope tied low on the posts on opposite sides of the opening and then crossed over each other with a loop on the end of each rope thrown over the top of the opposite post forming an “X” .
Gerry answered Patty's questions about how he manage the cattle when they had to be sheltered in these barns, and Gerry took time explaining his routines and how he worked out herding all the cattle into the shelters quickly when needed and then sub dividing them into manageable groups. He explained that it was impractical to have water troughs and feed bins at each pen, and this arrangement allowed him to handle smaller groups at a time taking them to water and feed supplement when necessary. He could toss fresh hay to them easily so they weren't hungrily competing to get to the grain. Still it took a lot of work to properly tend to all of them when they had to be sheltered from foul weather.
It was almost time for supper by the time they got back to the house, and Pete joked about them having gotten lost when they wandered outside of the fences. “No, Pete.” Gerry retorted. “I know my property pretty well. We just had to check out some of that earthquake damage to the terrain I hadn't been able to inspect before. Then Patty had to help me get untangled from a bramble patch that had sprung up inside my head. But don't worry. She got that all straightened out, and we are all good now.” Gerry stopped to grin and wink at Patty and give her a side by side hug. “I guess what took the longest was checking out my barns and considering how we need to prepare for sheltering the cattle at the Haven for the foul weather that is coming.”
Needless to say Pete and Joann were eager to hear more details about Gerry's retort to Pete's ribbing. The four of them had a warm, lively, and happy conversation that took them through the preparation of supper and continued on through the clean up after supper. Gerry and Patty were far more open now than they had been before in talking about their plans and tentative expectations with Pete and Joann. They were very clear that they wanted to move some of the cattle back to this site when the water and feed situation was finally resolved. Gerry even talked about the extra rooms in his house that would allow Patty and himself to host some guests here at their house in addition to those that could be accommodated at the Haven.
Later that evening when Pete and Joann retired to their guest bedroom, they talked quietly about all the new developments of the day. Pete was gently shaking his head. “Darling I don't know that the rest of our family realizes this yet, but I believe you and I have seen a glimpse of a watershed day in our endeavors. I suppose there were some hints when Gerry and Patty were talking with Brother Isaac and Brother James, but this is … is... It's like we are seeing behind the scenes of the Creator at work within those two to line up more puzzle pieces.”
“Peter, I love you very much, but you have a special talent for saying what you believe in an obtuse way, don't you? Yes the creator is at work in ways we do not yet see. He is preparing everything so that when His great day comes very few will have had more than a clue that it was coming, but everyone will finally see who has the real authority and the real power.”
Joann continued, “Peter it thrills me to see those two realizing the importance and the joy that comes from letting go and following His directing of their path. Have you ever seen them happier in all the time we have known either of them? They are almost us all over again, realizing that we were gifts for each other from our Creator. And they are already talking about this house becoming another Haven. I know they haven't gotten married or committed themselves to the Brotherhood yet, but you and I both know that is coming very soon. Things that we see are accelerating, so most likely things we don't see are accelerating, too.” Meanwhile Patty and Gerry were sitting on the sofa in the den talking quietly about the day they had just experienced. Neither of them wanted to stop talking as they knew they would have to when they retired to their current bed rooms. So, instead they kept talking, and kept talking.
The next morning Joann was up early to start coffee. As she passed through the den on her way to the kitchen she paused to pat Patty on her shoulder. Gerry and Patty had dozed off sometime in the night sitting in the middle of the sofa with Patty snuggled up under Gerry's right arm.
As Patty stirred, so did Gerry. Patty hurried to her bedroom to grab some fresh clothes before taking a shower. Gerry staggered groggily into the kitchen as Joan was putting the coffee pot on the stove to percolate. Gerry started to apologize to Joann for the way she found him and Patty and Joann started laughing. “Gerald Kerry, you do not owe me any kind of apology. It's a wonder you two weren't still talking when I got up this morning. I'm glad you two got some sleep. We still have to drive over to pick up Brother Isaac and Brother Mark this morning and then go to our meeting. What would be really embarrassing and require an apology is if you two were to doze off during the meeting this morning because you had not gotten any sleep last night, and we had to wake you up in the middle of our congregation Bible study time this morning.” She looked serious for a moment, then she winked at Gerry.
Gerry paused a moment then replied with a courteous nod of his head, “Thank you for making coffee this morning, Joann. I'll probably brew a second pot before we leave.”
When they arrived at Brother Mark's house, Mark and Isaac were both clearly thrilled at having transportation to the meeting. Patty and Gerry took care to help both men climb into Patty's truck. Gerry loaded Brother Mark's wheel chair in the back of Patty's truck. Pete rode in the back seat with Isaac and Mark, Joann rode shotgun, and Patty rode in the center of the front seat next to Gerry. They arrived early at the Meeting Hall parking lot in Bear Creek and saw two couples from the Haven walking toward the door of the Meeting Hall. Gerry caught sight of his own truck leaving the parking lot and heading back toward the west entrance to the Haven. Gerry was guessing that it was Carl driving since very few other than himself and Carl felt comfortable driving that route to the Haven.
After they got Brother Isaac and brother Mark out of the truck and situated in the Meeting Hall, Gerry and Patty found the couples they had seen arriving early. They turned out to be Randy and April along with Liam and Sheila O'Hare with their daughter Shannon. Apparently there were a few more wanting to come to the meeting this morning and without the extra seats in Patty's truck being available this morning Carl had to make an extra early run from the Haven to the Meeting Hall in order to accommodate everyone.
Needless to say there was a full house at the Meeting Hall that morning. After the meeting no one seemed in a hurry to leave and go home. Many were taking time to talk with Brothers Isaac and Mark. No one wanted to be in the first group that Carl took back. Colleen and Carl had introduced Randy and April to Brother George Rogers and they got to talking about radios. Joann was talking to several of the Sisters about how grateful the mothers and wives at the Haven were about the help they had received from strangers.
Pete was talking quite a while with Brother Kelsey, the secretary of the congregation, about how many people from the Haven as well as Pete's own family were showing more interest in attending the Congregation meetings as well as asking for Bible study time with Pete and Joann. He pointed out that it was now taking more than one trip in some of their trucks just to get everyone to the Meeting Hall on Sunday morning. He also mentioned the growing interest of Gerry and Patty in the Brotherhood and their wanting to make sure Brother Isaac and Brother Mark had a ride to the meetings every Sunday because of how much that meant to those longtime members of the Brotherhood.
That last bit of information really affected Brother Kelsey on several levels. It impressed him about what it told him about Patty and Gerry, but it also struck him that no one in the congregation had been inclined to help with that. He thought back and remembered that Brother Isaac had been absent from meeting for quite some time until Pete and Carl had offered to help get him to the meetings. Then Brother Mark helped a short time before he too was unable to drive. Again these long time brothers were being over looked until the visitors noticed their plight. Brother Peter was not even an elder, chosen to be taking the lead in this congregation. He was not complaining about needing the congregation or its leaders to step up to care for members of the congregation. He was merely reporting that he was pleased about the desire of two non-members showing their love for two of our Brothers. Brother Kelsey decided he needed to call Brother Andrew Larkin and have a serious conversation about how to handle this symptom of weakness that was creeping into the life and spirit of this congregation of brothers and sisters.
It was well into the afternoon before everyone was back at the Haven. Gerry and Patty actually felt a pang of chagrin when they left Isaac and Mark to go back to the lodge up on the mountain. Gerry was surprised when talking to Carl about how much progress some of the men had made on Saturday in getting the roof support structure in place. He and Carl spent some more time talking about Patty's realization that they would soon need shelter for the cattle as well. As things stood now, the plans for Monday were to continue on the same course as they had the previous week. Gerry was good with that for now.
While Gerry was talking with Carl, Patty was talking with Colleen and April. At the same time Pete and Joann were talking with Rob, Jenny, Bruce, and Linda. Everyone was catching up with everyone else regarding the past week and also the progress of this weekend. Late on Sunday afternoon Gerry and Patty were outside in the woods down near the creek. They were sitting on a fallen log and talking when they heard someone approaching from behind. Gerry stopped to listen, when he heard a voice call out casually, “Hullo, Mister Gerry, Miss Patty. Sorry to disturb. You think we might talk a bit?”
Gerry and Patty both turned to see Tom Wooley and Fred Sawyer approaching. Gerry gesture for them to come closer and turned to straddle the log. “Tom, Fred, Come on over. What's on your mind?”
“Mister Gerry, we wanted to talk a bit about how things are going.” Tom said with a little hesitance. “Ain't nothing bad, just that we've been working together a little while now, and well, we feel a bit more at ease than when we first started with you folks. You've done better than we expected with treating our group as fair as the others, and we've decided to kick loose some of the brambles, so to speak.”
Gerry and Patty both chuckled at his metaphor about the brambles. “Yep, I can identify with that notion.” Gerry replied. “It can give a special sense of freedom getting the tangles cut loose. Sometimes its good to stop and untangle a bit so you can make better progress.”
Fred joined in here. “Back when we first met you folks through Miss Patty, and by the way we are all grateful for how you folks were so generous in dealing with us. And Miss Patty, can't thank you enough for your help with that. Anyhow, you weren't the only ones holding your cards close back then. We mentioned that we got our own folks to protect, and you all respected that. That's the thing. You all have been respectful from the git go. This morning tipped the scale. One of our families asked if they could join you at your Sunday meeting. That was a real ask, by the the way; not some game. You all never blinked. You went out of your way to make that happen and took them right on into town. You exposed your real location to all of us without a second thought.”
Fred paused and Tom picked it up. “Time for us to step up and balance the scales. We are getting close to having that house finished, at least close enough for someone to live in, and we only committed to keep working until that is done. Like we said, you folks have been more than fair and generous. We've been able to save up more in reserve than we've had in a long time. Truth is you are good folks and we don't want to abuse your good nature. We have a general concern about you folks running out of money, what with paying us, and providing room and board, and then some. The other thing is that we need to get our own folks in a better place, over in Git-Lost. We are just as aware of time closing in as you folks seem to be. We don't want to depend on you or be a burden, but let's just say we are warming to the idea of you being the good kind of neighbors.”
Gerry and Patty had been listening carefully. Both of them having grown up in this part of the state, they were quite aware of the cultural nuances around the area. The reference to Git-Lost however stumped them. “Mister Sawyer?” Patty asked innocently. “I'm afraid you are going to need to educate me as to where 'Git-Lost is. That's a town I don't remember seeing before.”
Tom grinned and poked Fred in the shoulder. “Told ya so.” Then he turned back to Gerry and Patty. “Miss Patty, that's a name very few people outside of our county know, and some that know refuse to use it because they think it makes us sound like Hill Billies, which of course is one of the few ethnic slurs that is still considered acceptable and appropriate by even the most rabid opponents of discrimination and prejudice.”
“Take it easy, Tom. We know who and what we are, no matter what foolish people think, and besides, these folks aren't like that. Sorry, folks. Tom is really frustrated with the way this world is going, as I think you can understand. To answer your question about Git-Lost, that's what a lot of us natives of the county west of here call it. Yeah, yeah, the county was officially named after some congressman from this area way back when the county was first established, but so what. There are so few people in the county now that elections are a waste of a ream of paper to print the ballots. Most of us have been calling the county Git-lost since it was formed. Any one who wanders farther from home than their nearest neighbor will probably git lost. If we see a trespasser, all we have to do is tell them to 'get lost' and that's likely to be what happens without them even trying to do what we told 'em to do. You think this place is isolated and out of sight?” Fred chuckled and shook his head.
Tom joined in again. “Fred is right. Our county is not just rough and raw. The place is like a maze of twisting and turning mountain valleys that cut back and forth through each other like a maze, and the forest is so dense you can't see through it even from the tallest hill tops. You can't even find your way out trying to follow a stream down hill to a river. You try to and it will twist back and forth so many times you lose your bearings them suddenly it dives underground with an overgrown hill blocking and closing off completely the valley you thought you were following down hill. There is plenty of wildlife, including predators. Hunters have learned not to come very far in, though because even with these new GPS systems, most of apps and equipment they use gets messed up because the tree density and scattered patches of underground ore messing with the satellite signals.”
Gerry was listening but was not sure where this was going. “Tom, Fred, I appreciate your sharing, but where are you going with this?”
Tom and Fred looked at each other, then Tom replied. “Fred, Will, Arnold, and I, along with our wives have been talking. Like we said, we have decided you are good folks; the kind of folks that are getting rare, but you would like to have for neighbors, or even friends. That is not something to be taken lightly or squandered in this day and age. We are coming closer to a time when what we can do for you gets less, and what we need to do for ourselves is getting more. We're not so sure what we can do to stay in touch, but we want you all to know how we see you, if our paths ever cross again with all that is coming. Also we want to wish you the best in your future. Oh and one more thing, until we do leave, we want to be helping you folks in your projects on Saturday as well. That is not for more pay. That is a gesture of our friendship.”
Tom and Fred each shook hands with both Gerry and Patty, before turning and heading toward the lodge. Patty and Gerry stood there watching as the two men made their way up the hill to the west. “I didn't see that coming. Not sure I know what exactly to do with that, either.” Gerry said as he watched them get farther away.
“It's kind of like noticing a few pieces of a big jigsaw puzzle and you know they will eventually fit in place, but at the moment you feel clueless as to where in the picture they will go.” Patty replied. After supper, Gerry, Patty and some others went through the evening routine of tending the cattle. While they were doing so Tom Wooley eased over to Gerry and spoke softly. “Mister Gerry, I didn't say anything earlier because Fred and I were acting kind of as messengers at the time. I wanted to talk to you about another matter too.”
Gerry kept rubbing down the cow that was in front of him and asked Tom, “What's on your mind now Tom? I'm listening.
Tom pursed his mouth up before speaking. “I have no idea how much they cost, but if we can afford it, Sally and I would be interested in buying a cow or two from you before we leave. What I would really like is a milk cow and a calf or a heifer and a yearling, depending on the cost, you know. We want to keep a milk cow for the family, actually for us and some extended family. It might also bee nice to have a little beef to put up down the line, you know. Anyhow, if you would think about it and let me know if you would be willing to sell just a few and how much it would cost me, I would appreciate it.” with that Tom drifted off and kept working the cattle getting them ready for the night.
Later when the cattle group was heading back to the lodge the family was starting to gather outside for their nightly meeting. Joe Hinkley and Tom Wooley were continuing on inside. Patty was continuing toward the front door of the lodge but Gerry stopped facing the rest of the family without releasing her hand. Instead he curled her arm around his and walked over closer to the family group. Rob started talking without any introduction asking for updates on the various projects, and recommendations for the coming week. There were updates regarding the work on the new lodge, the radio project, the gardens, The status of their food supply, the fuel situation, the number of bible studies being requested, the number of guests wanting to attend congregation meeting and what that meant for their transportation.
Then Rob turned to Gerry and it suddenly hit him that Patty was with them and she normally was not in these meetings. Lately she and Gerry had been together in many other activities, but not in this meeting. “Gerry do you have anything else to share with us tonight?”
Gerry grinned at everyone. “I'm guessing you all saw this coming, but still I want to state it plainly. We still have some particulars to work out, but you all need to get adjusted to Patty being part of our family. That is the most important thing I have to add this evening, but there are a number of other things I need to bring to everyone's attention.”
Gerry continued, “Patty brought to my attention something that I had been overlooking about the cattle and I realized this also applies to the chickens. At my old place I already have sheds to provide shelter for the cattle when the weather turns cold, especially when there is a storm, a cold rain, or even the occasional snow. The summers are hot, here and that makes it harder on the livestock when we have a sudden drop in temperature during the fall or winter months. My recommendation is that we stay focused for now on getting the new lodge weather tight and livable, but we need to be ready for a cold front as that could affect our livestock as early as October 1st.”
Gerry was on a roll now. “I am also expecting rain within the next two or three weeks, but there are no guarantees. We are good for now, but the level of the creek here is easing down. Some of the hillside springs are showing a reduction in their flow rates we are not in trouble at this point, but we need to monitor it carefully. As soon as we get adequate rain, I want to move some of the cattle back to their old habitat. By dividing them up, we are less likely to strain the water and pasture resources at either place. Again we have no guarantees of when and how much it might rain, but I want you to be aware of that strategic principle. Related to that, we need some people to help hand harvest hay from some of our land here at the Haven, so that we have reserves stored before the same October 1st date. It is also important to have a lot of wood on hand and already cut for winter fuel by that date.”
Gerry paused and Rob thought he was through, but Gerry spoke again just as Rob was about to take back the lead in this meeting. “Hold on, Rob. There is more.” Gerry took a moment to collect his thoughts. “A couple of our guests came to Patty and I representing those who have told us they are not planning to stay here long term. I won't go into all of what they said right now, but there are a few key points that are significant. Just like we were cautious in the beginning about letting them know our plans and even where we are located, they were cautious in the very same way. They have decided as a group to drop their guard for us, and they want to be friends and good neighbors to us. They haven't exactly set a date for their departure, but reminded us their commitment was originally to stay until the new lodge is built. They also stated that because they want to demonstrate their friendship, they want to join with us in our Saturday work on projects like neighbors and friends helping out rather than as employees working for pay.”
Gerry thought for a minute, then he said, “I guess that is it for now.”
There were some questions that followed and a brief discussion of a game plan for this next week. The family meeting broke up and they went inside to talk to the whole household. Inside the guests noticed that Patty was with the family as they came inside rather than waiting among the guest families. Gerry talked only briefly about the plans to focus on the new lodge in the coming week, and added a word of appreciation for all the hard work everyone was putting in on it. He also mentioned that with the new lodge getting closer to being habitable there were going to be some new projects soon to get preparations made for the fall and winter weather that they were sure to experience in a couple of months.
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Post by sniper69 on Mar 30, 2024 21:00:19 GMT -6
Thank you for the excellent chapters! Although I am satiated with this helping of MOAR feed, I can barely wait until the next helping of this story.
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 31, 2024 21:21:30 GMT -6
An Apology To My Readers
I must apologize to my readers for an editing probblem. I trying to keep track of the many minor and not so minor characters in this I have fumbled the name of one of my characters. Earlier in the writing I referred to a Rick Huffstetler. He has reappeared from time to time in subsequent chapters but some where along the line in my writing I started referring to this character as Harry Huffstetler. that was merely a mental slip that was continued for some time. Although all the characters in this tale are totally fictitious, bits and pieces of their characteristics and personalities have been cobbled together from observations of the countless real life characters I have encountered over a span of numerous decades. It is my wish going forward to refer to Mister Huffstetler as Rick Huffstetler rather then Harry. It may take some time to sift through the scores of previous postings to get this error edited out, so please bear with me, and I apologize for the confusion. -- Paul
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