Country Bug In.

[gipsy]

Sounds like a delicious supper. Thanks for the update.

[feralferret]

Wonderful story, ncsfsgm. Thank you.

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 34


Eduardo came to Paul and said, “Paul, I have a little family problem.”

“What’s up Eduardo?”

“My younger brother, Mateo, lives, or did live, near Corcoran, California, which is next to Lake Tulare. The lake is refilling and has flooded out their house. They managed to get everything moved out of the house, but they lost the house and the two acres they had.”

“You want to bring him out here?” Paul asked.

“I’d like to. He knows farming like nobody else, and I think he would be a great asset.”

“Well, work it out. How many are in the family?” Paul asked.

“A total of four.”

“What if we got another modular house like Mary has, but with three bedrooms. We might have to split them up on where they sleep at night until the house is finished, but we’ll make do.” Paul said.

“Thanks Paul, I’m indebted to you.” Eduardo said. “They do have a travel trailer, so they have a place to stay until the house is up.”

“If you need any moving money, let me know.” Paul said. “I’ll call the builders and arrange for something nice to be built.”

Paul went inside and called the modular home builders and told them what they needed, and they said they would email him some plans to select from. They had done a wonderful job with Mary’s house, and he expected no less from this one. He got on the computer and searched for information on Tulare Lake and found out the lake was located in the lowlands of the San Joaquin Valley in central California. Tulare Lake was once the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi. In the 1800s, settlers drained the lake for farmland and forced the Tachi Yokut tribe, who lived on its shores, out of the area. The Tachi Yokut tribe once relied on the lake for food, shelter, and as a trade route. Now, they live a few miles away on a reservation called the Santa Rosa Rancheria. With the wet winter and record snowfalls in the Sierra Nevadas, the lake was refilling faster than the drainage canals and pumps could handle. Well, nature and karma always have a way of getting even with you. The problem Paul saw was the lakebed covered some of the best farming land in California and sold to food stores all over the country. With hundreds or thousands of acres out of production, food prices would be going up. Maybe they could up their production here to offset the prices coming to the Crooked Creek residents. Looking at a topo map of the farm, Paul selected three different locations and wrote the coordinates down.


Ben was watching as the men chipped out the 6” deep foundation base out of the concrete slab. With four jackhammers going, the work would still take a couple of days to complete. The rebar was being delivered this afternoon. As soon as the foundation trenches were finished, everything would come together quickly. He had 12 men and women ready to start tying steel. The videographer and they discussed the future filming segments. He was not needed for the excavation portion of this portion of the construction because this was a unique footing, being on a 10” concrete steel reinforced slab. They would fill in that portion of the documentary with a computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation of digging a footer foundation, as most construction would be.

Mike and Hanna carried up the large coffee urn and set up a break station for the workers with water, hot coffee, and Swedish cardamom buns under a party shade Ben had set up. One of the workers ran an extension from a generator to the picnic table for the coffee urn, to keep the coffee hot and the buns warm.


Eduardo and Cecilia Fernandez went through the floor plan printouts and picked out the plan that would fit Mateo’s family the best. Paul went ahead and added a safe room to the design and got that ordered. He and Eduardo went out and checked the sites and picked one good site between the driveway and the garden that wouldn’t need a lot of preparation. Paul transferred $4,000 to Mateo via Cash App for travel expenses. The well driller would be coming on Tuesday to punch a well and they could take that off their checklist.

Paul finally had a chance and opened up the gun safes to unwrap the guns and store them back. He kept out the two American 180 submachine guns and the pan magazines. He wanted to go have some fun. He took a brick of 22s out of another locker, dropped the magazines and ammo into a range bag, and slung the guns on his shoulder and headed out the door. When he got to the range firing bench, he called Eduardo on the radio and asked him to meet him at the range. While he awaited Eduardo, Paul loaded the pan magazines.

Eduardo’s eyes widened when he saw the guns. “Wow!”

Paul grinned. “I thought we would have a little fun.”

Eduardo went and set up B27 targets at the 25-meter line, placed a few empty milk jugs around, and propped up some steel targets.

“This thing fires from an opened bolt,” Paul said, pulling the charging handle back. He put the selector on semi and using the sights, fired one round at a B27 target using the sights to aim, then fired three rounds rapidly. Finally, he moved the selector switch to AUTO and fired a six-round burst. He then shot a burst at a milk jug then one at a steel target.

“It’s pretty accurate,” Paul said. “I wish I had a silencer for it.”

Eduardo took his turn, and they continued firing and reloading the magazines until they had finished the brick. After cleaning up their trash, they went back to the house to clean the guns in the garage.


Mike was amazed how quickly they were tying the rebar to form the frame. Ben had designed a top plate that tied the rebar together at the apex of the dome; they had fabricated storyboards to measure between the spine rebar and the Radis bars, and quickly secured them with tie wire. The fiberglass shells had been delivered that would be fitted and bolted together over the steel skeleton as soon as the frame was finished. Turning away from the domes, Mike walked over to the vegetable greenhouse and checked the plants out. He had no idea what the structure had originally been used for. This structure, which was 21’x21’ didn’t originally have a roof when Grandpa bought the land and only one door. Grandpa had initially put in a plexiglass roof, but later changed to a glass roof and added vents. They eventually chipped out a channel in the pad and ran electricity to the building and built a Root Zone Heating System made of cast off materials and PEX tubing in the planting beds. They grew vegetables year-round. They did the same to the small structure (23’x 15’) and used it to grow just herbs. He checked out the cardamom plants at the east end of the greenhouse. He had shielded the plants from the usually cool walls with sheets of polystyrene insulation. Cardamom is a tropical plant and could grow up to 15 or 20 feet tall in a rain forest. Since the greenhouse definitely wasn’t tropical, they only grew to the top of the wall, but they still thrived. He did however, grow new plants every two years to replace the older ones. He didn’t normally use the seeds, but Hanna and Annika used them often in cooking. Mike checked the soil moisture content and started the drip waterer timers. The humidity was at 80%, right were the plants liked it. Closing the greenhouse back up, Mike went over to the herb house and started those drip timers also. Hanna and been talking to Ben and was excited that Ben also used shotcrete to build in-ground pools. When he told her about building a pool with enclosure for year-round use Mike saw with the look in her eyes that she would bring that subject up again in the near future. Mike guessed a dip in the pool would be nice in the evenings after coming back from a day in the fields driving grain haulers or running a combine.

Mike went inside, went downstairs, and checked the maintenance monitors for the servers from his master screen, he saw no problems and no alarms were beeping. With nothing else to do, he got his drill and toolset out and started installing more racks and patch panels. He checked usage on Taylor’s network and saw there was no activity, so he changed out the Copper Patch Panel for a fiber panel so she would have more speed. He couldn’t do anything about the speed delay of the satellite transmission, but he could make sure her end of the terra network here was fast as he could get it. Going back upstairs, Mike checked the slow cooker of Fish Soup with Fennel, Leek, and Potato Hanna had put on this morning. It smelled great! The only thing was she made it with frozen Salmon, and it was much better with fresh fish, but they were in Nebraska, and you used what you could get.

---

There was a public demonstration in Sioux City by demonstrators claiming they were not getting any help in the evacuations. While police were converging on the demonstration, groups of looters were converging into the evacuation areas and looting businesses and homes. It was later determined that few, or if any, of the demonstrators lived in evacuation zones and were there to draw law enforcement away from areas that were being looted.

---

Mary was in the kitchen with Carmelita learning how to make sourdough bread. The house smelled wonderful and made Paul’s stomach growl. He walked into his study and turned on the computer and logged into his account at the Northrim Bank in Anchorage. They had deposited another profit check from the mine to his account so he switched over to the Bucket Outlet website and ordered 25 food-grade pails with Gamma lids and 5-gallon Mylar bags. Switching over to the WebRestaurant store, he bought 250 pint and quart wide mouth canning jars with lids. The bill came out to a little over $3,000 so he doubled the order. At another website he purchased two more Royal Berkeys and 16 replacement black filters. He still had more than enough money left to take Angel shopping for baby things to include all the diapers they were going to need; which brought to mind the incinerator. He had read that diapers weren’t very biodegradable so he would have to destroy them. He had come across the plans for an off-grid incinerator he wanted to build. He just needed to scrounge up the parts.

[gipsy]

Fine update. Thanks.

[feralferret]

Thanks for the new chapter!

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 35



The opening days of March may have come in like a lion, but it was definitely going out like a lamb. The excellent weather had allowed the construction of the domes to continue without interruption.

The company was getting ready to do the last layer of shotcrete on the outside. Ben had four gunite sprayers, allowing them to complete the operation quicker. The painters were painting the inside already. The solar tubes worked so well, they didn’t even need to turn on any lights to work in the daytime, except in areas that had lofts. LED lighting provided illumination in those areas.

Ben said they would be back in three days to spray Cure and Seal to waterproof the concrete. Hanna was still biting at the bit to get an enclosed pool built, but Mike told her to hold on to see just how much furniture she was going to buy. She was going to use some of the furniture he already had, but she had a long list of things she wanted to purchase.

Mike did talk to Ben about a pool, and he was told it would take about 30 days to complete because of the curing time of the shotcrete. However, they could speed up the moisture evaporation by adding Class C fly ash to the concrete. All in all, it would still be around 30 days to complete the pool, just to be safe. Mike counted back to when they usually started the wheat harvest and gave Ben a tentative construction start date, but told him not to mention it to Hanna. They planned to have the house furnished by the week before the wedding.

Between getting things set up for the wedding, furniture shopping, and decorating, Hanna and Annika stayed busy, and Mike stayed out of their way. Mike mostly stayed busy in the server room and completed more racks and installed computer components. Mike ended up hiring local high school boys to help move the furniture out of the bunker and to move furniture around when it was delivered. Mike spent a whole day just burning shipping and packing materials from the furniture. Four days before their wedding, they finally completed furnishing and occupied the new dome home. For Mike, moving the items from the bunker pantry to the dome kitchen took the most time.

Mike and Hanna were married on Saturday, April 17th at Bethany Lutheran Church in Lyons. Annika and Hanna ended up inviting 150 guests and the reception was held in the fellowship hall. They left the next morning for a 7-day honeymoon at the Four Seasons Resort Lana'i at Manele Bay, Hawaii.


Mateo and his family arrived at Crooked Creek on Sunday. Mateo was driving an F-150 pulling the travel trailer and Juanita was driving a 1967 Ford Econoline, pulling a 8x12 cargo trailer. They all got out and stretched. Mateo and Eduardo hugged one another, and Eduardo led his brother and family over to introduce them to Paul. Once introductions were made, Mateo pulled a thick envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to Paul, explaining that it was the money Paul had advanced for moving expenses. Paul backed away and held up his hands, telling Mateo to keep it because they hadn’t even settled in yet. Mateo thanked Paul, and Carmelita herded them into the house to feed them. Carmelita had made a rich beef stew with homemade bread, which everyone wolfed down with gratitude. Paul, Mateo, and Eduardo kept up a running conversation about their travels there and when the house would be ready. They would have to live in the trailer for three weeks before the modular home would be habitable. After eating, Eduardo led the family over to his house where he and Paul had set up a place to put the trailer and connected water and electricity to it. Roberto, Mateo’s son, along With Jose, Eduardo’s son, pulled a tent out of the Econoline and set it up under the trees next to the house. Roberto liked sleeping outside. Afterwards, Jose and Rosa took Roberto and Juanita on a tour to show them the farm, as Eduardo did the same with Mateo. Juliana was taken in hand by the farm women and schooled on how things ran. They made sure Juliana had plenty of food to last them for the week and told her to ask if she needed anything. All the families shared with each other.

When Eduardo showed Mateo the garden area and greenhouse, Mateo studied the layout and asked a few questions.

“Eduardo, some of the smaller farmers in King County had started growing crops using aquaponics systems. They were getting crops three times the amount in greenhouses that the till farmers were getting in the same acreage. They could grow almost everything the till farmers did except corn. They still grew corn in the fields. If you had a big enough setup, you could probably grow corn too.”

“Paul mentioned he was reading up on aquaponics so he’s thinking in that direction, at least some. Where do you get the fish?” Eduardo said.

“Well, I’m not sure around here, but the farmers in the valley used Tilapia and could harvest the fish every few months. I’m sure you could use other species more common to this area but it would depend on how often you wanted to be able to harvest the fish. You can harvest tilapia in 240 days."


Mike picked up his drink, leaned back into the beach chair, and munched on a few Macadamia nuts. Hanna lay beside him sunning, the neck strap undone, tucked into the cups of the bikini top, sipping on one of the fruity, colorful drinks. Blah! It had taken a couple of times for the waiter to get Mike’s drink right. All he wanted was one and a half ounces of vodka, ice, and semi-sweet iced tea in one of their 16 ounce tropical cocktail glasses. The drinks they served here were just too sweet for him. Hanna’s blonde hair, after only two days in the tropical sun, was turning almost white and she was tanning like a Coppertone model, making her dark blue eyes more piercing. Her white bikini stood out in stark contrast against her bronzing skin.

“You are getting some nice tan lines,” Mike commented.

“At least I won’t have a farmer’s tan,” Hanna replied.

They usually did a tour or went sightseeing in the mornings, and spent the afternoons on the beach. Hanna wasn’t much into buying a bunch of souvenirs, she’d rather have more practical things. She did relent and bought four Koa wood bowls for fruit, two for her and two for Annika. Mike wanted to pick up two or three variety packs of different flavored Kona Sea Salt. He and Hanna weren’t interested in gaudy quilts, shirts or mumus, except Hanna picked up a pretty wrap-around dress with orchid prints to wear to the lūʻau tonight.


Paul and Eduardo met the plumbing people who came out on Monday morning to install the septic system. The plumbing had already been roughed in and ready for the modules. The backhoe driver got busy quickly. Paul saw Mateo headed their way and told Eduardo to get Mateo outfitted with a rifle, shotgun, pistol, and associated kit and take him to the range. Paul was going down to the RV place to purchase another side-by-side for Mateo and his family’s use. Paul hooked the equipment trailer up and headed to Clarksville.

Eduardo took Mateo to the shipping container and issued him a MR556A1 with 7 magazines, An AA12 with magazines, a 1911 with three magazines, a combat vest with plates he could insert later, a first aid kit, GPS, two radios with chargers, a stack of operator manuals for the guns and radios, then cans of ammunition. Loading everything into the side-by-side. Eduardo and Mateo drove to the firing range.

Mateo had spent a tour with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines (Raiders), so he was accustomed to weapons, all except for the AA12 shotgun. He did familiarization firing with the pistol and shotgun and zeroed the MR556A1.

“The radios have already been pre-programmed. Our normal operating channel is 2. If the SHTF, then go to channel 1,” Eduardo said, driving back to Eduardo’s house. “Did I issue you cleaning equipment?”

“Nope,” Mateo replied.

Eduardo stopped back by the shipping container and got cleaning equipment, cleaners, and lubricants out and continued on to Eduardo’s house. He added a couple of canteens and a pistol belt and a holster for the pistol and Molle ammo pouches for the vest. They cleaned the weapons at the picnic table under the shelter.


Mike was buttoning his white cotton-linen shirt with coconut tree print when Hanna stepped out of the dressing area. She resembled what he dreamed a Nordic goddess would look like. She couldn’t wear a bra with that style dress, but it didn’t make any difference; she had enough up top she could have held up a truck tarp.

“Ready?” Hanna asked.

Mike slipped his bare feet into moose hide loafers, grabbed his wallet and said, “I am now.”

They headed downstairs and were guided to the lūʻau area. They were served some type of pineapple drink that had a bit of a kick, which Mike suspected was Everclear, or something like it. They walked arm in arm to where they were cooking the pig in the ground. Mike asked one of the cooks how they prepared everything and was given extensive instructions. He couldn’t follow exactly all the instructions, but he figured he could get the instructions online somewhere. The meal was delicious, and the kalua pig was melt in your mouth good. Mike had to get up a couple of times to allow what he had already eaten to settle. He finally quit nibbling and he and Hanna took a walk on the beach.

“Can you do that?” Hanna asked.

“Do what?”

“Cook a pig like that,” Hanna replied.

“I probably could. I have to do a little research. Banana trees are not common in Nebraska, but the main thing is steam. That is what makes the pig so tender. I’m sure we can figure something out.” Mike said. An idea popped into Mikes mind, but he kept quiet. Finally, turning around and heading back to the hotel, they called it a night.

[feralferret]

Marvelous chapter. Thank you.

[gipsy]

Yummy Thanks for the update.

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 36


By Saturday, Mike was about shopped out. Both he and Hanna had accumulated enough stuff that they ended up spending time packing “if it fits it ships” boxes and mailing them at the post office. So, instead of buying extra luggage, they ended up heading back Sunday with just the luggage they had arrived with, albeit they were a little more stuffed.

They were both tired on the flights back and snoozed most of the way, but eager to get back to their new home. They arrived at the Holiday Inn near O’Hare International in the early evening, got freshened up and went out to dinner. Their flight to Sioux Gateway didn’t leave until mid-morning the next day. Hanna called Annika and gave her a travel update when they returned to their room after dinner.

The flight to Sioux Gateway was on time and uneventful. Mike left Hanna with the baggage while he took the shuttle to the long-term parking lot to rescue the truck. The first thing he did was open his gun vault to take out his and Hanna’s pistols. After retrieving Hanna and the luggage, he immediately left the airport, crossed the river, and headed south for home. Hanna was already on the phone texting Annika. Mike stopped at a convenience store outside of South Sioux City and bought each of them a liter of water. Fifty minutes later they drew within sight of their house and it was clearly visible. Painted white, it would have looked like a NASA installation; still, it was home. Annika was waiting when they drove up. She had been coming up to collect the mail, much of it the boxes they had shipped back, and placed them inside the entrance to the home. While Mike hauled in the luggage, Hanna and Annika began opening boxes. While the women were o-o-o-oing and ah-h-h-hing over the box contents, Mike went out to the greenhouses to check them. The weather had been mild but the soil was dry so Mike turned on the drip waterers. He took a basket and gathered a dozen lemons off of the tree and took them inside. What Hanna wasn’t going to use, they could can the juice or freeze it tomorrow. Placing the fruit in the fruit bowl on the counter, Mike walked through the house. Hanna and Annika had furnished the rooms with what they called “vintage Scandinavian” pieces. Mike didn’t care. He’d told her he didn’t want anything that resembled Danish modern. That just seemed so uninspiring to him. Anyway, he liked the warmness of what they had done. The rooms were brightly lit by the solar tubes and felt comfortable. He liked it better than what just lights would have done. Annika had brought over a loaf of bread, so Mike began making club sandwiches for lunch. He’d fry up some potatoes to go with them.


When Paul returned, he unloaded the side-by-side and filled it with fuel. He found Eduardo and Mateo cleaning the guns from the range. When Paul presented Mateo with the 4-seater side-by-side, Mateo was startled.

“This is our main mode of transportation around the farm, Mateo. Take care of it and refuel it when you need to. Oil is in the shed next to the fuel tank. You and your family are now part of the Crooked Creek family, and we help each other out.”

“I appreciate what you’ve done to help my family Señor Paul,” Mateo said.

“Please, just call me ‘Paul,’ Mateo.” Paul said. “You guys go ahead and finish up. Eduardo, I’m going down to Buford James' place to see if he has the stuff to build an incinerator with. I’ve got my radio and phone with me.”

Buford James ran what was laughingly called a “Recycle Center.” In truth, he hardly ever recycled anything, but he did repurpose much of what he took in. He rarely bought anything unless he saw a quick buck in it. However, he repurposed a lot of things and people bought what he had for sale, some as art pieces.

Paul was in the market for a thick-walled tank, like a boiler tank he could cut up and make an incinerator with. Buford’s eyes twinkled when Paul told him what he was looking for and why he wanted it. Buford led him to a large shed that looked like it was a workshop and there stood exactly what Paul was looking for.

“Lots ah people are looking to burn their own trash and recycling what they can to keep the landfills from fillin’ up,” Buford said. “I built this thing as what they call a ‘prototype’ out of a boiler that came out of the old high school, some stainless-steel grates out of some fancy grills, and put it on a cut down fuel oil tank stand.”

Paul looked it over. The tank was a thick-walled boiler tank. A door had been cut in the end to throw in trash and there were sufficient air holes to help with combustion. There was an extra box welded on the top, the smokestack exited from it, and a temperature gauge.

“What is this?” Paul asked, pointing to the box on top.

“I got this idea,” Buford said. “Got it from the woodstove I bought last year. This box on top is a combustion chamber that funnels the smoke through a catalytic combustor and reduces the amount of pollutants in the smoke.”

“Are you selling this?” Paul asked.

“If the price is right,” Buford replied.

They threw prices back and forth for a while and finally landed on a number that pleased them both. Paul brought the trailer around and Buford used a forklift to set the incinerator onto the trailer. They strapped it down, Paul paid Buford, and then headed the 23 miles back home. When he arrived at Crooked Creek, Adam Jones was there to finish out the installation on Mateo’s power system. When he couldn’t see Eduardo around, Paul parked the trailer next to the garage and went to get the tractor. He lifted the tank off the trailer with the pallet forks and set the legs down on 4” concrete blocks next to the garage. He found out where Eduardo was when Adam came down to check the powerhouse at Paul’s. Adam connected a computer to the instruments and downloaded the operational history.

“Have you had any problems?” Adam asked.

“None whatsoever.” Paul replied.

“If you ever lose any solar panels due to damage, the vortex generators will work just fine without them. They are putting out plenty of power without having to use the panels. They will generate with the slightest of breezes.”

“What if I just pulled the PV panels and only put them back up in case of emergency?” Paul asked.

“Why not just cover them with something like marine plywood to keep them from being damaged? It would save you some work in the future,” Adam replied.

“Yeah, I guess it would,” Paul replied.


Mike started breakfast the next morning, had sausage cooked and was making toast before frying the eggs. A sleepy Hanna came shuffling in and grabbed a mug of coffee.

“I love that rain showerhead!” Hanna said, walking over to one of the windows.

“It looks strange outside,” Hanna said.

It wasn’t until then that Mike noticed the pallid green tint to the light that was coming through the windows and solar tubes. He removed the toast from the toaster oven and walked to the front door and looked out. The sky to the west had an intense dark green hue to a band of clouds headed toward them. Mike went back inside and secured the storm bolts on the front door and went back to the kitchen.

“We’re about to get hit by some bad weather,” Mike said. “Let’s finish breakfast. There’s nothing we can do but wait and see what happens.”

“Do you think it’s going to be bad?” Hanna asked.

“I don’t doubt it. When the sky turns green like that, I think it is what is called a Derecho and it’s usually associated with high winds and thunderstorms, possibly tornadoes. These domes are only rated to 150 miles per hour winds, so I’d like us to move down into the bunker when the line of storms get here. I’m confident the domes will hold up but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Mike said, sopping his plate with a piece of toast.

“I hope it doesn’t damage too much wheat,” Hanna said, picking up her cell phone from the charging area. She called Annika to warn her. Annika said she and Didrik were already in the shelter.

The Weather Alert Radio blared a warning about strong thunderstorms and more coming through the county. Then…

602
WFUS53 WXN72 292357
TORDLH
MNCO01-021-300030-
/0. NEW. WXN72. TO. W. 0011. 130829T2357Z-130830T0030z/
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MERNA, NE
657 AM CDT THU APR 29 2013
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MERNA NE HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR. ..
NORTHWESTERN BURT COUNTY IN EAST NEBRASKA. . .
EXTREME WEST CENTRAL BURT COUNTY IN EASTERN NEBRASKA. . .
*UNTIL 730 PM CDT
AT 656 AM CDT.. .A CONFIRMED LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
TORNADO WAS LOCATED 4 MILES WEST OF NORFOLK. . . NEAR HIGHWAY
275. . . AND MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
HAZARD. . . DAMAGING TORNADO.
SOURCE. . . CONFIRMED TORNADO FROM TRAINED SPOTTERS.
IMPACT. . . YOU ARE IN A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. FLYING
DEBRIS MAY BE DEADLY TO THOSE CAUGHT WITHOUT SHELTER.
MOBILE HOMES WILL BE DESTROYED. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE
TO HOMES. . . BUSINESSES AND VEHICLES IS LIKELY AND
COMPLETE DESTRUCTION IS POSSIBLE.
R
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE. . .
NORFOLK. .. PENDER. ..LYONS.
HIGHWAY 275 WEST OF NORFOLK.
HIGHWAY 81 SOUTH OF NORFOLK.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS. ..
TO REPEAT. . . A LARGE. . . EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY DEADLY
TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND. TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE. . . TAKE COVER NOW.
MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING.
AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME. . .A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS. . .MOVE
TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING
DEBRIS.
THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING TORNADOES. TAKE COVER IN A
BASEMENT OR STORM SHELTER NOW!
&&
LAT. .. LON 4703 9377 4703 9359 4694 9335 4684 9342
46779361-46969386
TIME. . . MOT. . . LOC 1323Z 310DEG 22KT 4698 9370
TORNADO, . . OBSERVED
TORNADO DAMAGE THREAT. . . CONSIDERABLE
HAIL. . .1. 75IN
ss

Hanna quickly rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, but didn’t start it. They went through the door to the old entrance building and down into the bunker. Mike went through, closed the door and bolted it, going straight down to his computer monitoring desk. He switched on the security monitor and selected cameras pointing to the west and northwest, then set up a third that was on a gimbal mount, and watched the bank of low clouds draw nearer. Hanna pulled up a chair next to him and watched the monitor with Mike. Mike reached up and turned on the weather radio on the shelf above. It was now broadcasting continuously about the tornado and that everyone should seek shelter immediately.

Mike picked up rotational movement and what looked like debris in the direction of Bancroft to their west. Selecting a couple of options on the gimbal mounted camera, the camera began automatically tracking the movement of the tornado, then adjusted the zoom to autofocus and they began to clearly see large pieces of debris lifting and swirling around. Finally, it seemed only dirt was being lifted up. Mike switched on another camera, it also on a gimbal mount on the north side of the dome and they watched as the tornado passed what Mike estimated to be at 2 kilometers to their north.

“The only house up that way is the Johnsons,” Hanna said.

“Yeah, It may have hit Norfolk too,” Mike replied. “Let’s get the emergency response supplies out. We’ll check on the Johnsons first.”

They began gathering pre-packed totes of blankets, cases of water, boxes of energy bars, a big first aid kit, two twelve packs of heavy-duty work gloves, flashlights, demolition tools, a 3.5 kw generator and a 5-gallon tank of gas and loaded the truck. Both Hanna and Mike put on sturdier cloths and changed boots. Hanna called Annika and told them the storm passed them to the north and they were heading to check on the Johnsons. Annika asked if they could pick them up. So, Mike stopped by the Edwinson farm and picked up Annika and Didrik on the way to see the Johnsons.

The Johnsons were fine, they had heard the sound of the tornado but it had done no damage to the house. Mike headed toward Bankroft. The power was off in Bankroft. The tornado had missed the silos but tossed a telephone pole into the substation and shorted everything out. There didn’t look like any homes had been hit but Mike took a few minutes to check out the area. When he ran into a Sheriff’s Deputy, he asked if any homes had been hit or injuries sustained. When the Deputy replied in the negative, they headed toward Pender and Norfolk. They saw their first damage just south of Norfolk where the tornado had crossed the road and had for all intents and purposes, stripped a soybean field. Later they found out through the local radio station the tornado had swept through Ta-Ha-Zouka Park, damaging a couple of athletic fields, jumped several hundred meters, coming down in a sand quarry, then jumped again to the east side of the north fork of the Elkhorn River then continued tearing up fields.

“Hanna, check for the address of the local Red Cross office,” Mike asked. “We can drop some stuff off there. It doesn’t look like there was much damage in town. They might need it out in the county.”

When they got to the office next to the golf course, Several Sheriff’s Department cars were there loading up emergency supplies for their county patrols. Mike found a Red Cross official and turned over most of the supplies they’d brought.

As they were heading back to Snail Mountain Didrik said, “They dodged the bullet on that one.”

[kiwibutterfly]

Thank you

[gipsy]

It is good to dodge that kind of trouble. Had a couple pass us nearby this summer. Thanks for the update

[feralferret]

Ncsfsgm, another fine chapter. Thanks!

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 37


While Didrik and Mike unloaded the supplies they had left, Hanna burned a DVD from the security camera recorders. Hanna then got out the jug of brännvin her father had distilled, and she and Annika made glasses of iced tea and brännvin. The women served the drinks to Mike and Didrik when they came up, and they all sat in the living area and watched the DVD.

“That wasn’t of a tornado as far as tornadoes go,” Didrik said, sipping on his tea.

“Thank God Almighty!” Annika said.

“I’m going to change some of the stationary cameras for those that will follow movement,” Mike said. "I can’t do all of them because you have to activate them first or they will follow every bird that flies by", Mike said. Mike walked over to the weather station console and ran the history of wind speeds over the last 24-hours.

“The winds here maxed out at 75 miles per hour.” Mike said.

Hanna switched on the TV to KPTH in Sioux City to get the local weather, tornado reports, and news.



Crooked Creek had been lucky with the weather that was causing havoc throughout the mid-west. They got the occasional shower from the infrequent storms, but no frog-stranglers. They got enough rain that Eduardo and Mateo stayed busy using large shop vacs to clear the water out of Mateo’s basement, until they slapped their foreheads, installed the sump pump, and let it handle the water.

Finally, the modules began arriving and Eduardo had been amazed on how quick Mary’s house had gone up, but Mateo’s was going up at a rapid rate. The modules locked right in with the ICF basement forms, and all that was left to do was plug together the electrical cables and bolt everything down. By day three, the roofers were putting on the metal roof and gutters were being installed.

All the families were tending the gardens and doing what they could to help out. Eduardo got a chance to speak with Paul about what Mateo had told him about the greenhouse. Paul got with Mateo, spoke with him at length, and told him to start sourcing the supplies to set up six units for aquaponics. They could see how well they worked and fill the rest of the greenhouse if everything worked out. Paul left it in Mateo's hands because he had only read up on the subjects, but Mateo had actually worked with them.

Jeremy called and asked for permission to stop by. Curious, Paul told him to stop by anytime.


Jeremy arrived in the Maule two hours after notifying Paul he was on the way.

The plane flew around the farm when it got there before landing.

As the plane pulled up to the hangar, Paul walked out and greeted Jeremy.

“Looks like you are expanding,” Jeremy said, shaking Paul’s hand.

“Yes, Eduardo’s brother and his family relocated out here from Kings County, California,” Paul replied.

“Ah, that Lake Tulare business. Probably just as well, nature has a way of doing what it wants,” Jeremy replied. “Kinda related to what I want to talk to you about. Do you have somewhere we can talk?”

Paul took him to the study at the house and got them coffee. When Jeremy was served, he began:

“As you might have noticed, the government is slow on the uptake on providing FEMA relief in some of the disaster scenarios that are occurring throughout the country. This is by design. The Establishment elite are slowly taking control of the country and consolidating power. If you hold back disaster relief and keep food from the people, you gain considerable power and control over them. We’re taking another approach in the war on the permanent Deep State. For all the ruling class's talk of "democracy," it abhors anything independent enough to exist beyond the managed control of its secretive clique. During times of disaster, the control of food and essential supplies means control over the people. The Deep State is slowly taking states’ rights away from the states and replacing them with government mandates and laws. Even the few honest politicians are helpless to stop them. And the Mockingbird Media is corroborating with the Deep state. More Americans are repudiating the failures, betrayals, and anti-American allegiances of D.C.'s own Establishment power structure. We’ve got hundreds of outposts throughout the country that can instantly become staging areas for operations in our struggle. Have you heard of the non-profit organization, ‘Helping Hands of the World’?”

“Yes, run by a group in Indiana. They have planes and ships that ferry relief supplies all over the place, mostly overseas.” Paul said.

“Yes, but what wasn’t known by many was they were flying back in as much drugs as they were flying out relief supplies. They have connections to the Cartels and the backing of dozens of politicians. A ship of theirs was recently confiscated in Florida and found to have over 20 tons of illicit drugs on it, along with over a hundred containers of relief supplies. DEA confiscated the drugs and set the containers aside to be auctioned off later. We managed to Get an honest inspector in there and temporarily blew their operation but our people absconded with the containers. We are dispersing containers to as many outposts as we can. Can you take six?” Jeremy asked.

“How big are they and what do they contain?” Paul asked.

“They are 20-foot containers and actually contain relief supplies and shelf-stable food. You are to use them to help in local situations, should the event be warranted. Jeremy said.

“Yeah, I could do that. So, we just become the Crooked Creek Red Cross?” Paul asked.

Jeremy chuckled. “Just help your community. Each container has an inventory in the shipping documents pouch on the inside of the door.”

“How did you manage to snatch that many containers?”

“It was quite easy when you have good computer hackers available than can manipulate the receiver’s computer records. The containers were going to a COOP facility in northern Virginia to stockpile supplies for the extra people the politicians wanted to add to their hidey holes.”

---

“Earlier today, five people on a golf course were either killed or injured when a radio control model airplane crashed onto the fairway at the Stonewall Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. The model aircraft exploded near the early-morning golfers. No names have been released but Capitol Police representatives are on scene at this time.”

“Uh Chet? What would Capitol Police be doing out in Gainesville? It’s 40 miles from Washington.”

“Shirley, it could be that some of the victims are members of the House of Representatives. They do provide security for them.”

---

“We have an update from the RC plane crash in Gainesville. Police believe the crash was deliberate and it was intended to harm the group of golfers. The plane looked to be a scale model of the Messerschmitt Me 262, a World War II aircraft. The crash left an almost 8-foot hole in the fairway.”

---

Larry Craine hadn’t known whether the plane would reach its target or not. It had run out of fuel a little under a quarter of a mile from the golfing group. They had used golf carts that morning and had moved a greater distance than had been anticipated. The Me 262 glided like a brick but Larry had squeezed as much distance as he could out of the flight. The height above the target was a little excessive but with the addition of the flechettes to the charge, provided for plenty of initial damage before the secondary charge impacted one of the golf carts, exploding and almost completing the annihilation of the intended targets.

Senator Carl Jensen was furious. His aide tried to calm him down and finally a nursing team came in and gave Jensen a sedative to help bring his blood pressure down. Carl had gotten excited when he had read the message that was sent to him, and every other member of the group just before the explosion, and it wasn’t the excitement he got with the 12-year-old girls and boys during their parties. Somehow, around that same time, his offshore accounts were drained as well those of the men in the golfing group. The FBI was proceeding with an investigation, but it seemed as though he was the target of the investigation instead of the perpetrators. Senator Jensen’s aide left the room and the hospital, going straight to the Senator’s office. There he opened the safe in the bookcase and took out the case loaded with cash and diamonds, wiped the surfaces down with his handkerchief and left the building. He was about to pass over Rosilie Island on the Capital Beltway when the man in a room at the MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino pressed the call button as he watched the GPS tracker reach a certain point. The car erupted in a gigantic explosion, showering the Outer Loop and the waters of the Potomac with banknotes and jewels. Their intel had been good.

---

Mike reordered the disaster response supplies they had donated and shut the computer down. Checking the server stats monitor, he then went back upstairs to the kitchen and poured a mug of coffee. Hanna was folding clothes in the laundry area and singing "Chiquitita". He needed to get two or three sofa beds for the area he was setting up in the bunker in case they were stuck down there for a while. Also, he needed to restock the kitchen and put some foods in the pantry for several days of occupancy. Walls needed to be built to separate that area from the rest of the available floor space. He had plans for that area. Hanna finished putting clothes away and went back to Mike.

“Want to take a ride?” Mike asked.

“Sure! Where to?”

“I need two or three sofa beds in case we have to have an extended stay downstairs. Also, I want to get more coffee and tea,” Mike replied.

“Sam’s sometimes has couches. Maybe we can do all of our shopping there,” Hanna said.

“I’ll go hook up the trailer,” Mike said.

The Furniture Mart was on the east side if the river along with Sam’s Club, so they stopped there first. They managed to get three inexpensive, identical, but nice sofas and headed to Sam’s Club. They picked up a dozen cans of Colombian coffee, powdered creamer, and several cans of different nuts. Hanna laid on a supply of cheeses, crackers, and some fruit.

When they got back home they unloaded the groceries and left the sofas for later. Hanna decided to pull out some pork loin to cook for dinner and invite her parents for dinner. Didrik could help Mike unload the sofas.

[gipsy]

Nice update for sure.

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 38


With the roofing done, the women were out with Juliana selecting furniture to furnish the house. The men were at a scramble to move everything in after the final inspection and acceptance. Delivery trucks were arriving almost bumper to bumper, it seemed to Paul. John and Brad arrived with their wives to help move in and place furniture. Some of the women were stocking food in the pantry and the teenagers were unloading the cargo trailer of Juliana’s prized possessions, which included many of her kitchen things. She was especially awaiting her tortilla press or rolling pin. With the food the other farm women had brought, she was going to make soft tortillas for tacos to feed the men. Lourdes had gone out and bought beer for the men for after the move-in had been completed.

Finally, the last mattress was in. Lourdes supervised the teenagers in making the beds, putting linens away, and basically sprucing up the house. An assembly line formed in the kitchen making tortillas, cooking meat, and chopping vegetables. Carmelita and Cecilia had brought jars of salsas and sauces, so they didn’t have to make those. To keep the men from getting too hungry, Lourdes cut up and fried some of the tortillas and opened a jar of chili and melted cheese in it. Juanita and Roberto took big bowls of chips and chili con queso out to the men sitting at the picnic table in the trees.

The great Cal-Tex-Mex food satisfied everyone, and toasts were raised to the Fernandez family’s official residence at Crooked Creek. Cleanup started with the women taking care of the kitchen and the men bagging the paper plates, cups, and plasticware they’d used. They also disposed of all the beer.


With the sofas in place where the women thought best, Mike began shuttling shelf-stable foods, spices, and condiments to the kitchen pantry. He could have left the food in the storeroom, but it was a matter of convenience in case of rapid occupancy. Plenty of coffee and breakfast drink mixes were in the pantry. Didrik said he would provide another jug or two of brännvin to store down there also. Mike also carried down a few bottles of Hanna’s and Annika’s favorite wines and a couple of bottles of Irish whiskey.
Mike and Didrik went back up to the dome living area and discussed the harvest beginning sometime the next week. Mike was going to swap off with Hanna between driving a grain hauler and a combine.

Annika and Didrik didn’t stay long after dinner. The next week was going to be grueling.
Also, between now and then, Hanna and Mike needed to replant their vegetable greenhouse and dry some of the herbs from the herb greenhouse.

Mike was redrawing the floor plan for the 1st floor to expand the storage area. It would give them better access plus more storage room. Hanna was determined to get pregnant as soon as she could, and they would need space for all the baby items she and Annika were slowly stockpiling. Mike expected that soon they would do one big shopping trip to stockpile diapers and such for long term. They had even expanded their vegetable garden this year and Hanna had ordered extra canning jars and lids. Lord! She must be planning on having triplets!

Monday, as Mike and Hanna were about to head to Didrik’s to begin harvesting the wheat, Ben’s pool crew arrived to start marking out the area to build the pool. Hanna was so grateful she almost didn’t want to leave yet and wanted to return inside to show Mike her appreciation. He finally got her moving and they arrived and began checking over the machinery while letting the last of the dew to dry off the stalks. Finally, Didrik gave the go-ahead and the sounds of combines and grain haulers filled the air. Didrik was at his silos preparing for the first load to fill his silos. He always filled his silos first before sending the haulers to Lyons to the silos next to the railroad as an insurance policy. Mike’s big Peterbilt rumbled evenly as he pulled out of the yard and headed to the field where Hanna was cutting. He knew about where Hanna would need to unload, and he prepositioned near that area. When she called him on the radio to say that she was ready, he pulled up next to her as she was swinging the chute over. The grain began pouring into the trailer and the bin on the combine was soon empty. Swinging the boom back, Hanna continued cutting. Mike’s trailer could take another load, so he got into position and waited, shutting the truck down. The second time she unloaded, she slowed her speed down to allow Mike time to unload and return. The extra men hired to haul grain would begin rotating in to haul the grain to Lyons. When the field was half cut, Mike switched places with Hanna, and she got into the rotation to haul grain to Lyons. She would roll the windows down to let the breeze blow through the truck and would speed toward the silos. By the end of the day, everyone was weary, dusty, and ready for a shower and to relax. When Mike and Hanna pulled up to their house, Hanna stood by the excavated area of the pool and looked longingly at the pit. Mike let Hanna shower first while he made her a wine cooler. Mike got the fried pork loin out of the fridge to make sandwiches and made a salad. During harvest, they don’t usually eat a big meal in the evening. That was saved for a breakfast that would carry them longer in the day.


Mateo told Paul he had identified his sources for the components of the aquaponic system. Paul gave him the go-ahead to start ordering and they went together to the greenhouse where Mateo explained the layout.

“What kind of fish are you going to use?” Mike asked.

“I’ll use Tilapia,” Mateo replied. “We can buy them from the Joe Hogan State Hatchery in Lonoke and won’t have to wait for delivery.”

“Good. How soon can you be up and running?”

“Well, once we get the grow beds in, I have to first ‘cycle’ the system to get bacteria growing that will process the wastes and ammonia in the system. Too much ammonia in the system will quickly kill the fish. Cycling takes six weeks, then we can start introducing the fish in small quantities. From then on it was a matter of keeping the system balanced and doing frequent water quality tests. We can have strawberries by December.”

“How will you heat this place?” Paul asked.

“I looked at electric heat but since fuel is readily available around here, decided to go with an outside wood boiler with radiators and fans powered by a small solar system,” Mateo replied. “We just have to keep the temperature between 70 and 80 degrees.”

“Okay, carry on,” Paul said.


Angel decided it was time to step away from the store until after the birth of their baby boy. Keira was more than capable of running things at the store and Liz Carpenter and Sabrina Rodriguez were managing the café just fine. The Music Hall pretty much ran itself, although several of the regulars made sure nothing got out of hand. The community was pretty much self-policing.

Jeremy got all the containers placed and his hackers were busy moving money round like stockbrokers. This resulted in a lot of pissed off elites and rumblings of the government. The IRS was falling over itself trying to cover up where the money came from that the elites were complaining about having been stolen from them and new targets selected for permanent elimination were selected, the war was still on, except the Deep State didn’t know who to fight.

---

A senior DNC official disappeared during a cruise on the St. Lawrence Seaway from Québec to the Canadian Maritimes. Canadian law enforcement including the RCMP, and the Canadian Coast Guard continues the search, but no sign of Mr. Jenning has been found so far.

Juleen Davis, Democrat Representative of California’s 37th District was shot and killed during a carjacking last night.

---

As a last-ditch effort, the men of Crooked Creek were sent out to farmer’s markets to gather more corn and fruits to can for the winter. A total of twelve bushels of sweet white and yellow corn, eight bushels of apples, twenty quarts of strawberries, and two bushels of Muscadines were gathered. Some of the corn was creamed, some whole ears frozen, and kernels were canned. Strawberries were frozen and freeze dried and some were made into jam, the apples were canned and freeze dried, jelly was made from the Muscadines. This was a whole week of work by the women and men, but they had more than enough food laid by. Mary had learned a lot. She had never really had to can anything before and tried her hand at everything. She especially liked making strawberry jam and Muscadine jelly, her favorites. Freeze drying the apples got her attention also. She started studying what other things they could freeze dry also. She was looking forward to when the pumpkins and winter squash were ready to harvest. High Bush blueberries were still in season in Tennessee, so Angel asked Paul to get them some. The request made Paul wince when Angel asked him, but he checked around and found the closest blueberry farm to them was a farm in Hampshire, Tennessee. Paul called and requested 1000 pounds be set aside for pickup on Saturday. The price was going to be high when the berries were finally processed. On top of the price of the berries, it would cost $633 and hour to operate the plane. Hampshire was a two-and-a-half-hour flight away. Still, Angel loved blueberries and she was carrying his son. He ordered 1000 pounds even though the plane could handle a ton of cargo. They would still have blueberries up to their eyeballs.


Mike drove the last hauler of wheat to the silo with Hanna sitting in the passenger seat. While Mike unloaded the wheat, Hanna went to the convenience store across the road and bought them both an ice cream sandwich. They both were relieved the harvest was over. No injuries, no major maintenance problems, and close to a record harvest. They went back to the Edwinson farm and began maintenance on the equipment. At 5:00 PM they quit for the day and returned home. Hanna began supper while Mike took a shower. She made them drinks of hard lemonade and the usual sandwiches and salad they ate for supper during harvest. When she finished her shower, they sat and ate.

“It looks like they are almost finished with the pool,” Hanna said.

“Not hardly, they still have to tile it,” Mike replied.

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, remember, you’ll be able to use the pool all winter,” Mike said, grinning.

Hanna grinned. “That’s right!”

“It feels good not to have chaff and dust down my neck,” Mike said.

“For sure! I’ve had to wash my hair twice every day and still comb chaff out of my hair!” Hanna said.

“Well, it’s done for the year. Have you got a shopping list started?” Mike asked.

“Yes, but I need to run down the inventory and see what needs to be added,” Hanna replied. “I’d like to get another pair of Red Wings.”

“Mine are good, I just need to clean and treat them,” Mike replied.

“You might as well get another pair now for back up,” Hanna said.

“I guess.”

[gipsy]

Thanks for the memory of chaff down my neck. Yuck.

[feralferret]

Although I grew up in wheat country, I never worked harvest there. I have, however, driven grain trucks for the rice harvest down near Houston. Easy extra money after my regular job ended for the day.

Another wonderful chapter. Thanks!

[kaydee]

Aug 31, 2023 21:31:19 GMT -6 gipsy said:

Thanks for the memory of chaff down my neck. Yuck.

Wheat chaff is itchy, but milo dust is worse. Have 4000 acres of that to cut next month. After 45 years running combine I can do it in my sleep...especially now that we have auto-steer!

[feralferret]

Sept 1, 2023 10:54:40 GMT -6 kaydee said:

Aug 31, 2023 21:31:19 GMT -6 gipsy said:

Thanks for the memory of chaff down my neck. Yuck.

Wheat chaff is itchy, but milo dust is worse. Have 4000 acres of that to cut next month. After 45 years running combine I can do it in my sleep...especially now that we have auto-steer!

And you likely have run a combine in your sleep at some point.  That is tiring work.

[gipsy]

Only if you can pull it with horses.

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 39


Mike was replacing a motherboard when the alarm on the firewall appliance sounded. It had detected someone trying to enter his network with improper authorization. He pressed a few keys and got the I.P. address of the intruder. He recognized it as one of those the FBI used, stupidly, frequently. Mike checked to make sure the virtual network was running and whether there was any traffic being passed. There wasn’t, so he rebooted the routers which caused them to stay offline for 10 minutes then come back online. The intruder was on a fishing expedition and didn’t really know what they were on to. Mike wasn’t bothered, it seemed, they were on a virtual network anyway. The only person to ever get into his network was Taylor because he showed her the trap door. Still, if you didn’t follow the correct protocol, you could end up with a nasty worm that would eat your system alive.


It took a while to find exactly what he needed, but Mateo found a supply of rigid IBC-330 BPA free containers for the fish tanks. A truck delivered six of them three days later. He began cutting the cages down and trimmed the tops off the plastic containers, then washed the containers out good. Once the plastic containers were drained and dry, He began setting the containers on concrete blocks and leveling them. After filling them with water, he added a little ammonia to the water and filling the grow beds with gravel. Connecting the pump, he started the water cycling. Mateo tested the water in each tank to get the ammonia levels and would check it every few days to see if the bacteria was active and eating the ammonia. Once he got it down to 7.0 or 8.0, he could start adding the fish and plant the beds. Mainly, it was a process of monitoring temperatures and PH levels here on out. Mateo and his son already had plants started, ready to plant when the time came.

Paul and Brad both got bucks on the first day of deer season. Brad processed and froze or canned most of his meat, while Paul turned his deer into summer or breakfast sausage and smoked it. A cover crop of clover was planted in the garden and more firewood was gathered for the winter. All the men in the households chipped in for that. They had a regular assembly line for processing the firewood and soon had a minimum of three cords of wood for every household. It should be more than enough to carry them through the winter, but they still stockpiled firewood in case they had a bad winter. They gathered most of the fallen and dead trees from the national forest with permits.

Angel was in her 32nd week of pregnancy, so Paul stayed near the homestead. Healthwise, she was fine, and the doctor said the baby was fine. Paul had already done a few practice runs to Johnson Regional Medical Center 16 miles away to test his time. Carmelita told him not to worry that when it was time, Angel would let him know. He made sure she had a bag packed and ready by the door. Eduardo grinned, watching Paul. He knew what he was going through after having experienced it twice.


Mike checked the concrete pad, and it seemed dry enough. Now he could start filling the cracks with a concrete slurry. Mike had pressure washed the pad in preparation of sealant on the pad. Cracks were developing from freezing in the winter and Mike tried to stay ahead of it. While he was doing the pad, he would also treat the exposed concrete around the pool enclosure with sealant.

Hanna loved her pool. It wasn’t finished in time for use during the harvest but she enjoyed it after it was finished. However, she made sure it didn’t interfere with her time
with Mike.

“Do you want to go get a couple of birds?” Mike asked.

“Hang on, let me get changed and I’ll be right out,” Hanna said.

Hanna went into the bedroom, taking off her shirt as she was walking, while Mike took their shotguns out of the safe and checked them out. When she came out, she loaded her shotgun and put a hand full of shells into her coat pocket even though she wouldn’t need them. She put in her AXIL shooting ear buds and walked into the study as Mike was finishing loading his gun.

“Yours is loaded, not chambered,” Mike said.

“Okay thanks. Ear buds?” Hanna asked.

Mike put his ear buds in and they headed to the garage door. Inside the garage, Mike checked the fuel tanks of the Rokons and they secured their shotguns into the handlebar-mounted gun racks. Mike led out and they headed for the swales to the northeast. They stopped a half mile from the house and began walking the edge of the swale. In a few minutes, A pheasant flew up and Hanna had it in one shot. She retrieved it and put it on her pheasant sling and they continued on. Three hundred meters later, Mike got his bird. Just in case, he unloaded the pheasant loads from the gun and replaced them with sabot slugs. Sometimes they jumped a deer out of the swales. They crossed the field to the next swale and walked back to the bikes but had no luck with the deer. They unloaded their guns and stored them in the racks and went back to the house. Mike took the birds to the game cleaning area and dressed them. Hanna came back out with a pan for the pheasants.

“Are you going to cook one for supper?” Mike asked.

Hanna gave him a pensive look and said, “No, let’s wait and have them Sunday. I have ranch pork chops, roasted potatoes and green beans planned for supper.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Mike said, carrying the pan to the kitchen.


Williams and Jones waited in position 500 meters from Harbaugh Valley Road, one of the access roads to Raven Rock Military Complex. Another team on the other side of the mountain covered the other access road in case the target changed their pattern. Their observation post notified them the car was coming up Harbaugh so Jones started warming the Javelin up. The other team acknowledged and began packing up their gear to withdraw from the area. The Javelins could be tracked to a shipment slated for the Ukraine and would leave the investigators wondering what the hell was going on. Jones aimed for the concrete block that held the gate mechanism blocking the last mile to the complex. Just before the Suburban got to the gate, Jones pulled the trigger and the rocket leaped out and headed toward the vehicle, missing closely, and destroying the gate. The driver was good, he sped right on through, puncturing two run-flat tires. They arrived on the complex, in shock, with a shattered windshield, sides of the armored vehicle with dents caused by shattered concrete, with their ears ringing.

As soon as Jones had launched the missile, he dumped the launch tube and left it where it lay. He packed the Command Launch Unit (CLU) into his rucksack and the team headed to the extraction point. It didn’t make sense to him. Jones thought they would be better to take the Suburban out right then instead of just warning the Senator, but the Chief had said the Protection Unit from the Marshall’s Service had done nothing wrong.

Those in the House of Representatives and government who had something to worry about, were worried. Senator Billings had almost been assassinated and a pedophile ring in Washington had been exposed with a data dump to several exposure websites and the internet was in turmoil. Also included in the data dump had been financial records of several politicians and their lawyers, which drew the interest of the IRS, or at least an uncorrupted portion of it was interested. But then, that was after their accounts had been emptied. St. Jude’ Children’s Research Hospital received a large anonymous donation that week.


Jeremy took a drink of his Scotch and slumped in the easy chair. They had taken a big bite out of the opposition’s ass and really had the politicians stirred up. From his assets in the major agencies, they didn’t know where to start looking for the perps. That was good, but making the donation to the children’s hospital made him feel even better. He had spent a great deal of time in St. Jude’s when his niece June had been a patient. The doctors and nurses had been phenomenal and were key to June’s survival. Not discounting all the praying that had been done. Sadly, he had seen too many parents there in tears with looks of no hope. Jeremy even used his own money to sponsor 1000 JoyJars through the NEGU foundation to be distributed at St. Jude’s.


Paul and Eduardo finished cutting the timber to build the woodshed at the greenhouse next to the concrete pad for the boiler. They were going to roof over the boiler and connect the woodshed so everything could be serviced out of the weather. Mateo had gone to the building supply store to get concrete footing pads and paving stones for the posts and to lay a walkway from the greenhouse door to the boiler. Laying the walkway was going to be Jose and Roberto’s job once the shed and cover were built.

It only took them a couple of days to finish the shed and roof everything. Paul had several barrels with clamp on lids that would be used to collect the wood ashes. They could be used in the winter to melt ice and snow, provide traction on some of the icy spots on the driveway, and to build the P.H. in the soil and to sweeten compost piles.

The days had turned warmer again with Indian summer. Fishing was good in the creek and everyone, but Angel, enjoyed getting out and walking around. Angel never moved farther than the patio to enjoy the weather in her waning days of pregnancy.


Mike finished the sealing of the cracks and sealing the concrete. Didrik was boiling off 55 gallons of mash and Annika was knitting and making baby clothes. Hanna wasn’t pregnant yet, or at least she hadn’t broken the news to Mike yet, but he and Hanna finished stocking up on two years of diapers, wipes, lotions, pacifiers, and any other thing else that Hanna could find in magazines and websites about raising a baby. Now her interest was in furnishing a nursery. Mike told her to slow down and not get the cart before the horse so she quit ordering things and made notes of what she would do in the future. Mike got his cameras in and replaced or repositioned the cameras he already had, so he had 360 degree coverage of the house and most of the cameras had 270 degree panning ability with the gimbal mounts.

Mike and Ben were planning an Elk hunt in the hill and canyon lands of central Nebraska in three weeks, maybe get a couple of antelope also. With the pork and beef Mike and Hanna already had in the freezer, they would have plenty of meat for the winter.

[gipsy]

Thanks for the update.

[ncsfsgm]

Chapter 40


Mateo placed a half-dozen Tilapia fingerlings into each tank to monitor each day before adding any more. So far, everything was working the way it was supposed to. In actuality, water temps were the biggie. Once the fish were established, it was a matter of balance having the right amount of fish in the right temperature water to keep the water clean of the runoff from the plant beds. Mateo had stocked enough fish food to feed the fish until the plant beds began producing. Before feeding, he made sure the nets over the tanks were secure. Sometimes the fish got frisky and jumped out while feeding. Mateo went over to the feeding schedule posted next to the door and indicated they had been fed. He'd only have to feed them every couple of days until the plant beds were in.

Mateo double checked everything again before he left. Paul had put him in charge of this and he didn’t want to let him down.

Brad and John had been planning to get their first deer down by the creek. Brad had noticed a lot of deer tracks at the Narrows ford. He suspected the deer used the big sandbar to water in the mornings and evenings, so he swept the tracks with a tree branch, and he was right. Brad and John set up stands so they would both have a good field of fire on the sand bar. With the radios and headsets, either one could signal when they would fire. Brad got a 6-point buck and John’s was an 8. Both were good shots; the deer never left the sand bar. Both men cut their deer up to make jerky, with the scraps to be made into sausage. Carmelita and Lourdes took the bones and made a broth that was canned. The bigger bones were roasted, and the marrow removed to add to the broth.

Of course, babies don’t announce their arrivals during broad daylight. Paul found himself getting up at 3:00 AM in the middle of the week to get Angel to the hospital. Carmelita notified Mary and Cynthia as Paul and Angel left, and the two women were soon dressed and getting ready to go to the hospital. And babies don’t always arrive with a “SPUT” as soon as you get to the hospital. Angel was in labor for six hours with Paul holding her hand and reminding her how to breath, occasionally wiping her face with a cool washcloth.

Anthony Duncan Austin, weighing 3.8 kilograms was born at 10:26 AM on October the 2nd. Both mother and son were doing fine. Mary and Cynthia gave Paul a break so he could go to the cafeteria to get something better than vending machine coffee. He wasn’t gone very long before the families, or at least most of the women from Crooked Creek came in to see the mother and baby. After a plate of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, toast, and three cups of coffee, Paul returned to Angel’s room.


Mike and Ben packed Mike’s truck and cargo trailer and headed to Custer County for their hunt. Near Sargent, there was a lodge that provided guided hunts. Ben’s connection with the area was he went to college with the town treasurer. A year or so back, he had been contacted by one of the Council members inquiring about the costs of repairing the town pool. They had been trying to get a grant to pay for the repairs and it was not forthcoming, so they were going to try to get the work done some other way. Ben traveled to Sargent, inspected the pool, and told them if they paid for the pipe that needed to be replaced, he’d finish the pool at no other cost. This endeared him to the area, and he was getting a huge discount on the hunt. Some of the hunts could cost up to $11,000. He and Mike would be paying less than $1000 together, not including processing fees for the game taken. Mike jumped on the chance because they also sold Bison meat which h planned to purchase to bring back home.

Ben brought his Remington 700 ADL in 30-06 while Mike brought his Winchester Model 70 Alaskan in .338 Magnum. Both guns were very capable of taking an elk, but Mike wanted to hedge his bet. If you just wounded an elk and it couldn’t be recovered, you still paid for the hunt.

They had a pleasant three-hour drive to the lodge and settled in quickly. Once they put their bags in their room, they walked out to the pasture where there were bison grazing.

“To think, there once were millions of these creatures thundering across the plains.” Ben said.

“I know, senseless government and greedy, heartless people destroyed a way of life,” Mike replied.

“They’ve got a good thing going here,” Ben said, looking around at the buildings and grounds.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind having a pasture full of bison,” Mike added. “You should think of something like this for the Res.”

“We’d have to replant too many acres of prairie grasses to make it work.” Ben replied.

Mike got a cow elk their first hunt day and they both got an antelope the second day. Overall, it was expensive meat, but they had fun. The meat was butchered, vacuumed sealed, flash frozen, and packed with dry ice in waxed corrugated boxes. It was still frozen when they divvied the meat out back at Snail Mountain.

Lyons is a quiet little town. Three-quarters of the main street is paved with red brick. Gossip keeps everyone informed of everyone and their doings within a 25-mile radius, and of course, everyone knows everyone within that radius. When the strangers arrived on Saturday afternoon, everyone took notice and kept an eye on them. When the beat-up car pulled into KB’s mini-mart, two pickups pulled in behind them, one to the gas pumps and one to the air and water station. Both men got out, taking their rifles out of the truck gun rack as they did. Seconds later, three other pickups pulled in, blocking the old car in. When the three strangers came out of the store, they were faced by six men with rifles and shotguns. Maggie Tilman ran out behind them and yelled, “THEY DIDN’T PAY FOR NONE OF THAT STUFF!”

The thieves dropped what they had in their hands when Lloyd Palmer motioned with his rifle barrel to put their hands up.

“You fellas must be new around here,” Lloyd said. “You see, we don’t steal from each other, and we take care of each other." The Sheriff’s car pulled up that Maggie had called for.

“Normally, we would just shoot you and throw you into the marshy swale, but since I knew there was a deputy around, we couldn’t have gotten away with it,” Lloyd said. “We’ll just have to turn you over to him.”

“The Deputy had to call for another car to help transport the suspects but secured them in the meantime with heavy-duty zip cuffs. While he was waiting for backup, he ran the plates on the old car and found it was reported stolen.

“My, my! Armed robbery, Grand Theft ….” The Deputy said.

“Vehicle theft?! That car ain’t worth that much!” One of the perps said.

“It is to the person you stole it from,” The Deputy replied dryly.

Little Tony, named after Angel’s father, slept so peacefully that Angel would get up several times in the night to check on him, not trusting the baby monitor. He did wake with a cacophonous wail for his 3:00 AM feeding but slept the rest of the night, content. During the day, Carmelita, Mary, and Cynthia practically wrestled to care for the baby. Tony was a happy baby, surrounded by love.

Mateo could almost see the fish growing larger each day. He added more fish to the tanks and adjust the feeding and continued planting the growing beds. He was using gravel as a medium and that was working well. The strawberries he had planted in the first bed were a healthy green and some of them were beginning to blossom. The other five beds would contain lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, bell peppers, and radishes. When he expanded into larger grow beds, he’d make racks to grow cucumbers, string beans, and zucchini.

Paul went up to inspect the greenhouse while Mateo was planting.

“How’s everything going, Mateo?”

“It’s going great! Strawberries will soon be blooming,” Mateo said.

“Don’t you have to hand pollinate them?” Paul asked.

“Normally you would, but these are Quinault strawberries and are self-pollinating. Less work. Anything that produces seeds that you grow in a greenhouse needs to be pollinated one way or another.”

Paul took a look at the fish, and they seemed lively and healthy.

“When we expand, I need to buy some deeper grow beds for things like carrots,” Mateo said.

Paul grinned. “You seem to believe this is going to work.”

“I know it will,” Mateo said with confidence. “If the original farmers in Kings County had known about aquaponics, the tribes around Lake Tulare wouldn’t have lost the sustainment of the lake and everyone could have had what they wanted. You slap Mother Nature and she’ll come back at you with a balled fist.”

“Truer words were never said,” Paul replied.


Hanna grinned when she saw the clerk placing the seedless icebox melons in the produce section. She loaded four of them into her cart and went on to pick up some crackers, ice cream, two jars of cherries, and a case of Sprite. She would like Mike to make up some watermelon moonshine cocktails this weekend. She had been off the pill a little more than a month and she had a good chance of catching this weekend.

Mike was running the router down the edge of the glued together top to round the edges. He was building a new console to give himself more room for the larger monitors he was installing. What he had was good enough for right now, but he wanted to be able to see the screens easily when he was working across the room, and not just sitting at the console. He had already built the base and just needed to finish the top. Next would be to give it a good sanding, seal, and stain everything, then add three coats of polyurethane to finish it off. He would have plenty of space to store his manuals, reference books, and equipment used to monitor the networks.

[gipsy]

Fine update.

[iamnobody]

Of course, babies don’t announce their arrivals during broad daylight. Paul found himself getting up at 3:00 AM

You forgot to mention the:

pitch black night

dense fog and rain

snowstorm and wind

I think those little rascals study the weather forecast while in the womb and then pick out the worst night to be born.