Post #21
Where Are We?
Pete and Joann had some serious discussions on their latest drive back to Beaver Creek. They had not been listening to the news while on their new property, but they did listen to the radio on the way back to Joann's house. There was not a single event or report that Pete could point to, but his gut (or was it something else?) was telling him that events were spiraling faster than he had anticipated.
“Joann, we never did talk about finances before we got married. Ordinarily I would have thought that at our age that would be a serious topic to work out before making a life long commitment...”
Joann started laughing out loud, then interrupted before Peter could finish his sentence. “That's not the only big thing we didn't talk about before we made that decision. As far as I'm concerned though, things seem to be working really well in spite of the lack of discussions in advance. As for finances, I assumed our commitment would be a partnership without reservations, like everything else. I guess I should have told you about my student loans before we tied that knot, but you have to take some of the blame for that catching me off guard and rushing me into this like you did.” Joann was grinning at Peter as he was watching the road.
Pete glanced over at his new bride for a split second and noticed her look. He continued in mock seriousness. “Ms. Smith, I believe that in a serious relationship it is the responsibility of both parties to share information that the other parties do not yet have access to...”
“I completely agree Mr. Smith, so when exactly were you planning to tell me about your bank balance?”
“As soon as you quit interrupting me, my darling Ms. Smith. That was my original intention.”
“Are you trying to imply that I am distracting from accomplishing your responsibilities as my husband?”
“Oh, you are definitely distracting. In fact you do quite well at keeping me aware of all my responsibilities as your husband. I am simply having to make adjustments in keeping all those responsibilities lined up in an appropriate arrangement.”
“It's good to know we understand each other so well, Peter. Let me start by saying I don't have much savings to speak of, and I have a lot of student loan debt. Fortunately, my payments on that loan very low since they are adjusted according to my income.”
“Seriously? You realize that simply means the amount they “defer” on your payments is added to the balance on your loan at the end of each year. All you are paying down is a portion of the interest due each year. Unless you start paying the full amount due without adjustments, Your debt just keeps getting higher and higher.”
“That can't be right. When I took out the loan they told me the interest rate was only about 1%. Besides With my teaching job in a very low income school district the loan will be forgiven if I continue teaching there for five years.”
“Hmm. How many years have you been teaching, Joann?”
“This is my first year. After this summer I'll have four years to go.”
“Joann, my love, Please don't take this badly, but you and too many like you have been flimflammed by the politicians.”
“This doesn't sound good, Peter.”
“Well if it was anyone but the government that pulled this bait and switch, the instigators would be facing the biggest class action lawsuit in history. While you were still in school and after the terms of your loans were explained to you, by someone who almost certainly was not a licensed loan officer, the government changed a number of the terms of your loan without your consent. One thing they changed was to lengthen the five year forgiveness requirement to ten years. Two other things they changed were first to turn it over to a private loan company, rather than a government department, and then raised the interest rate on the existing loans to over five times what many of them were originally.”
Joann was sitting in stunned silence as the truck continued down the country road. Finally Peter spoke up. “Joann, don't get to worrying, yet. If we have to make minimum payments on the loan from now on, we will. I suspect, however that those bill collectors will be running into serious trouble very soon. I don't know the details of how this will work out, but together you and I will make it. All kinds of changes are going to come down on us all too soon, and we are just going to have to adapt.”
“Peter, how is it that I signed a loan contract and didn't know all of this, but you knew about this? I thought I had a contract with everything spelled out.”
“Don't feel bad about not knowing, Joann. You are in the same boat as millions and millions of students and college graduates. The truth is most of the congressmen and senators who voted these changes into law, were clueless about what the details buried in the laws they were enacting or what it was really doing to their constituents. I knew this because I have been paying attention, from time to time, to the crazy financial finagling the government has been doing to the detriment of 'the people' in this country. Most of them are either being manipulated by cunning people craving obscene amounts of money, or people who are permanently intoxicated with philosophical lies about how to turn our society into a utopia where the faerie god mother government provides everything that everyone needs without anyone, including those who consider themselves to be the government, having to take responsibility for anything. Sorry for the rant, Joann. That brings me to the reason I brought this conversation up.”
“Joann, I have this growing sense that events and ... changes … are going to be accelerating faster than we anticipated. I only have eight thousand dollars in my bank account. That is not a lot to work with if we are going to build a house to live in at our new place. I had hoped to be able to work on this project for a few years to get ready for things taking a turn for the worst. Now I am afraid we may have to press forward more urgently.”
“Peter, I only have about a thousand dollars of cushion in my account. I still have my teaching job, unless all this trouble forces changes there.”
“That's what I suspected. If you keep teaching you won't be able to help much on our land once school starts. That would also mean I would have to be away a lot while I work on building a home there. We already have the chickens there, and we need to workout about whether to have a garden in both places or just at our getaway. There are a number of things we need to decide to buy or do without. So far we have been packing a cooler and taking some non-perishables to eat while we are in the woods. We need to be able to cook and store food there which means some serious purchases. If we spend money on those needs, it really cuts into how much we have left for construction materials. You get the picture.”
“I don't like the idea of being married only a couple of months before we start essentially living apart, Peter. At the same time, I'm not sure how quick we can make it living off our new land. What I mean is living on our new land and being able to sustain ourselves without my teaching income. I can certainly handle living in our pole barn, if we have water and can cook there. I don't need fancy. I just want to be sure we can feed ourselves without buying all our food and such before I quit my job. Oh yeah, and there is also that student loan.”
By the time Pete and Joann arrived back in Beaver Creek, they had decided their first stop would be the grocery store. That is where they experienced a big shock. The meat section looked like it had been thoroughly picked over. Furthermore, the pricing signs, which was all that was left of most meat items, showed a huge jump in prices. Pete started asking questions and learned from some former co-workers that the suppliers were not able to deliver the normal quantities on some meats and had raised the prices on those they could deliver. The customers had bought up alternate meats and also tried to stock up in case there were more shortages.
Their next stop was at the farm supply store where Pete had also worked. Being summer, there was a cast iron wood burning stove on sale that was still left from their winter inventory. After a quick discussion, Pete and Joann decided to buy that for their new home. They also bought at a discount, because there was no box or operator's manual, a generator that had been on display for the past year. After that the new couple went back to Joann's house to talk and rest.
“Peter, we need to gather some more veggies from the garden before heading back. I've been thinking, though. If you are going to to be at the homestead all the time, it might be better if I don't try to maintain a fall garden here. Then again maybe I should with the price of food going up and all.”
Pete was on the computer already and seemed a bit distracted. He still managed to respond, but just barely. “It would be hard to do it justice with you commuting to and from school every day.” His eyes never left the computer screen, and his fingers were busy on the keyboard and mouse.
Joann could see he was focused on something, so she began putting together dinner. When they took a break to sit down and eat, Pete was ready to talk about what he had found. “Joann I have been thinking more and more about how events seem to be accelerating toward the abyss. I know that only God can protect us from the evil and foolishness that is to come, but I also think he wants us to act like we see what's coming. You remember where Jesus warned his followers saying something akin to 'When you see the sign that real trouble is imminent, head for the hills and don't look back.' He also talked about the days of Noah when people went on about their business as usual, ignoring the warnings until it was too late. You and I both know where this is heading, and I am thinking it would be a big mistake to assume we have all the time in the world to get ready.”
“Peter, you may not think you know me very well, yet, but I'm thinking you know me better that you think you do. Stop worrying about how I'm going to respond to you. Cut to the chase. Quit beating around the bush. Give me the details not the concepts. What specifically do you think we should do?”
Pete looked at his new wife and took a deep breath. “I think you should not go back to your teaching job in Barnsville. I think we need to completely cut loose here and commit all our effort on the new homestead. We don't have the money to pay for building a new place there, but the land can provide materials and we can provide the labor. We should use that money we have to make sure we have the food and tools we need. We need to move into the barn, and there spend what money we've saved on getting our food needs on track..”
“Peter, please. Details not concepts.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. You are such a perfect balance for me. Did you know that? I can't believe how … I just love you so much, Joann.”
“Peter I love you too, but we will get to that later. Right now I need you to tell me what we are needing to do, – about moving, that is.” Joann was grinning at her new husband now.
“Okay, we just bought a generator and a stove. We need to buy a freezer and a cow, that is a whole cow for the freezer. With the way prices are jumping up we can save enough on the cost of the meat to pay for the freezer. But the important part is if we make get a contract to process a whole beef now, now we won't have to worry about not being able to find meat in a store this winter. We need to buy some goats now too. They do better browsing in the forest than beef will. We need to buy a lot of seeds for all kinds of crops. We don't yet know what will grow well in the forest and what won't. By the time we learn it may be hard to get the seeds we will need. Of course there are more things we will need to do, but the point is we need to fully commit to this and dive into the deep end of the pool right now.”
Joann was smirking at Peter when she replied, “Okay that wasn't perfect, but I'll give you a B+ on that. If I can make a suggestion, Let's pray about this, and then I would like to get to bed early, if you wouldn't mind. Tomorrow, after some coffee, we can see where this adventure takes us.”
- - - - -
Rob had pulled of the blacktop at a gas station/convenience store still on the Texas side of the state border. He had found this place for meeting up with Bruce using an online APP before they left. By the time Rob pulled up to the pump, Bruce had filled up his tank and his family and Carl had all gotten out to walk around in the store. It was a little strange to see a convenience store open this late. During the epidemic all the stores and gas stations in the city had changed their hours, shutting down early. Even stores that normally were open 24 hours a day had switched to closing by nine o'clock. Here they were at a convenience store that to them seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere off the interstate. That was still open at midnight. Not only that, but there were two eighteen wheeler rigs there idling with running lights on.
“Hey, Bruce. How is it going so far?”
“Hey, buddy. We're doin' fine. The driving has given Linda and I a chance to talk and process what we are doing. Look, Rob. It's going to take us some time to adjust. In the meantime Linda and I are very close to you and Jenny, and we just felt we had to go with our gut. It feels like the right thing even if our brains haven't caught up to our … well the truth is that our emotions haven't caught up with everything that is happening, either.”
“Bruce, I can certainly understand what you are saying. This decision was not an easy one. I had to go with a hunch, a feeling in my gut, even though I hadn't gotten my feelings sorted out. As for my head, I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like the information was accelerating toward a conclusion that threatened my family. I had to get them to a safer place.”
“Sooo, where exactly is this safer place?”
“That is just one more crazy part of this, Bruce. All I have are directions to go here to this landmark then turn this direction, turn this way,when the road does something squirrely, then turn left until the road runs out, next... you get the picture. I don't even know for sure how far away it is. We are going to just have to stay close and try to find it. I'll give you the next steps over the radio as we go along and you can double check me on what I think is the right turn to make. We need to make sure to stop and top off whenever we hit an open gas station. I have no idea where we will and will not find the next one. Let me know if you need to pull over to switch drivers , take a break , or talk. Are you okay with that?”
“Okay, buddy. Wagons, Ho!”
The caravan of two vehicles started up and set off into the night, once more. They were driving on two and sometimes three lane state highways now so their speed was nothing like what was allowed on interstate freeways. The next leg of their trip was to a small town that neither of them had ever seen and was known only to Rob from his memory of family tales he heard when he was younger. He could not remember ever meeting someone outside his family that had even heard of it. Until he had looked it up on the internet when he first got his father's letter he had no clue about what part of the state it was in. After they crossed the state line leaving Texas, it took them almost three hours to get there.
They stopped again at another non-chain convenience store where two state highways intersected outside of the town they were heading toward. Everyone was surprised to see the lights still on there. An older man was sitting inside behind the counter watching the news on a television when they all trooped in to take a restroom break. The store had only a single restroom so they all had to take turns, one at a time. Most of the group spent their waiting time browsing for drinks and snacks.
Bruce and Rob had to put down a cash deposit before pumping their gas since the older pumps did not have built in card readers. After the gas was pumped they had to settle up with man behind the counter for all the purchases and take their own restroom breaks. With their spending more time at the counter they were catching clips of the news of the riots that were scattered around the country. When Rob came out of the restroom Bruce was glued to the television screen watching a report coming out of their city in Texas. Apparently the rioters had ventured out into some suburbs and Bruce heard their own neighborhood mentioned. As Rob stepped up they both caught a brief clip of a large older house and a hair salon in flames at an intersection they recognized as four blocks from their own street.
After a quick discussion Rob and Bruce decided not to tell their families about this yet. They decided to keep driving since they had no idea where the next town, hotel or even wide spot in the road might be along their route. They couldn't even get phone reception here. At this late hour everyone but the drivers were soon asleep as they continued on their trek down the road to a totally unknown location.
This time of year the sun was coming up pretty early, and Bruce was relieved to be able to see more after driving all night. Linda had reclined her seat to his right and was sound asleep. Bruce glanced back in his rear view mirror and saw that Carl was asleep with his head back against the headrest. Colleen was asleep too, but she has slumped to the side with her head leaning on Carl's shoulder. He decided to check on Rob and Jenny, so he picked up the radio.
“Hey, Buddy. Just checking on you. Looks like I'm the only one back here that is awake still. You doin' okay up there?”
“Looks like it's just you and me at the moment. Whoa. Approaching a change of territory up here. Let's stay alert for the next interchange.”
Sure enough as he was talking Bruce saw the sign announcing they were entering a different state. Bruce mused at how the color of the pavement changed its hue but nothing else changed except a highway number sign that looked totally different from the last one they passed. It was only a few more minutes when he saw Rob slowing down and then his turn signal came on. About a quarter mile later he slowed and pulled to the edge of the road. Bruce followed his lead and stopped behind him. After a minute Bruce climbed back in and noticed some stirring as he shut his door and re-buckled his belt.
“Mister Cooper, What's happening?”
“Good morning Carl. Just checking with your Dad about the next junction where we need to turn?
“Where are we?”
Bruce chuckled. “We ain't in Texas no more. We've gone all the way across one state and into another since leaving Texas last night. I hope we get where we're going soon or we might drive off the edge of the world.”
“What?”
“Never mind, Carl. That was what Colleen and her mother would call a Daddy joke; a joke that only a Daddy would think is funny.”
Carl was still not completely awake, but he did chuckle a little before responding, “Okay, I get that.”
The next two hours of driving was more interesting as the landscape was less flat and the roads had more curves. There were a few more stops and a lot more trees around now. Linda was awake now and at one point she quietly asked Bruce how far to the next pit stop.
“Sweetie, I hope it won't be much longer, but I think we are almost there.”
Linda was watching Rob and Jenny in the truck up ahead and trying to look ahead on the narrow winding road to see any sign of a house or place where they might be pulling off onto a driveway. Just then Rob slowed down and turned onto a gravel road. Bruce followed behind trying to stay back from the worst of the dust cloud so he could see the road ahead. Linda was now looking for any sign of a house, but as the road seemed to wind on and on she grew more anxious.
“Bruce are you sure we are in the right place. This is an awfully long driveway, even for a ranch.”
“Well, this is either a county road or a forest service road; not a private road. I know you are use to even county roads being well paved, but as I told Carl earlier this morning, 'We ain't in Texas anymore'.” Best I can tell we have about twenty-five more minutes before we get there.”
“Oh my.” Linda glanced back at Carl then looked to her husband. “Bruce if we were on a highway it would be one thing, but with this rough road I don't think I can wait that long.”
Bruce glanced at his wife then picked up the radio. “Hey Buddy we have a slight issue here. We need to make a quick stop before proceeding.”
It was a few seconds before Rob replied. “Okay. It has has been a while. Just be sure to keep an eye out for possible snakes. I don't know this area that well yet.”
“Whoa. I didn't even think of that. Thanks for the heads up.”
Both vehicles were slowing to a halt about a hundred yards apart, but with the curve in the road they could barely see each other. The gravel roadway was about thirty feet wide and closely bordered with tall trees. Linda was hesitant to get out. She looked hesitantly at her husband.
“Are there really snakes out there?”
“Well, probably, but if you are careful it shouldn't be a problem.”
“Bruce, I only know one thing about snakes. They scare the creeps out of me! Right now I'm afraid to even step out of the car.”
“Okay, Linda. I will go with you and watch for snakes.”
“Aren't snakes supposed to be sneaky?”
“Actually they are cunningly cautious. They hide so they can capture their prey more easily, but that is also tempered by their trying to avoid risk to themselves. The venomous ones, on our continent at least, do not consider people their prey. They only attack people when they feel threatened, like if someone nearly steps on them where they are hiding.”
“Well if they are hiding, how are we supposed to know where not to step?”
Bruce took Linda's hand and talked calmly to her as he began to lead her toward the trees “Linda, I know you are frightened. That is understandable since you know too little about snakes. Step where there is solid ground. Don't step on a pile of leaves or next to a pile of fallen limbs. Basically look ahead and think before you step. Assume there may be a snake cowering in any place they might hide unseen. Just avoid stepping close to those spots so you don't make them panic.”
“I thought wild animals could sense your fear and attack if they sense that. They are sure to sense my fear.”
“Yes, but to snakes, unless they are the giant species, humans are not potential food. So their first choice is to avoid us unless they sense they are too close to us to escape if we attack them.”
“I don't really care as long as you can keep me safe.”
“Okay, sweetie. I'll stay close.”
“Poor Mom.” Colleen was watching her Mom and Dad stepping so carefully into the shelter of the trees . “She has never been camping in her life. This virus thing and all the sheltering rules have really got her stressed or she would never have considered coming on this vacation trip with your family.”
“I never knew you were all that experienced as a camper.” Carl was blatantly poking fun at Colleen.
“Come on, Carl. You remember when we were little and our dads would pitch tents and camp out in our back yards with us.”
Carl was laughing out lout now. “That is not at all the same thing and you know it.”
“I know that, but I think it will be a great adventure to spend a week or two camping in a real forest.”
Carl's expression changed. “Colleen, what if it turns out to be longer than that?”
Colleen looked at Carl and paused. “I … Let's just take this a little at a time, Okay? I can only take in so much and still keep my cool.”
“I'm sorry. You know me. Always thinking out loud and trying to think ahead half way through to the end of a game before I even start.”
Both teens were quiet after that and less than a minute later Colleen's parents were back in the SUV. Bruce immediately picked up the two way radio.
“Okay, buddy. Back in the saddle, again.”
“We'll be there soon. Take it slow and easy.”
They continued down, or rather up the road more slowly. Bruce was having to follow a little more closely because he was afraid of loosing sight of Rob as the road was weaving back and forth more with the rising terrain. Eventually they hit a stretch with fewer curves. Bruce was watching ahead and spotted a tight right curve in the road. Robs brake lights came on and Bruce slowed down.
“Okay, gang. Looks like we are just about there. Hold on.”
“Bruce,what is he doing?” Linda was stunned to see Rob slow down and drive straight ahead into the trees without even trying to take the curve. As she was watching Rob and Jenny disappeared into the shadows of the trees, and Bruce followed right behind. They threaded their way a little further into the trees before slowing to a stop.
Bruce looked around and said, “Looks like we are here. I guess we need to climb out and figure out where here is.”
The six of them left their vehicles and gathered together looking in all directions in the process. There were a variety of trees towering above their heads. The spacing was random ranging from three to thirty feet apart. Some in their group noticed that trunk thicknesses varied as much as the spacing if you measured in inches rather than feet. It took a few moments before Carl raised the first question.
“I hate to be the one to ask this, but someone has to. I don't see Grandpa. Are you sure we are at the right place?”
Rob pulled out the letter and stepped over to Bruce.
“Buddy, you and I are the only ones who were awake for the whole trip, so lets go back over this one step at a time.”
With everyone gathered around to listen. Rob read the instructions from the letter a small step at a time. At each step he had Bruce describe how they identified the road markings and changes to follow the directions in the letter. When they were done they agreed that they had carefully followed the directions to get to this spot. The question now was how to find Grandpa. They decided to spread out a little and start walking in a grid pattern until they spotted something. Before they started Rob insisted that everyone grab at least a couple of water bottles. He also picked up a machete, while Bruce grabbed a hatchet.
As they started out they did spread a little but in fact they were mostly paired up in three pairs. Linda was staying very close to Bruce, Jenny and Rob naturally stayed close together, and the two teens formed another pair. Each pair was about thirty feet apart as they started eastward. After about three hundred yards, Rob coordinated their swinging roughly like a pinwheel counter clockwise to the north until they were facing west. Then they began again. The going was slow as they dodged trees, some light brambles and a few fallen limbs or tree trunks. Each pair was talking quietly with each other, but with their spacing not loud enough for the other pairs to overhear what was being said.
“Carl, this is a little unnerving, our at least I think it should be. It's weird. I've never been really in the woods like this. It's so totally different. It's quiet, but it's not. The sounds are so different, but it's almost like they are familiar. I must sound like I'm talking nonsense, but it is so peaceful here.”
Carl was listening to both Colleen and the sounds, or lack of sounds, in their surroundings. He too was feeling like he had stepped onto or into a different planet rather than a merely different geography. As he was trying to search for signs that his Grandpa had a place nearby, it struck him how well the forest with its random patterns of light and shadow along with the varied patterns caused by randomly spaced and sized trees created an intense camouflage for anything present. He looked over to Colleen to reply to her rambling commentary. Suddenly he stopped and tried to focus between the trees to his north.
“Colleen, Do you see something over that way?”
Colleen stopped and looked for a few seconds. “I can't tell. It's hard to focus with all the shadows and bright spots between the tree trunks.”
Carl turned to his left. “Hey, Dad! I'm not sure, but there may be something over this way!”
“Bruce, Jenny and I are going to hold our position here so we don't get lost. You and Linda head over that direction but stay in sight of us. Let Carl and Colleen head over that way, but don't let them get out of sight.”
The group was able to stretch out further this way while still keeping anchored together. Finally, Carl passed the word back that he could see a barn a short distance to the north. Rob used his machete to cut a mark in the north side of some trees as the group collapsed its human chain and joined Carl to their north. As they continued toward the barn Rob continued to mark the occasional tree until they arrived at an obviously new wooden pole barn.