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Post by ncsfsgm on May 30, 2023 15:01:25 GMT -6
Chapter 116
When the landing craft arrived, it was a couple of days before the S-64 was free to lift the boat to the lake. Algonquian Air hired the village men to cut back the trees and shrubs on the northern 1/3 of Cedar Point Island, and as soon as the boat was ready, Mark would ferry them down to begin work. The boat was powered with two Evinrude 100hp outboard engines, which made for a quick trip.
On the trip to Amyot, the S-64 brought a John Deere 319E with a screw pile installer attachment, from Darcy’s construction company, to help with the land clearing.
Screw piles would be necessary because of the frost line. Frost heave in the winter would soon damage the foundations of the cabins, so they opted to install screw piles for all the cabins. It would take away some of the maintenance headaches in the future.
The men soon had the land cleared, the engineers came in and surveyed where the piles were to be set, Mark and Chick loaded the skid steer screw with attachments on the landing craft, and delivered it to the island. As the piles were being installed, the S-64 returned with the cabin kit, and delivered it directly to the island. It was bundled in one complete package. Solar panels, generator and other items would be delivered at a later date. It was expensive but Darcy could absorb the costs into the conglomerate.
As they were drying in the cabin, Darcy returned to Cedar Point Island. Everything was per their plans and would be finished in a few days. He watched as four men built a deluxe outhouse that would have a propane heater and skylight.
“Mark, I want you to be prepared to travel to a few Trade Shows and Conventions this summer.”
“For what?” Mark asked, surprised.
“You’ll be there to represent Algonquian Air drawings for a free week’s fishing or hunting. Our advertising agency is fully behind this. Your first show is St. Louis on the 10th of next month. The agency is putting together a trade show kit with brochures and will have one of their people there to set everything. You’ll be the grinning company representative there to answer questions.”
“How is that going to work with only camp finished?” Mark asked.
“Actually, Nuna outcamp on Lake Kabenung is almost complete, and we’ll have Miigwan outcamp on Tuckanee Lake ready before Fall.” Darcy replied.
“You’ll have 15 outcamps up and going before you know it, at this pace.” Mark said.
“Not necessarily.” Darcy said. “We won’t be building during the winter. The dock installers will be here as soon as the well drilling is complete. After the dock is done, we’ll pull the LC out and transfer it to Kabenung to install the dock there.”
“Well, at least there haven’t been any major problems, have there?”
“No, everything is going pretty smoothly. I’ll be working this winter on getting more leases cleared with Provincial Parks for four more outcamps; to begin construction next summer.”
“So, how many of these trade shows do I have to attend?” Mark asked.
“I believe they have six total.” Darcy replied.
Mark and Chick began hauling diesel tank trailers into White River to refill them. Darcy was sending a gas bladder and pump to replace the fuel they had used for the landing craft. While they were in White River, Mark stopped by the market and purchased a 100 pound sack of russet potatoes to hold him over until his were ready for harvest. Mark had a dump truck fries jones going on, and the craving had his mouth watering on the way back.
That afternoon, Mark washed four large potatoes and cut them into fries. He soaked them in cold water as the stove heated up. When the oven reached 400 degrees, Mark patted the fries dry and tossed them in a bowl with oil, and creole seasoning. After baking them for 20 minutes, he took them out of the oven, sprinkled Parmesan cheese over them and squirted catsup over the pile. Getting a beer out, He munched fries and watched a streaming rugby Match out of Hull, Quebec.
The next morning, Mark woke to the sound of heavy rain pounding the metal roof. To Mark, it was like music, almost putting him back to sleep. He finally forced himself to swing his legs off the bed and go take a shower, turning the hot water off in the last two minutes of it to wake up. After getting shaved and dressed, he added wood to the stove and got coffee started. Turning on the transceiver, he put it in scan mode and listened to the different news channels he had programmed. It would stay on a channel until the signal faded. The only thing he really picked up on was things were getting crazier, morals were collapsing throughout the world. Thank God that mess hadn’t reached northern Ontario. Drugs and deviant behavior were infecting society everywhere. If he found that crap creeping into their area, people would disappear. He and Chick would see to that.
Wemain Outcamp was finished and one of the village hunters was hired as a guide. The camp was fully stocked, and the guide lived there in a separate cabin to exercise the generator and to make sure the solar was working correctly. Mark got his bag packed for the trip to St. Louis, but first, Darcy and Mark traveled to Springfield, Missouri, headquarters of Bass Pro Shops, to get Algonquian Air brochures and drawings in their stores. They proposed to hold drawings every quarter and since US and Canada Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's were one team now, that would put their exposure in 171 retail stores throughout Canada and the U.S. Mark hoped it would keep him from having to travel to so many trade shows. Darcy set up separate office space on the compound at Tukanee Lake to take reservations and answer questions. He also moved a couple of bookkeepers there from his corporate team.
The plan went through, especially after Darcy threw in a free fishing trip for six members of the board, which Bass Pro’s Marketing Department would photo document for their own advertising. Darcy gave them a list of dates they would be able to accommodate them and was told they would get back with him as soon as they could clear their schedules. When Darcy left the headquarters to go back to their hotel Mark said, “I hope the fish will be biting.”
“They’d better or we can blame Cabela’s gear. I’m stocking the cabins with fishing gear from their store down in Concord.” Darcy said.
Darcy flew in another 14’ skiff and engines, and Mark added two more guides to help out the regular outcamp guide. That gave them two of the customers to a boat. It could become crowded quickly when fighting a 60 pound Muskie into your boat.
Darcy arranged the tickets so the customers flew into Sault Ste. Marie and were picked up in a Twin Otter. They were landing on Lake Negwazu less than an hour later.
The weeks’ worth of fishing was a big hit. Some almost record lake trout and muskies were caught but released. A few lake trout were kept for eating at the camp, the photographer left them duplicates of all the photos he had taken, and Darcy immediately had them enlarged and framed to hang in the cabin and at headquarters at Tukanee Lake.
Mark still went to St. Louis, and was pleased at the reception he received from the people visiting his booth. PR had brought md-sized posters of the photos taken at Negwazu Lake and had enough to give away. A lot of people signed up for the drawing, and a winner was picked on the last day of the show. PR took over from there, notified the winner, and began arranging the visit.
Mark apparently was getting out of St. Louis just in time. There were riots in the downtown area. Mark asked the cab driver what was going on, and he said the news stations were reporting it had started after two cops there had shot a fifteen year old black boy as he was running away from a robbery-murder. The boy had fired two shots at the pursuing officers. When the boy was shot he had reportedly dropped his gun and it fell into a storm sewer. The water carried it away. Black leaders were demanding that the cops be tried for murder. One of the officers was black. The cabbie told him the TV news showed that a large part of the commercial center of the city was destroyed. Reports of several being killed, and of the National Guard being fired upon were on on video.
Mark didn’t mind traveling but he breathed a sigh of relief when the Otter finally landed at Negwazu Lake. Joe Norris had picked him up, or rather he waited on Mark to give him a lift back to Amyot. Joe was there to pick up a delivery of six Stainless Steel "Stokes-like" Litters and bridle kits for cable extraction. Charlotte recommended one for each outcamp. Mark found out later they got the best pricing on shipping by ordering six at a time. Joe had called the village when he got close enough, so Chick, Charlotte, and the guide from Wemain were there with the Argo and trailer to pick up one of the litters and Mark. They off-loaded one of the litters, and before the litter was loaded into the guide’s skiff, Charlotte made sure the guide knew how to use the bridle kit for extracting the litter by helicopter. It was a no-brainer because the attachment points were color-coded to the appropriate hooks. That done, Joe headed to Tukanee Lake while Mark, Charlotte, and Chick went to the village. Chick dropped Mark and Charlotte off at Mark’s cabin and disappeared. Mark dropped his bag off in his bedroom and got a beer, ready to flop in the hammock for a while. However, Charlotte grabbed Mark’s arm as he reached for the refrigerator handle and pull him to her, laid her head on his chest and gave him a big hug.
”I missed you!” Charlotte said.
“And I you.” Mark said, breathing into her hair.
From the feedback they’d received from the Bass Pro/Cabela people, they were a little disappointed they couldn’t cook on a wood cookstove. Darcy quickly found “Regina” wood cookstoves in New Jersey and had them shipped to Sault Ste. Marie for pickup. There was room in each kitchen to place the wood range next to the propane stove so it just cost them a little more….to the tune of $4,400 per stove.
Other than the cookstove, the group had nothing but compliments on everything else, even the fish were cooperative. Some great pictures were taken, and a great article was written that was picked up by Field and Stream magazine.
Once Mark was settled back in, He did some fishing, smoked the fish, and he and Charlotte took walks to check out his guerrilla gardens and found out the wildlife liked his cherry tomatoes. He would have to grow them closer to the cabin if he wanted any.
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Post by kiwibutterfly on May 30, 2023 15:37:32 GMT -6
Many thanks, I'm quite happy to head off to work now (a little bit late though) as I wanted to finish my reading.
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Post by gipsy on May 30, 2023 20:33:11 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jun 4, 2023 18:42:03 GMT -6
Chapter 117
With Charlotte’s experience gained in her time at the village, Darcy asked her to recommend a custom first aid kit for the outcamps. She made a list of the supplies; Mark ordered them and had them shipped to a receiving warehouse Darcy had set up in Sault Ste. Marie. One extra thing she recommend was an AED at each camp. An automatic external defibrillator checks the heart’s rhythm and sends a shock to the heart to restore normal rhythm.
The villagers seldom had any heart problems, but they would be having customers from different parts where the diets and lifestyles were a lot different, and they could see more cases of cardiac arrest. The model Charlotte selected was so simple to use that it took only a few minutes of instruction to familiarize the guides with its operation.
Darcy invited Mark and Charlotte to fly with him down to Sault Ste. Marie when all the items had been received at the warehouse. They would stay overnight and fly back the next morning, delivering the kits to Nuna, Wemain, and Migwan outcamps on the way back. This left the guides with more paperwork to do, because they had to report what they used out of the kits each month on pre-printed forms so Charlotte could fine tune the kits. The items most used would be bulk ordered from the States or Ottawa.
The first winners from the drawings enjoyed the experience and their comments from the guest books were entered on the website comments page. The office began receiving requests from paying customers. The client base built quickly.
In his spare time, Mark was fishing more and smoking the fish. Darcy ordered canning jars and paid Mark for jars of smoked fish to stock the camps. The customers enjoyed it so much that they wanted to buy jars to take home with them. Mark wasn’t interested in commercializing his little operation, so Darcy had smokers built at each outcamp for the customers to smoke their own fish. Darcy bulk ordered the ingredients for the rub, and made sure each outcamp was stocked. Mark instructed the guides on his technique of smoking the fish. When The Bass Pro headquarters saw the comments on the smoked fish, they offered to pay Mark for his rub recipe and smoking instructions. Of course, Mark accepted, and they had someone smoke the fish for them, and sold the pre-mixed rub in convenient shaker bottles labeled as “Northern Woods Smoked Fish Rub.” They knew how to make a dime on most anything. Mark used part of the money to buy Charlotte a ring.
Mark set up an account with the receiving warehouse in Sault Ste Marie and began having his bulk purchases shipped there. He kept a list of what he was ordering so when he had enough supplies to fill the enclosed trailer, he would go pick the items up.
Colette hired a supply specialist just getting out of the Canadian Armed Forces 5 Wing at Goose Bay. Sergeant Namya White Rabbit, who would monitor and order supplies that Darcy was shipping in by rail. She was skilled with the latest inventory software, and could program warnings when an item was close to being in short supply. Throughout the summer she would monitor the usage shipped out to various outcamps to make sure she kept the inventory up. She would do the same for the hunting season, and build a database of usage so she could order in plenty of time to keep the inventories stable. When supplies came in by rail car, it was immediately shipped to the 40,000 square foot warehouse Darcy had built on the compound. Once the database of usage was established, Darcy wanted to keep three seasons of supplies on hand.
Mark went to the Rectory in White River to inquire what steps he needed to take to marry Charlotte. The Reverend there was more than happy to marry them, even though they were going through the traditional Native American ceremony also. He had done it at times before. Happily, Mark told the Reverend he would be back with him soon with a date. He was only a few buildings down from the Veteran’s Club, so Mark went down to have a beer and found Caoimhin sitting at the bar.
“Slip up boy-o and have one on me. I hear you are tying the knot with that nurse.”
“Yes, I was just talking with the Reverend.” Mark replied.
“Well, congratulations!” Caoimhin said. “She seems to be a nice woman.”
“Yes, I’m sort of fond of her.” Mark said, grinning.
“I found something while clearing out junk from an old distribution warehouse you might find interesting.” Caoimhin commented.
“Yeah? What did you find?
“Twenty-five cases of canning jars.” Caoimhe replied.
“I’ve got canning jars.” Mark replied.
“Not like these you don’t. They are Kilner Clip Top 2 liter Jars with rings, packed six to a case.”
“Really? And the rings are good?” Mark asked.
“Yep. The building remained relatively cool, so the rubber rings haven’t deteriorated.”
“What are you thinking of asking for them?” Mark asked.
“I’ll take $25 dollars a case and the next time you smoke fish, four two liter jars of smoked fish,” Caoimhin said, grinning.
Mark did a quick calculation in his head. The last time he looked for Kilner’s jars they wanted $47.00 for three of them.
“I’ll take them all then.” Mark said. “I’ll need to go back and get my trailer though. Let me take a case with me and I’ll pack your fish. I just got through smoking a batch this weekend. I can bring the fish and your money back in the morning and pick up the rest of the jars.”
“Deal!” Caoimhin said, clinking Mark’s beer bottle with his.
When he got back to Amyot, Mark went to see Charlotte to tell her about the Preacher and carried one of the jars to show it to her.
Charlotte was already excited because she had received word that afternoon that Health Canada was going to be sending visiting specialists, including optometrists and dentists, to the village for a couple of days every two months to do checkups on the people. She was going to talk to the village council to iron out some dates to coordinate. Now they needed to select a date for the wedding and coordinate that. Neither had relatives that needed to come long distances so it should be easy enough to set a date.
Darcy felt good as he took off from Ottawa. The cabins for construction next spring were being put together and would be ready in plenty of time. He had negotiated leases with the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation on Trout Lake for a lease, a lease with the Deer Lake First Nation, for a lease on Deer Lake, and a lease with Provincial Parks, for a lease on Brunswick Lake. He had Namya order everything the cabin manufacturer didn’t include, and stockpiled at the compound until it was needed. They would need to start resupplying the outcamps for the hunting season soon, and everything was ready and lined up to ship.
Darcy was a little uneasy because everything was going so well.
Mark set all six jars from the case and heated them in the oven. Once they were hot enough, he took one out of the oven and packed it with smoked fish, added a sealing ring, clamped the lid on and set it in the breezeway to cool and seal. He was going to give Caoimhin six jars, instead of four because he had given Mark such a good deal on the jars.
Charlotte came over to help Mark install the box of light fixtures she had found in the garage that Mark never got around to installing. They were just a bunch of salvage lights he’d picked up at a ship salvage place in Sault Ste Marie. There were Bent Cage Solid Brass Sconces, oblong aluminum art deco ship lights, and two large Brass and Copper Pendant Lights. Mark had run the wiring when the cabin was built, and had made allowance for the Pendant lights in the breezeway. She had joked with him and said she wasn’t moving into a partially completed cabin. On the other hand, he wasn’t so sure she was joking. When she saw the jars out cooling, she exclaimed, “That’s a perfect use for those jars. I thought you said Caoimhin was getting four jars.”
“Yeah, but he gave me such a good deal on the jars, I decided to give him six,” Mark replied.
“I think we should have the wedding on a Saturday with the Reverend officiating.” Charlotte said. “Then we can have the tribal ceremony on Sunday while the Reverend is at his circuit church.”
“Makes sense to me. The chief’s ceremony would be more official to me anyway,” Mark replied. “What date do you want? I need to let the Reverend know.”
“The 15th of next month. That will give us enough time to get the word out,” Charlotte replied.
“Not quick enough for me, but it will do,” Mark replied.
Darcy had fishing reservations on into late fall, when Muskies were biting the best. This overlapped the hunting season a bit, but the money was coming in, which was good. The best part was watching the expressions on the faces of the fishermen when they came back at the end of the day. Which brought up a couple of requirements Darcy quickly fulfilled. He hired cooks for every outcamp. Men coming in at the end from a day of fishing really didn’t feel like cooking, so he hired cooks for the camps who would also fix take-along lunches for the men out fishing. He also hired a professional photographer to go to each camp and take digital photos for advertising purposes, and to present each customer with a thumb drive containing pictures of their adventure. This became a big hit with the customers. Several publication writers from several outdoor magazines showed up and were given lodging discounts, and in return given copies of the finished articles. More free advertising.
Charlotte rounded up Mark for his wedding clothes fitting. Mark already had a suit he somehow kept around and didn’t know what needed to be fitted. She and Mark ended up at Ann and Chicks where Ann fitted Charlotte with a white buckskin dress with colorful bead work and Mark was fitted with pants and tunic of white buckskin with more “manly” artwork. Mark had to admit it looked pretty good. Accessories also included matching moccasins and a hand woven waist sash for Mark. Several women of the village had a hand in designing and putting everything together as a gift to the two. Mark thought he detected a blush from the women when he asked about a quick release for Charlotte’s skirt.
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Post by feralferret on Jun 4, 2023 19:41:49 GMT -6
"Mark thought he detected a blush from the women when he asked about a quick release for Charlotte’s skirt."
Good ending to the chapter! Thanks!
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Post by gipsy on Jun 4, 2023 20:23:34 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jun 13, 2023 16:52:26 GMT -6
Chapter 118
Mark and Charlotte received their wedding clothing. It had been further adorned with exquisite handiwork in traditional tribal colors. Each had a headband that would have flowers in Charlotte’s headband and leaves would be in Marks, symbolizing the blessing of the Union by the Creator. A cape decorated with colorful embroidery was added to Charlotte’s clothing.
By Nippising tradition, Mark selected two elder sponsors and Chick to guide him before, during, and after the wedding ceremony. Charlotte had to do the same thing, and selected two elder wives and Ann to guide her.
The bride and groom each held an eagle feather in their left hand while reciting their wedding vows to each other. Their memorized vows were spoken in Algonquian.
Lastly, they did the Smudging Ceremony. They ignited dried ritualistic flowers; this ceremony is meant to cleanse the couple and the officiant, then allow the smoke to carry their prayers to the Creator.
Afterwards, the wedding feast was held with the elders eating first, then the bride and groom, followed by the rest of the guests.
With Chick by his side, Mark didn’t make many faux pas.
Since alcohol isn’t part of the wedding, Mark and Charlotte waited until they returned that evening to the cabin before opening the bottle of champagne Caoimhin gave them as a wedding gift.
Darcy and the guests from White River flew back before dark, because he hadn’t gotten the floats in for the landing lights.
Charlotte couldn’t even think about a honeymoon at that time. She was just as happy living with Mark. They got as much time with each other as often as they could, but a lot was going on at that time. Gold recovery was going well with the mini trommel Mark had picked up for the village along with a gold cube. Mark estimated they had tripled their recovery. Mark cautioned the elders about selling off too much gold at a time. It would draw too much attention.
Mark kept his fishing and smoking up, and hired a couple of young boys that came in after school to pack the smoked fish into jars. He was going to try to fill up every jar he had. Mark was even pressure canning some of the fish, to draw the oil out of it. He was trying to catch and can as much fish as he could, he had almost a full trailer load, at the receiving warehouse, of items he had ordered. He needed to go get it while the weather was still good and there was no trouble brewing. Mark called CP Dispatch in Sault Ste Marie and scheduled a flatcar. Charlotte began making a list of several things she would like for him to pick up for her. He finally talked her into going with him. If there was an emergency that her nurses couldn’t handle, they could call Darcy and he could fly the patient to White River. She finally agreed to travel with Mark, but continued with her list so she wouldn’t forget anything. Mark went over his list of the items the warehouse was holding and planned how he would load the truck and trailer. He had enough plastic buckets of grain from Pleasant Hill grain that could be loaded in the truck bed to free up space in the trailer. Everything in the truck bed could be netted and tarped down. Mark planned to leave Thursday, let Charlotte shop Friday morning, pick up the cargo Friday afternoon, and come back Saturday. Mark got their emergency bags ready and sat them by the door Wednesday night. The train normally ran by the stop at 09:00, so they were up early enough to eat breakfast and clean the dishes before they headed to the siding. Mark added a block of pemmican and a bag of Jerky to his pack for snacking. Charlotte wasn’t fond of pemmican. They got the truck and trailer chained down, and rested on their packs in the shade until the train arrived. Once the flatcar was hooked to the train, they shouldered their packs and climbed into the caboose. Charlotte took the satellite phone up in the cupola and turned the hotspot on and browsed through her tablet, while Mark took his usual position on the bench and caught some Zs.
Charlotte looked down a few hours later and saw Mark was stirring, so she went down and sat with him as he woke up. Mark got up and stretched and they both headed for the rear. Charlotte went into the small toilet and Mark went outside to pee off the rear deck. He had packed TravelJohn disposable urinals, just in case, but Charlotte didn’t like to pee standing up.
Mark cleaned his hands with antiseptic hand wipes, they had a snack, and drank water. They got into Sault Ste. Marie late in the afternoon. They quickly unchained the truck and trailer and went to the hotel. After freshening up, they headed to a restaurant, then to a mall and did a little shopping, mostly for things Charlotte wanted or needed. They went back to the hotel, carried the bags to their room, and settled in for the night.
After breakfast the next morning, they headed for the receiving warehouse and loaded everything up. There was still room to spare, so they went shopping again. Mark had packed everything in the trailer to get as much space as possible, and guesstimated what else could be packed, but towed the trailer with them anyway. Charlotte bought enough personal hygiene supplies to last her a year and began filling spaces with soaps, shampoos and other “nice to have” items. After a quick lunch, they went back to shopping until the trailer was so packed nothing rattled. Mark finished off the truck bed with rolls of 550lb Paracord / Parachute Cord and cases of Great Western Brewhouse Pilsner, threw a cargo net and a tarp over everything, and strapped it all down. They went to the train yard and got the truck and trailer chained down in the secure area patrolled by guards, and keeping their packs, went back to the hotel. The train was leaving out at 08:00 in the morning.
They had two breakfast sandwiches made at a local diner, got takeout coffees, and were waiting near the flatcar when the train came to hook the car up. The trainmen hooked up another flatcar first that held two Ford SUVs with O.P.P. stenciled on the door. Mark was told they were destined for the Ontario Provincial Police at White River and would be dropped off on the way to the Williams Mine at Hemlo.
They left the trainyard on time, Charlotte returned to the cupola, and turned on the hotspot on the phone. Mark didn’t go to sleep right away, using his tablet to browse preparation sites on the internet.
It was almost dark before they got the trailer and truck unchained from the flatcar. They didn’t bother trying to unload anything but their packs and a few bags of merchandise from the rear seat of the truck. Charlotte pulled out some stew they had in the freezer and warmed it up for dinner. Actually, Mark did that because Charlotte wanted to take a shower, and Mark had to fire up the woodstove anyway. Mark placed a six pack of beer in the freezer and made a pitcher of iced tea. When Charlotte came back out she looked refreshed and had put on shorts and a T-shirt. Mark took his turn and came back in athletic shorts and a wife beater. They ate in the breezeway and finished just as Chick, Ann, and the baby showed up.
“Have a good trip?” Chick asked.
“About the same as usual, except the trailer and truck are packed. I let Charlotte loose with the debit card and everything is really packed tight.”
Chick chuckled. “I’ll come down after breakfast and help you unload.”
Ann and Charlotte went inside and were going through bags for things she had bought for Sammie; mostly toys. Charlotte did buy Ann a brush, comb, and mirror set and several skeins of yarn in multiple colors that Ann used in her sewing and embroidery.
Mark was on his second cup of coffee when Chic and Ann arrived. Since most of the items would go into the storeroom in the garage, Mark backed the trailer to the doorway and started moving the grain inside. The beer he would stack under the cabin addition where it would stay relatively cool.
“What is this?” Chick asked, holding a box with ‘Siemens’ printed on the side.
“Siemens Whole House Surge Protection kits.” Mark said. I’ve got a little electricity and have gotten used to it, although we could function without it. I wanted to do the clinic to protect the electronics there, and my cabin.”
“From what?” Chick asked.
“Electromagnetic pulse. That could come from a solar flare, or those balloons the Chinese have been floating over that would make a great vehicle for delivery.”
“This world has turned into a mess.” Chip commented.
“You’re telling me.”
Once they had the truck and trailer unloaded and the things put away, Mark and Chick went ruff grouse hunting that afternoon. They got their limit on ruffies and two pheasants. They went back to the processing hut and cleaned the birds. The two pheasants were going to be cooked the next day, but the grouse were going to be canned. They plucked and skinned the birds while Ann got the pressure canner ready and prepared to brown the meat. Pressure canners weren’t in common use in the village, and Mark had been teaching Ann how to use it. She was enthused when she could take a jar off the shelf and have a meal ready in no time. Mark had bought a lot more canning jars this year in order to can more moose, venison, grouse, timberdoodles, and fish. Many of the villagers appreciated the occasional meal containing canned meat instead of just the dried and smoked meat they were accustomed to.
Mark bought two more shipping containers from Caoimhin. Caoimhin had found and bought a container carrier from somewhere to move the containers he had bought from Canadian Pacific. They were in a surplus yard and CP wanted to free up the space. Mark would have them them delivered, and they would set them up by the lake to store canoes and a couple of Jon boats in during the winter. Winter was harsh on items left out in the weather. Mark went back to fishing, smoking, and canning the fish. having hired a couple of the youngsters to help him fish. Half of the fish he didn’t smoke and canned in pint jars. They were good for stews.
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Post by danielsga01 on Jun 13, 2023 18:01:58 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by gipsy on Jun 13, 2023 18:29:58 GMT -6
Fine update, thanks
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Post by ncsfsgm on Jun 18, 2023 7:14:28 GMT -6
Chapter 119
During much of the summer, the Jet stream had dipped down and basically split Canada in half. This meant a dryer eastern Canada. Summer thunderstorms were notorious for starting fires with lightning strikes, but this year, lightning was supplemented with Eco-terrorists setting fires to drive out the lumber and mining industry sites. Some were actually caught when spied by native Americans who turned in the license plate numbers and in some cases actually had pictures of the fires being set. Provincial police and the RCMP were hot on this and called on all the tribes to be on the watch. The Canadian Armed Forces also provided reconnaissance flights along the highways where several of the fires had been started, thwarting the arsonists. Several water bombers were stationed at Tukanee Lake and Darcy provided billeting and meals for the crews. Pilots would immediately report smoke and a water bomber was dispatched immediately. The Provincial government also provided a rail car tanker of aviation fuel for the flight crews. Algonquian Air still made a good profit because all of their outcamps were located west of the fire zones.
The fall rains came and lessened the threat of fires, and the hunters prepared for the fall hunts. Three moose had already been taken in the marshy areas to the north of the village. Mark and Chick were planning a moose hunt later on in an area east of Newcombe Lake, about 6 kilometers east of the village. Several moose had been spotted in the area by the pilots. The village would not be without protein this winter.
The processing shed was in constant use that late summer and fall, skinning, processing hides, and preserving meat by smoking or by canning. Darcy had resupplied them with canning jars and lids three times from Sault Ste. Marie using a twin otter, until Mark figured they had enough jars to rotate and have spares. Everyone washed and returned the jars to the processing shed.
The village had even canned squash that summer. Along with the drums of corn and beans they had ordered from Alberta and Manitoba, and the drums of stored wild rice, the village was well set for the winter.
The first encounter with a bear that fall happened when Charlotte landed a lake trout and the bear thought he deserved it more than she did. Luckily, Mark was nearby and yelled at her when he saw the bear start approaching her. She looked up, drew her pistol and put six rounds of 45 LC into the bear. It stumbled and kept coming so Mark finished it off with a .454 round from his Redhawk Toklat. Charlotte was shaking as he walked up to her. He took a stick and prodded the bear. It was dead. Three ATVs came barreling down to the lake with Chick in the lead. When he heard the multiple shots, he guessed what had happened. One of the men took Charlotte and the fish they had caught back to the village, while Mark and the rest of the men loaded the bear into the Argo trailer and took it back to the processing shed to skin and cut up the meat. The men skinned out the bear while Mark started a fire in the cookstove, and Charlotte and Ann began getting the canning jars ready. They decided to smoke the haunches, so Mark started a fire in the smokehouse firebox and mixed together a rub for the meat. Some of the rub was mixed with some of the rendered fat to be basted on the haunches. Chick got one of the younger men to keep the firebox fed. Haunches that size would take three or four days to smoke. Except for the haunches, the men cut and cubed the meat and removed the sinews. As the meat piled up, Mark got his 15 Inch cast iron skillet, then seasoned and browned the meat, while Ann and Charlotte packed the jars and loaded the canner. The procedures were merely muscle memory, they had all done it so many times.
Mark was glad when the canning was over. He wasn’t partial to bear meat, especially one killed in the fall. The flavor was much different than a Spring killed bear. They removed as much fat from the carcass as they could and rendered it. The villagers used bear fat for many things. Pressure canning the meat also made it more tender. He could do without it though. Mark checked the haunches smoking and they were coming along fine. Mark had built a small pile of wood in the smokehouse for the fat from the haunches to drip on. Toward the end of the smoking, he would add the pieces of wood to the firebox to give even more smoke and add more flavor to the meat. Mark froze a couple of the roasts for villagers at another time. There were always times to present a family with a bit of extra meat.
The haunches were smoked for 42 hours when the internal temperature reached 190 degrees and were so tender they could be cut with a spoon. The first 12 hours Mark kept the temperature at 225 degrees then dropped to 200 degrees for the rest of the time to make them even more tender. Mark checked on his smoker watcher every two hours throughout the whole time period, occasionally basting the meat. The smoked haunches turned out to be a big favorite and were kept hanging in the food warehouse for special occasions.
Mark and Chick headed out on their moose hunt and stayed overnight at a spring above Newcombe Lake that gave them a wide view of the terrain in the daytime. They could glass from their little camp without having to move at all. Around 10:00 in the morning they spotted a huge bull and began working their way down near the lake. Chick made a perfect shot and dropped the moose. They field dressed the moose then Mark went back up the slope and brought the Argo and the trailer back down. They finished skinning the hide off and began cutting the meat up and placing it into game bags. They were back in the village by 3:30 that afternoon. Mark and Chick finished cutting out steaks, roasts and the tenderloin. Ann came down to help, and Charlotte came later to help can and prepare meat for the freezer after Mark had seasoned and browned the meat. The men split the meat up, giving each family around 250 pounds of meat. They decided they would go again the next Friday for Mark’s moose.
Mark began selecting and cutting certain sized trees and stripped the bark off of them for future use. Mark had drawn up plans to connect the cabin with the garage like a New England farmhouse setup where they connected the outbuildings together to make it easier to get between the buildings during the snows of winter. With the changing weather patterns, they would be coming up with harsher winters. He would make a trip before winter back to Sault Ste. Marie and buy up windows at a salvage place to put in his addition. If he could get enough logs cut, he would add an addition to the storage room in the garage building.
It was a long-range plan and may not be finished the current year, but he intended to get done while he could still get the supplies. He also had an idea of putting up a hotbed and propagating frame to extend the growing season. He had to do more research though to find a decent set of plans. He also needed to find suppliers of overwintering white greenhouse film and UV resistant 6 mil opaque greenhouse plastic.
Changes in the economy of White River had Mark partially changing the way he had things shipped. Caoimhin had changed the warehouse he had bought in White River to a receiving and temporary storage warehouse. The village and Mark could now order things, and they would be delivered by rail or transfer truck and stored for pickup. Darcy instigated the idea and funded part of the transition. There were still things Mark didn’t want every Tom, Dick, and Harry knowing about so he still kept the services of the warehouse in Sault Ste. Marie. Once Mark found the suppliers of greenhouse materials, his priorities changed and decided to build the hotbed and propagating frame first, then the storeroom addition and lastly the weatherproof connection between the buildings. He ordered the greenhouse plastic and began cutting the materials needed to build the frame from a set of plans he downloaded from the internet. He had the materials shipped to Caoimhin’s warehouse. When the villagers found out what Mark was building, people were eager to help if it gave them a chance to start plants weeks earlier and extend the growing season. They started gathering baskets of rich humus from around the area, and he had a contest among the kids of who could make the most pegs for joining the timbers. It was a simple process, using the jigs Mark had fabricated using instructions he found on the Instructables web site.
After laying out slabs of stone for the foundation and floor, the building of the frame was begun. It only took a few days to get everything pegged together with wooden dowels and the beds built. Mark picked up the plastic sheeting from the White River warehouse and the careful stapling of the sheeting was begun. Mark used several people to keep the plastic tight and using thin pieces of wood to reinforce the staple, got the UV sheet on. Several times they stopped to grind down sharp corners and sanded them smooth. After the UV resistant sheeting was in place, they then covered the whole frame with the overwintering sheeting which would help keep a constant temperature inside the frame.
Everyone was pleased and excited when the 12x24 foot structure was completed, and the women were already planning what they would plant in the early spring. From the news Mark was able to gather, the world situation was pretty much the same. Talking with the fishermen who continued to come up to enjoy the fishing and hunting, their perspective was things were continuing to go downhill. Politics were still cutthroat, green policies of the government were ruining the economy, Perversion and crime ruled, and it was all coming to a head.
But some people were still doing their job. Late in the winter, while most of North America was dealing with arctic-like weather, scientists discovered a new comet coming through the Kuiper Belt which they named Comet 78M. Plans were made to study the comet together. NASA and Space-X worked together to send monitoring craft to get more information on the comet. They calculated it would arrive just before the Perseid meteor shower in August and wouldn’t be as brilliant as Halley, but would be seen easily.
Craft were launched to analyze the comet, and the scientists were surprised to find the water in the comet contained a different kind of water (specifically, a different deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio) than what is seen on Earth. In fact, they had never encountered those ratios in any other comet before. They began to speculate where the comet had originated.
Keeping careful watch, they estimated the comet would pass earth at about 16,000,000 miles (25,749,504 Km). But then, after passing Saturn, the comet was taken off course by an impact with a small asteroid. The event was filmed by several observatories. Now the comet had a good chance of hitting the Earth.
The 16-mile-wide Swift-Tuttle comet — the predecessor of the Perseid meteor shower — hurtles through space at about 36 miles per second, more than 150 times the speed of sound. Comet 78M was traveling only slightly slower.
Science reporters and doomsday theorists went crazy. They were all going to die.
Mark didn’t waste any time. He began putting in orders for seeds of the most used spices he would be able to grow and whatever else he could think of that would be in short supply if the supply networks were disrupted. Topping his list was ammunition and reloading supplies. He believed the reporters and news agencies were, as usual, blowing everything out of proportion, but he still had the money and he might as well use it.
If a comet of the size of Swift-Tuttle struck Earth, then the energy of the impact would be about as much as 300 times that of the asteroid that scientists believed wiped out the dinosaurs, Arnold James, a senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told reporters. However, scientists calculated Comet 78M would be less than a mile in diameter after reaching Earth and coming through the earth’s atmosphere. Still, it was enough to do considerable damage.
The size of a comet or asteroid isn't the only thing to consider with cosmic collisions. While the impact of the comet could be pretty destructive, the brunt of the damage could come from the gases it released into Earth's atmosphere.
“Sulfur dioxide would initially cause cooling, and then carbon dioxide would lead to long-term warming," one journalist wrote. "An event like this would likely cause the planet's climate to change drastically, leading to mass extinctions around the globe."
The news media, for the next few months were filled with prognostications of doom. Large groups of people were starting to prep and some items became scarce. You couldn’t get long term storage foods through the usual outlets in the States. Mark made two more trips in April and May to Sault Ste. Marie and brought back completely packed trailers and truck. On one of the trips, the back of his truck was completely filled with hand tools, axes, handsaws, cross-cut saws, hatchets, chisels, and any other hand tool he could find; along with nails, log screws, deck screws, and anything else used for cabin building. He and Caoimhin went in together and bought a boxcar of windows.
A comet colliding with Earth wouldn’t necessarily signal mass extinctions and the end of human civilization.
While a comet landing smack dab in the ocean could trigger earthquakes and tsunamis, its atmospheric effects would actually be eased by the ocean. Considering that 70% of Earth is covered in ocean, the odds weren't terrible if it hit.
When the comet hit, Earth was lucky.
Comet 78M impacted in the deepest region in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Milwaukee Deep in the 27,585-foot-deep (8,408 m) axis of the Puerto Rico Trench just north of the Virgin Islands. The tsunami completely wiped the islands clean of habitation and on Puerto Rico, the small amount of plant life left was at the top of the mountains in the Toro Negro state forest. Volcanoes on St. Vincent, Monserrat, Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Kitts, and Saba all erupted, pouring tons of ash and gases into the atmosphere.
Even in Canada the impact was felt. Mark turned on his HF radio and began scanning the frequencies looking for news about what happened. He had an idea because the news had been filled for months of the possibilities of a comet impact.
Nothing much changed in the village over the next few weeks. The women took extra care with the garden and everyone conserved as much as they could. They had large fishing events and smoked a great deal of fish. Mark had accumulated a large stock of spices for the rubs he used, and those that wanted them had a bag of smoked fish hanging in their cabin somewhere. Although the air was hazy for a while, it wasn’t as bad as when the forest fires were raging. The temperatures cooled briefly and never returned to normal summer levels. Mark hoped it wasn’t a precursor to a really harsh winter. Nevertheless, they prepared for the coming winter like they never had before. Snowshoes were common craft projects that summer.
For a while, guided fishing parties were few and far between for Algonquian Air, but Darcy got permitted for passenger service and paid the bills with that. Darcy bought two repossessed Bombardier 415 aerial firefighting aircraft and was on contract with the Canadian government to provide support when needed.
Cruise ship companies took a loss in the Caribbean because of the damage done, but mostly it was the finger pointing and politics that did the most damage. The left in Canada and the U.S. took advantage, and went with the same policies that caused prices to rise and raised taxes to fight “Climate change”, even though the “change” came from the results of a comet impact. They never let a crisis go to waste. There was a period of time when the skies were hazy, but they cleared in a few weeks. Overall, there was little change for the village, the fishing was good, the gardens were doing well, and the bureaucrats stayed away except for the occasional medical resupply from Health Canada. Life was about as good as it gets. Mark continued his building plan and got the buildings joined, and they were adding additional space to the village storehouse. They had food, shelter, and the remoteness helped them with their security.
Coming soon…. CATCHER COVE
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Post by gipsy on Jun 18, 2023 7:39:17 GMT -6
Waiting for more. Thanks
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dannab1
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Posts: 21
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Post by dannab1 on Jun 18, 2023 9:38:40 GMT -6
Another great story! Can't wait for the next one. Thanks for sharing your works with us. You have given me many hours of pleasure reading and many hours of torture waiting for more😂
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Post by CountryGuy on Jun 18, 2023 10:23:10 GMT -6
Great Story, sad to see it end but I'm eager for Catcher Cove, can't wait to read it.
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Post by cavsgt on Jun 18, 2023 12:20:48 GMT -6
Another fantastic story from the Master Author.
As always I am in awe of your abilities and devotion to keeping us with good reading material.
phill
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Post by feralferret on Jun 18, 2023 16:19:54 GMT -6
Wonderful story. I'm looking forward to "Catcher Cove".
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Post by danielsga01 on Jun 18, 2023 16:59:05 GMT -6
Thank you for your time and effort that you put in to your stories.
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Post by 223shootersc on Jun 18, 2023 20:23:43 GMT -6
Looking forward to the next one and MOAR!
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