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Post by iamnobody on Nov 11, 2022 10:02:07 GMT -6
Ralph's story
Ralph grew up on the family farm on the edge of the Appalachia mountains. It was a multi-generational house with his grandparents, dad and mom, and now him, his wife and 2 sons living on 200 acres that had been family owned for 100 years. He was home schooled when it was a rarity. He had met his wife Sally when they were both age 14. It was at a social event and he and her had made eye contact across the room. He strode across the room and started talking to her. She was popular in her school, always had lots of boys hanging around talking with her. Ralph couldn't see why a beautiful girl like her was interested in him.
As the years passed, they became a couple. He treated her well and she did the same for him. Every year on his birthday, she made a big deal of it. And she was there for him when his grandparents died when he was age 16. She was always out helping on the farm or helping his mom in the kitchen. They got married at age 18 and by age 25 she had borne 2 sons. Ralph thought she got more beautiful with each passing day. He was just an average looking guy at 5ft 8 inches tall and 175 pounds. Now Sally was very beautiful. She was 5ft 3 inches tall, 115 pounds, blue eyes, long thick natural blonde hair that came to the middle of her back. Ralph loved to brush her hair and did it for her 3-4 times a week.
They weren't rich but had a comfortable life on the farm. Ralph liked the simple pleasures in life but she liked the “better life” that was portrayed on social media that she was heavily involved with. Once they were married, her cell phone was almost glued to her hand. She was always taking pictures of herself and posting all day and into the night til she went to sleep. When she woke in the morning, she did her makeup and started again. Ralph had asked her many times to cut back on her social media but she refused to. It had gotten to the point where she was hardly helping with any of the work in the house, just social media. His mom had even talked to her about the social media and her lack of helping. Sally brushed it off as harmless fun and would help for a few days and then back to her cell phone. Ralph had once gotten a glimpse of her social media and he saw picture after picture of just her, none of him or the children included. He had asked her about that and she laughed it off, but after that she put a password lock on her phone.
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Post by kaijafon on Nov 11, 2022 10:24:46 GMT -6
oh that spells TROUBLE!!!
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Post by diybuilder on Nov 11, 2022 11:47:23 GMT -6
Poor Ralph he is in for it now.
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Post by feralferret on Nov 11, 2022 19:53:40 GMT -6
What a familiar pattern. Self important and self centered, believing in the false fame of social media.
I have a real life and do not do/want social media. Neither does my wife. In fact she doesn't have or want a cell/smart phone or computer, My phone is a 4G flip phone. It does everything I need it to do. No microphones or cameras on my PC either.
Thanks for the new story.
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Post by iamnobody on Nov 12, 2022 5:31:08 GMT -6
Ralph continued working the farm with his dad. They did a truck garden and sold produce from a farm stand at the edge of their farm. They also raised chickens for eggs and meat, some pigs, a milk cow and some beef. Not glamorous work but satisfying and it paid the bills. Sally continued her social media with lots of “selfies” and talking with many men who were liking her pictures. Ralph told her she had to stop but she refused, saying he didn't own her and she was going to do what she liked. Their preacher and his wife tried talking to Sally but again she just assured them it was nothing.
Ralph and Sally's 7th year wedding anniversary was here and she spent most of the day on her social media and then said she was tired and went to bed early. Ralph had a special meal ordered in for the anniversary but it was just him and the 2 boys eating it. He got them their evening bath and tucked them into bed. He joined his wife in bed and she didn't even wake up. No acknowledgment of their special day. Just as she had done ½ of the time since they were married. Before marriage she had made a big deal of his birthday and their special days. Now she forgot most of the time, claiming her memory was bad.
The next day she took off on one of her regular trips to town to shop. She loved to shop and was always buying expensive clothes. Towards evening a Lamborghini pulls into the driveway and Sally gets out of the passenger side and a tall, dark complected, handsome, muscular man gets out of the driver's side. He is about 6ft 3 inches tall, 220 pounds and lots of muscle. His long dark hair was pulled into a ponytail behind his head. He looked like he could pose for one of those fantasy romance book covers.
Ralph steps onto the porch with his sons at his side. Sally steps forth and hands him a folder of papers and goes back to the car and snuggles with the man. He opens the folders and quickly scans the paperwork – divorce papers.
She says that she wants nothing from him, she waves her parental rights to the children. She had already signed, all he had to do was sign and send the papers to the lawyer listed. She is leaving with the man who is able to provide her with the lifestyle she deserves. Says Ralph is a good, “NICE GUY” she married because he was the best option in town and knew he would pay her bills but she deserved better. They leave and Ralph is standing there with his 2 crying sons gripping his legs and his parents looking out the doorway in disbelief.
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Post by feralferret on Nov 12, 2022 15:38:40 GMT -6
As I said before, "Self important and self centered". Unfortunately that describes way too many people these days. Ralph is much better off without her, and so are the kids.
Good riddance to Sally!
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Post by iamnobody on Nov 13, 2022 6:31:08 GMT -6
A week after Sally left, his parents were killed in a car wreck coming back from a farm show. So here he was, thrust into single parenthood and grieving the loss of his parents. His sons were a mess. They were clinging to him during the day as he tried to do work around the farm and nights they wanted in his bed because they were scared he was going to leave them too. The lawyer of his parents got a hold of him about their will. The farm had been in a trust and he was now the head person of that trust. The farm was all paid for and no outstanding bills against it. So Ralph and his sons would have a place to live and he would be able to continue farming. As months went by, his sons became less clingy and were back in their beds but insisted on night lights being on. He was getting the farm work done with them tagging along. His church family was supportive of him.
His parents life insurance policies were for $250,000 each and the money went to the farm trust. He buried his parents in the family cemetery located in a corner of the farm. The company of the big truck that hit them settled up the lawsuit with $500,000.
He often laid awake at night, wondering what was wrong with him for Sally to leave him for another man. After torturing himself – why, why, why – he finally realizes it was not him. He did not force her to commit adultery nor leave him, that was her own free choice to do so. His preacher was a big help in him working through it. His preacher reminded him that just like Eve in the garden, she was in paradise, everything was perfect and God was there every evening with Adam, but she still wanted more when the serpent / Satan offered a lie to her.
Then the Church ladies stepped in, try setting up dates for him with “good” young women they know. He also tries internet dating. That all turned out to be a huge disaster.
1 woman wanted no sex before marriage – but since they would have no sex before marriage, she said when they got married, start off holding hands for 6 months, then kissing for 6 months, then after a year of marriage, then maybe start having sex. Ralph told her that wasn't something he was interested in.
A lot had student loans of $60,000-80,000 for garbage liberal art degree and working part time min wage job. He wasn't going to assume a debt because of their foolish choices.
Women want 6ft, 6pk abs, 6 figure salary from a man. To get 6 pk abs, he would need to be at the gym hours every day – he had children to raise and a farm to run to make money to provide for his family and in his area, maybe 1 man in 50,000 was making 6 figure income. Their expectations were unrealistic. Some women were dressing like men, they acted like men, they talk like men, their hair was as short as his “high and tight” haircut, the only thing missing is snuff can ring in their back pocket. For Ralph, they were an imitation man and it would be like he was kissing another man. No thanks.
On internet dating women demanded his pic be recent, as in holding a current newspaper with date visible and he had to be honest. It would turn out they were 3-5 yr older than their stated age, their pic is 5 year old and they are 50lb heavier now. So much for honesty on their part.
They want to hang out at bars Fri and Sat til early mornings. He wasn't into getting drunk, he had children to take care of and a farm to work.
They want dined out at expensive restaurants so a man can prove he can support her. He proposes he buy the food to prove he is able and that she cooks the meal to prove she can. Oh no, that is sexist of him.
A lot smoke, their choice but is like kissing an ashtray, some he smells marijuana on.
A lot of women say they are bi – no thanks.
A lot of women say sex is very small part of marriage, maybe have it 2-3x a year, he should marry just to have someone to talk with, that tells him it would be a sexless marriage and really roommates. No thanks, he doesn't need to marry to talk to women. A lot have massive credit card debt.
Women want him to have a new fancy sports car, his older minivan is not good enough.
Women with children don't want his children.
Women wearing yoga pants and tops. He can plainly see what style of underwear they are wearing or no underwear and the yoga outfits are pulled up in every “crevice” and show every protrusion on top. Or women are sending him bikini pics. He was sure their normal underwear covers more than the bikini.
A woman says tear down his big house and put her old mobile home on the foundation.
He is just a “farmer” and he is “barbaric” murdering animals to eat and growing vegetables.
Many women talked of her wedding day but none of her marriage, only about the one day and how very expensive it was going to be.
Married women were coming on to him. They said they had an “open marriage.” When he asked them what that was, they told him it was where she had a husband but was allowed to have physical relations with other men. No thanks, that is adultery.
So many had so much “paint” on them and had fake hair, nails, hair color and other enhanced body parts. He wondered if any of them was real.
Several “women” on the dating sites had too large of adam's apples on their throats. Ralph wondered if they made portable DNA checkers, maybe something pocket sized that you could check your date with instant results.
A lot of women were into the social media. He had just been down that path and wanted nothing to do with any more of that. After several years he gives up on actively looking for a woman and concentrates on farm and church. At church, a lot of other children would sit with him and his sons. Ralph made them always get permission from their parents first.
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Post by weapons762 on Nov 13, 2022 15:46:47 GMT -6
geez
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Post by feralferret on Nov 13, 2022 16:42:10 GMT -6
Looks like Ralph is thinking with the correct head.
Thanks for the new chapter.
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Post by iamnobody on Nov 14, 2022 7:07:12 GMT -6
Several months after his parents died, he finally started cleaning out their bedroom. It was painful when he opened the bedroom door and saw their things. He planned on donating anything that he couldn't use. The first thing he noticed was a folder on the dresser and it had his name on it. Opening it he saw his dad's handwriting. Sitting on the bed, he started reading the letter. It was a short one saying the farm was in a trust and he was now in charge of it. Then the bombshell. The letter went on to say that bad times were on the horizon and they had laid back some supplies. There was a room in the barn and the key was located in the kitchen under the bottom of the sink.
Chad took his sons and went to the kitchen. The key was easy to find and they went to the barn. His sons were playing with the barn cat's new kittens. He found the door to the room behind a stack of straw bales. Moving them, he inserted the key and opened the door, not knowing what he would find. He found a light switch just inside the wall and turned it on.
The room was a 12ft x 12ft space. Along 1 wall was stacked 5 gal buckets 2 high, labels showing rice, beans, oatmeal,etc. On another wall was plastic totes stacked 3 high containing clothes and footwear. There was a gun rack containing 6 guns in gun sleeves. Underneath the gun rack was about 10 ammo cans. There was also a large safe next to the gun rack. Taped to the safe was an envelop. Opening the envelop he saw a message from his dad:
Ralph Since you are reading this, it means me and your mom are gone. We wanted to tell you and your wife about this place but Sally really changed in her attitude. So we withheld this info from you. Use these things wisely, asking God to guide you. The combination to the safe is your grand dad's birthday. Love Dad
Ralph dialed the birthday into the safe and opened it. Inside on the top shelf was a large, thick folder. On the re-enforced middle shelf were several small and large boxes and on the bottom were 6 canvas bags. He checked on his sons and they were still busy playing with the kittens under the watchful eye of mama cat. Grabbing the canvas sacks, he grunted from the weight of them and pulled them out. Inside each was a note that read $1,000 face value. 2 bags of pre 1964 silver dimes, 2 bags of silver quarters and 2 bags of silver dollars. He put them bag and took out the boxes on the middle shelf. There were 300 of $20 US gold coins and 3 boxes of $20 Federal Reserve Notes, each box holding $1,000,000. He put them back and got out the thick folder and looked through it. They were stocks bought for a lot of companies when they were first started – Apple, Microsoft, Dell and many more. Their value now had to be in the millions of dollars. They were listed under the farm trust name.
Ralph stood there with his mouth open catching flies as it sunk into his mind that his grandparents and parents had been fledgling survivalists or were they called preppers nowadays. Then he started laughing, a laugh that turned into a deep belly laugh the more he thought about it. His ex wife Sally had left him for a rich man, now Ralph was rich. Not filthy rich but comfortable on his lifestyle. But Sally would of tried spending it all quickly on her high society lifestyle and it would have been soon gone.
He would never see Sally again. Her rich, handsome lover was just a frontman for a wealthy Arabic oilman who had seen her pictures on social media and wanted her as part of his harem. She had got on a private jet with her lover, thinking she was going to Europe. She had some wine and next thing she knows, she wakes up dressed in silky, revealing scanty clothes in a room full of similarly clad women of all races somewhere in the Middle East. She gets to wear fine clothes and jewels when he summons her but she never owns them. The Arabic man keeps her in his harem for a few years til he gets bored of her. He sells her to a brothel that gets her on drugs. She dies within the year, never getting the rich life she wanted and sadly never regretting she left behind Ralph and her sons.
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Post by sniper69 on Nov 14, 2022 7:19:11 GMT -6
Well Sally had an interesting end. It reminds me of the saying, the grass may look greener on the other side of the fence, but that is because it is over a septic system.
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Post by feralferret on Nov 14, 2022 16:17:37 GMT -6
Excellent chapter. Thanks!
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Post by iamnobody on Nov 15, 2022 8:38:47 GMT -6
Ralph put everything back and closed the door, re-stacking the straw bales to cover the door. He had a lot to think about. That evening after getting his sons tucked into bed, he went to prayer and asked God what he should be doing. He then opened his bible and read different verses before falling asleep. When he awoke in the morning, he knew what he had to do. First he took care of the livestock, getting the cow milked and fed, feeding the pigs, feeding the chickens and collecting any eggs. Then he and his sons had breakfast. He got them started on some lessons while he sat down at the computer.
It was an older computer and the internet connection was slow. After trying to research some things, he vowed to get a better computer and faster service. Gathering his sons into the minivan, he headed for town to the local computer geek he knew that had the store. The geek looked up from the computer that he was working on when Ralph came in. Ralph put his computer on the counter and the geek laughed and asked where he got that old dinosaur from. Saying he knew and asked if the geek could build him a super fast computer with lots of memory, a bigger screen and set up a faster internet service for Ralph and it would be billed to the farm trust. The geek said he would need to order those parts in but it should be ready in 3-4 days, that he was sure Ralph would be happy with the end product. He would get the fastest service available in Ralph's area right away.
In the meantime he continued on his farm and went to church on Sunday. Monday, the 4th day, the geek called and said he was on the way with the new computer and parts. Within the hour, the geek arrived and Ralph helped carry the boxes inside to where it would be set up. Ralph was impressed with what he saw. It was a custom built computer that was twice the size of a normal computer and it had a lot of extra fans to keep it cool. The computer screen was really a 50 inch flat screen TV. The geek hooked everything up, using all new cables and new modem and speakers. Turning the computer on, Ralph could barely hear it running. The geek said he had the fastest internet service available out here. The geek walked him through the new computer and showed him how much faster it was.
That evening after his sons were in bed, he got on the computer and started searching. He started typing in survivalists but then realized that nowadays they were known as preppers. The first search results were of the TV show “Doomsday Preppers.” After skimming through a couple of the shows, he could see they were wackos. It wasn't till he got to the 7th page of results before he found prepper websites, youtube videos and fictional stories about the collapse of the country. After bookmarking some sites, he called it a night after seeing it was midnight, he had to be up at 6AM for farm chores.
Every evening he prayed for guidance from God on what he should / needed to be doing. One of the first things he found out about on the prepper sites was about OPSEC, the need to keep your preps a secret from other people. That he could do. At the farm stand he had selling produce, if a needy person came to buy, he would always slip extra into their bag. On the prepping sites he slowly realized a person could store lots of food but it would never be enough, it was better to have ways to produce your own. That is when he realized it would be better farming / homesteading which he was already doing. He would just need to ramp up his efforts. And he knew he would need someone to help and who could be trusted. His wife, or rather his ex wife had been proven to be untrustworthy and the women he had met had proven to be undesirables, he was on his own.
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Post by gipsy on Nov 15, 2022 8:51:25 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by feralferret on Nov 15, 2022 20:11:02 GMT -6
Thanks for the new chapter.
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Post by iamnobody on Nov 16, 2022 8:54:44 GMT -6
Months went by and he was slowly making improvements to the farm and house. He took out the oil furnace for heating and had installed an outdoor wood / coal burner. Inside, the kitchen was one of those big farm kitchens, about 30 feet long and 24 feet wide. It had an old stove and refrigerator. There was a full basement under the house so he strengthened the floor under the kitchen with supports and had a wood cook stove ordered from Lehman's in Ohio. He had to make the outside door to the kitchen bigger to fit it in. When it arrived, he and a crew of men he had hired were waiting. It was unloaded onto a specially built wheeled platform which they manhandled into the kitchen. When the stove was where he wanted it, they lifted the stove, removed the platform and lowered the stove. It looked great.
He cut the hole through the wall and then over the next 2 days, built a chimney for it. He just had to try it out and was very happy with the results. Further down the wall he put in 2 four burner propane cook stoves with a small counter between them. Against the other wall he took out the kitchen sink and put in a new stainless steel with 3 deep tubs and a high faucet to make food prep and dish washing easier. In easy reach of the propane stoves and sink was a counter. For the dining table he custom built one 5 feet wide by 18 feet long from 2x4 lumber. It wasn't fancy pretty but it was very sturdy and once covered with a table cloth, it worked just fine.
His next project was a “root cellar” extending out from the existing basement. He hired a crew from outside the area to do the work. They dug the hole, poured the cement floor, poured the walls and then the roof, adding a ventilation tube that come up to the surface and he would place something around it to camouflage it. He ended up with a structure that could be entered by a door from the basement that inside was 12 feet wide by 100 feet long and 8 feet high covered by 3 feet of dirt. The first 12 feet from the basement was really a root cellar to store produce in. Going through a 2nd concealed door led to the large area he planned on for prep storage.
Summer passed into Fall and Ralph and his sons had the summer produce harvested and preserved by canning in jars. The LORD had blessed them with a bountiful crop. They made a decent amount off the farm stand sales. It seemed that for every penny Ralph spent in getting ready, God returned twice that amount to him. During the Winter he ordered beans, rice and other dry foods online, along with heavy duty plastic totes, mylar bags and O2 absorbers. He had the supplies delivered by truck which he unloaded by the tractor and placed in the barn. Over the next few weeks, he and his sons put the beans and rice in mylar bags with O2 absorbers. Then sealed the bags and laid flat in the totes. He could lay 5 of the 5 gallon bags flat in each tote and stack them 3 high. They did this inside the prepper storage area and then he placed the totes on wooden pallets laid on the floor to keep the totes off the cement. He then started rotating the food preps in the barn room.
Over the Winter he looked at the guns and ammo in the barn storage room. The 6 guns turned out to be 2 Springfield 30-06 military rifles in excellent condition, 2 Winchester 30-30 lever action rifles, a Montgomery 22LR rifle and a JC Higgins shotgun. They are were nice guns in nice shape but from his reading on the prepper sites, he knew he wanted other guns. He did a lot more reading on some guns he wanted and finally made up his mind in January. He and his sons packed up all 6 guns and headed into town to the gun shop. Arriving, they took the guns inside for the owner to look at. The owner checked them over and looked at the bores with a light. He told Ralph that they weren't really worth a lot and he offered $1,000 for all 6.
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Post by sniper69 on Nov 16, 2022 10:38:38 GMT -6
That gunstore owner is trying to pull a fast one on Ralph. The price of lever actions is insane right now. I think he would be best to keep the guns he has and then get other guns to add to his stash. Just my opinion of course.
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Post by gipsy on Nov 16, 2022 14:37:48 GMT -6
Yep I would just add more also.
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Post by diybuilder on Nov 16, 2022 18:26:08 GMT -6
That gunstore owner is trying to pull a fast one on Ralph. The price of lever actions is insane right now. I think he would be best to keep the guns he has and then get other guns to add to his stash. Just my opinion of course. They don't give away those Military surplus Springfields either.
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Post by sniper69 on Nov 16, 2022 19:57:00 GMT -6
That gunstore owner is trying to pull a fast one on Ralph. The price of lever actions is insane right now. I think he would be best to keep the guns he has and then get other guns to add to his stash. Just my opinion of course. They don't give away those Military surplus Springfields either. True, can't argue with that fact. If Ralph is selling them for $1000 - then send them to me and I'll give him $1500, lol. It'll be hard....but I'll put those "worthless guns" into my collection. Seriously though - I hope the author doesn't have Ralph selling them.
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Post by iamnobody on Nov 18, 2022 12:50:20 GMT -6
Ralph said he would think about it and went outside intending to visit other gun stores. A man approached him and said he saw Ralph inside and was interested in the Montgomery 22LR rifle, his granddad used to have one and he grew up shooting it. The man offered $100 cash and Ralph said – sold. He went on to other stores that day, selling the shotgun and lever actions for better prices than the 1st store owner offered. The 2 Springfield rifles went to a private collector that overheard Ralph wanting to sell.
Now Ralph needed replacement guns. He made a list and made copies of it to send to the several gun stores for price quotes. He wasn't present to hear it but several low whistles were let out when the owners saw the list of guns he wanted.
1) Barrett 50 BMG rifle with scope
2) Savage Model 12 Varminter in .308 with 3-9x scopes
12) AR15 5.56 caliber rifles, flat top with 1-3x scopes, with 24 inch barrels
4) Remington 870 Defense 12G pump shotguns
12) Ruger 10/22 with 3-9x scopes
2) Springfield Armory 1911A1 in 45ACP
2) Ruger GP100 357 Magnum 6 inch heavy barrel
The best quoted a price and said he could have everything in 2 weeks but he would need a 50% deposit. Ralph used the farm trust debit card and said all the guns would be in the trust's name. He and his sons stopped for something to eat and then on home.
At home he ordered other things. He ordered a bunch of spare parts for the guns in case things broke. 1200 of the 30rd magazines for the AR15s, 60 of the 30 rd mags for the Ruger 10/22s 100 of the 7 rd magazines for the 1911s 1,000 of 50 cal ammo cans
1,000 rds of 50 cal FMJ ammo 100,000 rds Winchester 223 64 gr deer hunting ammo 5,000 rds of PPU 308 Win. 165 gr SP ammo 1,000 rds of 3 inch 12G Brenneke 1 3/8 oz slugs 5,000 rds of 3 inch 12G Winchester #1 buckshot 10,000 rds of Winchester 22LR 40 gr Hyper Velocity hollow point ammo 5,000 rds of Hornady 45 ACP 230 gr XTP hollow point ammo 5,000 rds of Hornady 357 Magnum 180 gr XTP ammo
The ammo was delivered by truck and he used the tractor to unload the pallets and place them in the barn. Over the next few weeks he repacked the ammo in the ammo cans, labeled them and stacked in the “root cellar.” The guns had come in, he paid the remaining balance and drove around back to load up. He had brought the farm pickup truck and had some bags of feed in the bed. Removing the feed, he stacked the gun boxes in the bed and then placed the bags of feed over the top. The gun owner was watching and told Ralph that was a slick idea, just some ole hick farmer carrying animal feed. At home he placed the guns in the rack he had made in the root cellar storage area.
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Post by feralferret on Nov 18, 2022 17:16:47 GMT -6
Nice chapter. Thanks!
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Post by iamnobody on Nov 19, 2022 6:38:19 GMT -6
Come Spring he prepared to expand his gardens. He wanted more for him and his sons to eat and to sell. His sons were now ages 4 and 6 and were helping more. They were doing a lot better as time went by and they hardly ever mentioned their mom anymore. The same with Ralph, he seldom had a thought about Sally and rarely spoke of her. He was still very active in church and continued his ministry of helping needy people from the farm. Poor people would buy at his farm stand and he would always slip extra food into their bags. Or when he knew of older people or sick people at home that couldn't get out, he asked the preacher to take food to them from his farm. Every now and then, some of the women he went on dates with before, tried getting him to go out with them again because they thought he would be “in need” of a woman by now. He politely told them no thanks and that he was fine working and raising his sons.
They made it to late Summer and early Fall when the harvests came in. He was busy canning up the bountiful harvests and had to buy more jars and lids. The whole basement was shelves of jars filled with produce and meat. He did freeze some meat from beef and hogs in 2 chest freezers located in the basement plus he stored apples, cabbages, carrots and red beets in the real root cellar.
He was still on the prepper sites almost every evening after his sons were in bed. The world seemed to be in a slow downward spiral and even the US was not immune. Ralph couldn't exactly put his finger on why he was feeling restless about things, he would pace the floor at night or lie awake in bed, thinking of what more he needed to be doing. With Winter, he had less chores to be doing on the farm. He verified his rifle zeros on the stored weapons. He ordered more dried foods and packed them away. He placed another order for ammo for the stored AR15s, then added ammo for common calibers used in his area. He bought clothing and footwear for his sons, that would fit them til they turned adults. He did the same for himself, enough to last many years. He had already learned that clothing and footwear were being made cheaper every year and not lasting as long as they used to.
That Winter was a bad one, bitter cold and snow after snow storms. Ralph was making anonymous payments for poor people that couldn't afford heating fuel. He and his sons were doing okay at the farm. He was starting to home school his sons. Once the Winter let up, he ordered home schooling books for all the grade levels. That got him to thinking and he ordered many books on various how-to subjects and made bookshelves along the living room wall. By the time he was done, there was at least 1,000 books. His sons were doing great in their schooling since they were learning at their own pace.
It was the 3rd year after his ex wife left, he was age 28 and his sons were 6 and 8. In the evening he was standing on his porch, looking out over the farm while his sons were playing a game in the yard. He had expanded the garden again. He wanted to put in high tunnels to provide more harvest, the same about expanding the livestock but there was no way they could tend more work. But they would continue doing what they were able to and help those in need.
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Post by gipsy on Nov 19, 2022 8:48:25 GMT -6
Fine update.
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Post by feralferret on Nov 19, 2022 17:47:18 GMT -6
Thank you for another fine chapter.
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