OUT OF THE STUMP - A NEW ADVENTURE
Dec 5, 2018 12:02:17 GMT -6
kaijafon, texican, and 9 more like this
Post by pbbrown0 on Dec 5, 2018 12:02:17 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP
POST # 88
“This last year has been very difficult for many people all across this country. There were many disasters and many failures of the systems supporting the population. The short story is that those who were responsible for the government failed to manage the problems and the government collapsed. In the chaos of that collapse many people turned on each other, and many others did not know how to survive and feed themselves without the old systems functioning. Finally leaders within your military were able to get control of the worst of the violence. They are now working to reorganized what is left and those who survived. General Henry is providing leadership for this region. He has assigned responsibilities to those already under his command and has also recruited some former military officers, like myself, to help re-establish order and to encourage redevelopment of the resources in this district.”
“So we are here to provide better security and protection from those who would try to live as outlaws, robbing and oppressing others. We are also here to help you, as we are able, in obtaining the food, water, and shelter you need to move forward. Before you can work to move forward you must be safe. There have been reports of outlaws stealing food and even killing neighbors. We need your help to find those who have done this so we can clear up that problem. Then we can better help you gain the supplies and means you need to survive another year.”
One of the hostages began walking toward Yakov. “Officer, we are very grateful that you finally made it this far out to reestablish order in this part of the district. Of course the more populated areas had to take first priority. These terrorists you just apprehended have been holding all of us captive and reeking havoc across this part of the district for months now. My name is Gary Singleton, and I was originally assigned responsibility for establishing order in this area when the troubles began. Unfortunately my superiors underestimated the level of anarchy that was forthcoming in the communities this far into the rural areas. I am sure there are many more communities throughout this district that urgently need your help just as we did. If you will allow me to properly secure all those confiscated weapons, I assure you this terrorist cell that you have disrupted will no longer give you any more trouble. I will be directing the reorganization of this community and those survivors with in twenty miles of this town. I will also make sure that this community will be ready ready to receive and properly store and disperse all the emergency relief supplies as soon as they can be delivered here. We need to get busy now getting everything reorganized and I do not want to take up any more of your valuable time dealing with the unpleasant matters here.”
With that Gary turned and started giving instructions to two of the men among the former hostages. He stopped abruptly as Yakov barked, “Stop! Turn around and look at me, Singleton. I do not know or care who authorized you to establish order in this area. Whoever it was totally failed in that responsibility, and so did you. Now you expect me to turn over to a feckless bureaucrat like you all the guns that this group of outlaws used to dominate and oppress the decent people in this area. Who would then protect the decent people here from you and your newly armed minions? Consider yourself replaced, permanently.”
“Everyone listen to me! My men and I are going to meet with each of you and get a better understanding of what has been going on here. When we leave things will be different, very different. Also, we do not intent for any of you to starve, but we have neither the means nor the intention of bringing you a constant supply of food relief. Some of you may be able to comprehend that, others may not.”
The rest of the day was spent with Yakov's men questioning the members of the town and conferring about what was learned. At the end of the day Yakov was troubled. The men who had been armed were clearly the same ones who had been terrorizing the area but some of them claimed they had only gone along with the ring leaders to avoid being terrorized or killed themselves. This scenario had all started when Gary and a few of his helpers had tried to take control of the town and surrounding area forcing everyone to turn over all of their supplies to a common pool of goods. They had proceeded to distribute meager rations to the people of the area while applying a different measure of rations to their insider group. The tables were turned suddenly when Gary's men learned that Rod and his friends had “found” a truckload of supplies abandoned on the highway, and Gary demanded that it all had to be turned over to the “district” supply pool. Some vocal members of the community backed Gary, by Rod's men decided they could better manage the distribution of resources, since they were providing the bulk of it. In order to maintain control and prevent further contention, Rod's group decided to keep everyone else under “protection.”
The whole situation had progressively deteriorated from there. Realizing the supplies in the truck would not last forever, Tod started sending out scouts to find more supplies. Most of what they found had already been found by others, but they justified their stealing those supplies from others by counting how many mouths they needed to feed. In this village. Keeping all the people in town under guard gradually led to more and more abusive domination of them, Eventually those under guard were being treated as the slaves of those with the guns. The irony of “those with the most guns hold the power.” was the only reason Yakov now had the authority to decide how things would be reorganized was not lost on Yakov or his men. Yakov was frustrated by the dilemma that he could teach these people – well, maybe some of these people – how to produce food to feed themselves. The real problem, however, was that he did not have the time needed to teach them how to live with moral integrity toward each other? How does one live with moral integrity if faced with a choice between a man and his own family surviving or some other family surviving?
Yakov finally shook himself out of his pondering moral dilemmas and focused on his mission. He was going to need to transport the ring leaders – Rod, Gary, and a couple of others – back to the Island for trial. Some of the others needed to remain incarcerated here until Colonel Shep decided what to do about them. In the mean time he needed to select some sensible strong people to maintain a semblance of order in this town. After a discussion with his men who had help with the questioning a group of four men and five women were selected to form a town council to manage the distribution og the remaining supplies until more help could be sent. Most of them had experience with farming and Yakov explained that help would be coming soon to help organize community farming so they could make it through the next year. One man selected for the council expressed doubts about their ability to produce enough this late in the season to make it through the winter. Yakov's reply was that with their current supplies, some of which had apparently stolen from others, this village was in a much better position than many others. He went on to add that by sharing ideas and techniques from multiple sources, methods had been found to improve the production results even in adverse circumstances.
It was mid morning the next day when Yakov's men loaded two of the bound prisoners into the Hummer and the other two in the Stryker. There was an uneasy quiet hanging over everyone as the troops mounted up and drove away. Before they got very far Yakov had them stop and they blindfolded the prisoners. The final disposition of these prisoners was not his business, but the protection of the Haven had taken on a new perspective in Yakov's mind after learning what has transpired in that village over the last year. That thought startled Yakov, when he realized it had not been even a year since the troubles began. He and his men had been in this country barely six months, yet it seemed a lifetime ago since he had been in his native land. He was eager to get back to his wife, Patricia. 'Ha' Yakov had been married only a month, yet that seemed to him like it had been all of his life, or rather all of what was most important about his life. How could so much change in so little time. It almost felt like he had been caught skiing on a mountain when an avalanche started. He was struggling to keep his balance on top of the avalanche rather than tumbling and being buried by it.
When they pulled up at the farm house Yakov was giving hand signals to direct his men without the prisoners hearing. The prisoners were led into the barn and placed under guard as they were seated on the floor. Their blindfolds remained in place. Back in the farm house The men were able to talk more freely. Several of the men began preparing a meal while Yakov slipped out and took a walk towards the woods. As he entered the woods he stopped and calmly waved his hand over his head and then waited. In a moment Liam was stepping up quietly behind him.
“Welcome back, Yakov. You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
“I do, my friend. I wish to spend more time in this place, but I must take some prisoners back to the Island to stand trial, I think. Then I must try to teach people in scattered places how to survive what lies ahead. Yet, I am not quite sure what lies ahead. I want to leave my wife here where she is safe and happy with her family, yet I want her with me and I need her help.”
“Sounds to me like this mission was one of those that was not exactly routine in what you saw and learned. I tell you what. My watch is over soon. When I get back to the haven, I''l make sure someone gets your wife back here safely to you. That is bound to help you sort through things with a proper perspective. Remember, too, Yakov, the unexpected turns in your journey sometimes set you on a better path.” Liam Reached over and carefully rested a firm hand on Yakov's shoulder.
Yakov returned to his men and passed the time mostly listening to them discuss their thoughts about the constantly changing power struggles they were witnessing since coming to this side of the world. The few Americans among them were also commenting on the way the same problems keep raising their ugly heads no matter how hard decent folks tried to fix them. It was only an hour later when Patricia came bursting through the door and wrapped her arms around Yakov, practically knocking him off his chair in the process. That put everyone in a much better mood as Tricia's enthusiasm and excitement filled the house with a positive spirit.
Within seconds Tricia was dragging Yakov by his hand outside the farmhouse leaving Michael there to greet the returning troop and to gather information about what had been happening in the surrounding area. Most of them had not spent any time with Michael, yet, but they soon learned he was a good listener. He had a way of asking questions that helped them think about what they had seen and heard. They sensed a wisdom behind his questions even though his comments were few and simple. Tricia and Yakov's somewhat extended absence was eventually noticed, and Michael commented calmly, “They'll be back when the time is right for them.”
A few minutes later they did return hand in hand. Nick noticed a special gleam in Yakov's eyes and the glow of joy in Tricia's face. He glanced a Michael and there too he saw a knowing serene joy as he gazed at the couple who had returned. “Yakov, you son of a gun.” Nick was shaking his head as he stood “Mr. and Mrs. Chernov, may I be the first to congratulate you both, together on this happy news. Many, many blessing on you and your family!” He then stepped forward and shared a warm embrace with his commander and then with Trica as well.
The room was full of bewildered looks until Nick urged Yakov to tell everyone. Yakov was a bit awkward at first but managed top explain that he had just learned Patricia is now pregnant and Nick had managed to accurately read that news on their expressions. Then Yakov quipped, “So don't be foolish enough to play a game of cards with this comrade.”
Soon however It was clear to everyone that the urgency of getting others started with a little knowledge was more pressing than learning more details. Experience in doing and seeing the results could be a powerful teacher and motivator. The night before they left Michael and Jacob stayed at the farmhouse very late offering final words of encouragement and answering many practical questions as well as sharing a few words of wisdom about important values shared by those at the Haven. When they departed the next morning Michael and Jacob had already left. The prisoners were loaded up again and Yakov's troop, and family, headed eastward very much changed from when they had arrived at the Haven less than two weeks before. It only took a couple of hours to reach the Island and very little was spoken during that trip since the prisoners were present in two of the vehicles. Yakov and Tricia were in the third with Nick driving and Tricia, reading Yakov's mood was allowing him some time to ponder what was behind but especially what was ahead of them.
Over the next few months Yakov and Tricia were pushing hard to spend as much time as possible in contact with survivors that had been located across the district by the various teams. There was a constant effort to get the necessary seeds, bedding starts, tools, and such from the Island, and sometimes from the Haven, to the scattered enclaves of tenacious survivors. Time was needed by multiple teams to accomplish hands on training and followup to assure these micro-settlements were making the progress they needed. Some additional volunteers were going out from the Island community to help build better shelters, cellars, sheds and such. Some of these volunteers spent most of their time gathering and cutting wood for winter fuel. Rob was still taking the lead in both planning and coordinating who and what needed to be where and when. The work was carried out with intensity but the calm confidence of the leaders helped to mitigate the anxieties of many of those survivors about the coming winter.
Rob was also meeting regularly with Shep, Yakov, and Tricia to keep everyone appraised of the quantities of essential food supplies for the numbers of people involved. Doctor Dillingham was also brought into those meeting to help assess the health impact of the diets, or more accurately the limited diets, that were being anticipated. The conventional pharmaceutical supplies available were extremely limited . There was certainly not enough time to develop any berry or fruit producing bushes or trees to improve their diets. Frank decided to organize scouting parties consisting of a mix of adults and children to scour the surrounding countryside for wild berries. He was determined to collect and sort as many berries as he could to process and dispense as necessary for dietary supplements for the coming winter. He also instructed those teams to locate a variety of native nut producing trees so those could be gathered when they began to fall at the end of the summer. His instructions were also distributed to the various settlements being prepared for the coming winter.
Meanwhile Shep was still dealing with the self appointed community leaders on the Island who wanted to exercise a measure of influence or power regarding the disposition of almost everything. Their noses were being forced in to everything from the outlaw prisoners, to who was being sent on the training excursions. One of them even tried to have a say in what was the proper mix of adults and children on the berry hunts. They seemed more concerned with maintaining the appearance of a democratic process, that they could steer and direct, than they were about having enough food for everyone to survive. Shep was the kind of leader who stayed with his people wherever they were working, rather that hiding out in an office somewhere. Most of his meetings with these leaders were out in the open where anyone might overhear what was said. When Shep did not give them immediate satisfaction , they often turned to those nearby to reiterate their arguments to anyone who would listen. Shep began to notice a concessionary attitude among the majority of the Island residents toward these so called leaders. People seemed ready to make unnecessary and illogical concessions to their persistent demands just to get them to back off and shut up. Of course as soon as they gained one demand they would stop harping on that demand. However, a new demand was always waiting in the wings for its 15 minutes in the limelight.
One day Shep had extracted himself from another such entanglement and was walking along the side of a field . He always felt a weight of discouragement after one of those encounters and this time was no exception. It sometimes helped when he could focus for a time on people who were working hard to make things better. He was musing to himself about the people here who were harvesting potatoes rather than standing around idle listening to the leaders prattling. One lady who had been crouching down in the potato bed stood and stretched. “So, Shep, do you sometimes feel like you are carrying a heavy load like Moses did?”
Shep shook his head and smirked. “No. My responsibilities are small compared to his. On the other hand, if I were Moses I would at least have a magic staff that could devour the snakes of the Pharaoh's minions, shield my people from the angel of death, and part the sea until my people could escape from the pursuing armies of the Pharaoh. All I have is a measure of patience and a tenacious hope that I will have enough strength to help get us all through this.”
Marilyn smiled slightly and paused. “Shep, you are a strong man and a strong leader, but that is not enough. It was not enough for Moses, either. His strength did not come from within himself, and it did not come from a magic staff. When you decide you can take a few minutes to rest, I'd like a chance to talk with you about Moses. Right now these potatoes are calling me back to work. I'll talk to you more, when you're ready.”
Shep continued his walk along the fields and then turned back toward the complex to check out the progress in the food storage preparation area. As he walked along he had a gradual sense of a shadowy cloud drifting away from his thoughts. He decided that since he had to spend so much time listening to the whining of the self appointed community leaders every day, it might be healthy to make time for listening to some refreshing ideas from people like Marilyn once in a while. He had seen Tricia talking with Marilyn many times before and it certainly did no harm to Tricia's outlook. He decided he could do well with some more energy like Tricia's.
POST # 88
“This last year has been very difficult for many people all across this country. There were many disasters and many failures of the systems supporting the population. The short story is that those who were responsible for the government failed to manage the problems and the government collapsed. In the chaos of that collapse many people turned on each other, and many others did not know how to survive and feed themselves without the old systems functioning. Finally leaders within your military were able to get control of the worst of the violence. They are now working to reorganized what is left and those who survived. General Henry is providing leadership for this region. He has assigned responsibilities to those already under his command and has also recruited some former military officers, like myself, to help re-establish order and to encourage redevelopment of the resources in this district.”
“So we are here to provide better security and protection from those who would try to live as outlaws, robbing and oppressing others. We are also here to help you, as we are able, in obtaining the food, water, and shelter you need to move forward. Before you can work to move forward you must be safe. There have been reports of outlaws stealing food and even killing neighbors. We need your help to find those who have done this so we can clear up that problem. Then we can better help you gain the supplies and means you need to survive another year.”
One of the hostages began walking toward Yakov. “Officer, we are very grateful that you finally made it this far out to reestablish order in this part of the district. Of course the more populated areas had to take first priority. These terrorists you just apprehended have been holding all of us captive and reeking havoc across this part of the district for months now. My name is Gary Singleton, and I was originally assigned responsibility for establishing order in this area when the troubles began. Unfortunately my superiors underestimated the level of anarchy that was forthcoming in the communities this far into the rural areas. I am sure there are many more communities throughout this district that urgently need your help just as we did. If you will allow me to properly secure all those confiscated weapons, I assure you this terrorist cell that you have disrupted will no longer give you any more trouble. I will be directing the reorganization of this community and those survivors with in twenty miles of this town. I will also make sure that this community will be ready ready to receive and properly store and disperse all the emergency relief supplies as soon as they can be delivered here. We need to get busy now getting everything reorganized and I do not want to take up any more of your valuable time dealing with the unpleasant matters here.”
With that Gary turned and started giving instructions to two of the men among the former hostages. He stopped abruptly as Yakov barked, “Stop! Turn around and look at me, Singleton. I do not know or care who authorized you to establish order in this area. Whoever it was totally failed in that responsibility, and so did you. Now you expect me to turn over to a feckless bureaucrat like you all the guns that this group of outlaws used to dominate and oppress the decent people in this area. Who would then protect the decent people here from you and your newly armed minions? Consider yourself replaced, permanently.”
“Everyone listen to me! My men and I are going to meet with each of you and get a better understanding of what has been going on here. When we leave things will be different, very different. Also, we do not intent for any of you to starve, but we have neither the means nor the intention of bringing you a constant supply of food relief. Some of you may be able to comprehend that, others may not.”
The rest of the day was spent with Yakov's men questioning the members of the town and conferring about what was learned. At the end of the day Yakov was troubled. The men who had been armed were clearly the same ones who had been terrorizing the area but some of them claimed they had only gone along with the ring leaders to avoid being terrorized or killed themselves. This scenario had all started when Gary and a few of his helpers had tried to take control of the town and surrounding area forcing everyone to turn over all of their supplies to a common pool of goods. They had proceeded to distribute meager rations to the people of the area while applying a different measure of rations to their insider group. The tables were turned suddenly when Gary's men learned that Rod and his friends had “found” a truckload of supplies abandoned on the highway, and Gary demanded that it all had to be turned over to the “district” supply pool. Some vocal members of the community backed Gary, by Rod's men decided they could better manage the distribution of resources, since they were providing the bulk of it. In order to maintain control and prevent further contention, Rod's group decided to keep everyone else under “protection.”
The whole situation had progressively deteriorated from there. Realizing the supplies in the truck would not last forever, Tod started sending out scouts to find more supplies. Most of what they found had already been found by others, but they justified their stealing those supplies from others by counting how many mouths they needed to feed. In this village. Keeping all the people in town under guard gradually led to more and more abusive domination of them, Eventually those under guard were being treated as the slaves of those with the guns. The irony of “those with the most guns hold the power.” was the only reason Yakov now had the authority to decide how things would be reorganized was not lost on Yakov or his men. Yakov was frustrated by the dilemma that he could teach these people – well, maybe some of these people – how to produce food to feed themselves. The real problem, however, was that he did not have the time needed to teach them how to live with moral integrity toward each other? How does one live with moral integrity if faced with a choice between a man and his own family surviving or some other family surviving?
Yakov finally shook himself out of his pondering moral dilemmas and focused on his mission. He was going to need to transport the ring leaders – Rod, Gary, and a couple of others – back to the Island for trial. Some of the others needed to remain incarcerated here until Colonel Shep decided what to do about them. In the mean time he needed to select some sensible strong people to maintain a semblance of order in this town. After a discussion with his men who had help with the questioning a group of four men and five women were selected to form a town council to manage the distribution og the remaining supplies until more help could be sent. Most of them had experience with farming and Yakov explained that help would be coming soon to help organize community farming so they could make it through the next year. One man selected for the council expressed doubts about their ability to produce enough this late in the season to make it through the winter. Yakov's reply was that with their current supplies, some of which had apparently stolen from others, this village was in a much better position than many others. He went on to add that by sharing ideas and techniques from multiple sources, methods had been found to improve the production results even in adverse circumstances.
It was mid morning the next day when Yakov's men loaded two of the bound prisoners into the Hummer and the other two in the Stryker. There was an uneasy quiet hanging over everyone as the troops mounted up and drove away. Before they got very far Yakov had them stop and they blindfolded the prisoners. The final disposition of these prisoners was not his business, but the protection of the Haven had taken on a new perspective in Yakov's mind after learning what has transpired in that village over the last year. That thought startled Yakov, when he realized it had not been even a year since the troubles began. He and his men had been in this country barely six months, yet it seemed a lifetime ago since he had been in his native land. He was eager to get back to his wife, Patricia. 'Ha' Yakov had been married only a month, yet that seemed to him like it had been all of his life, or rather all of what was most important about his life. How could so much change in so little time. It almost felt like he had been caught skiing on a mountain when an avalanche started. He was struggling to keep his balance on top of the avalanche rather than tumbling and being buried by it.
When they pulled up at the farm house Yakov was giving hand signals to direct his men without the prisoners hearing. The prisoners were led into the barn and placed under guard as they were seated on the floor. Their blindfolds remained in place. Back in the farm house The men were able to talk more freely. Several of the men began preparing a meal while Yakov slipped out and took a walk towards the woods. As he entered the woods he stopped and calmly waved his hand over his head and then waited. In a moment Liam was stepping up quietly behind him.
“Welcome back, Yakov. You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
“I do, my friend. I wish to spend more time in this place, but I must take some prisoners back to the Island to stand trial, I think. Then I must try to teach people in scattered places how to survive what lies ahead. Yet, I am not quite sure what lies ahead. I want to leave my wife here where she is safe and happy with her family, yet I want her with me and I need her help.”
“Sounds to me like this mission was one of those that was not exactly routine in what you saw and learned. I tell you what. My watch is over soon. When I get back to the haven, I''l make sure someone gets your wife back here safely to you. That is bound to help you sort through things with a proper perspective. Remember, too, Yakov, the unexpected turns in your journey sometimes set you on a better path.” Liam Reached over and carefully rested a firm hand on Yakov's shoulder.
Yakov returned to his men and passed the time mostly listening to them discuss their thoughts about the constantly changing power struggles they were witnessing since coming to this side of the world. The few Americans among them were also commenting on the way the same problems keep raising their ugly heads no matter how hard decent folks tried to fix them. It was only an hour later when Patricia came bursting through the door and wrapped her arms around Yakov, practically knocking him off his chair in the process. That put everyone in a much better mood as Tricia's enthusiasm and excitement filled the house with a positive spirit.
Within seconds Tricia was dragging Yakov by his hand outside the farmhouse leaving Michael there to greet the returning troop and to gather information about what had been happening in the surrounding area. Most of them had not spent any time with Michael, yet, but they soon learned he was a good listener. He had a way of asking questions that helped them think about what they had seen and heard. They sensed a wisdom behind his questions even though his comments were few and simple. Tricia and Yakov's somewhat extended absence was eventually noticed, and Michael commented calmly, “They'll be back when the time is right for them.”
A few minutes later they did return hand in hand. Nick noticed a special gleam in Yakov's eyes and the glow of joy in Tricia's face. He glanced a Michael and there too he saw a knowing serene joy as he gazed at the couple who had returned. “Yakov, you son of a gun.” Nick was shaking his head as he stood “Mr. and Mrs. Chernov, may I be the first to congratulate you both, together on this happy news. Many, many blessing on you and your family!” He then stepped forward and shared a warm embrace with his commander and then with Trica as well.
The room was full of bewildered looks until Nick urged Yakov to tell everyone. Yakov was a bit awkward at first but managed top explain that he had just learned Patricia is now pregnant and Nick had managed to accurately read that news on their expressions. Then Yakov quipped, “So don't be foolish enough to play a game of cards with this comrade.”
The next two days were a refreshing break for all of Yakov's men. Plans were also being formulated for the work of helping and training the survivors in the area about preparing for the winter that would be coming soon. The community at the Haven were actively involved in organizing how they could help and contribute to that effort. All the members of Yakov's troop were shown the techniques of intermixing the planting of produce among the trees and other vegetation on the old Van Hoosen farm. A few members of the troop were actually led, unnoticed by the others, up to the Haven itself and shown how the houses, animal pens, seedling bins, and such were built.
Soon however It was clear to everyone that the urgency of getting others started with a little knowledge was more pressing than learning more details. Experience in doing and seeing the results could be a powerful teacher and motivator. The night before they left Michael and Jacob stayed at the farmhouse very late offering final words of encouragement and answering many practical questions as well as sharing a few words of wisdom about important values shared by those at the Haven. When they departed the next morning Michael and Jacob had already left. The prisoners were loaded up again and Yakov's troop, and family, headed eastward very much changed from when they had arrived at the Haven less than two weeks before. It only took a couple of hours to reach the Island and very little was spoken during that trip since the prisoners were present in two of the vehicles. Yakov and Tricia were in the third with Nick driving and Tricia, reading Yakov's mood was allowing him some time to ponder what was behind but especially what was ahead of them.
Over the next few months Yakov and Tricia were pushing hard to spend as much time as possible in contact with survivors that had been located across the district by the various teams. There was a constant effort to get the necessary seeds, bedding starts, tools, and such from the Island, and sometimes from the Haven, to the scattered enclaves of tenacious survivors. Time was needed by multiple teams to accomplish hands on training and followup to assure these micro-settlements were making the progress they needed. Some additional volunteers were going out from the Island community to help build better shelters, cellars, sheds and such. Some of these volunteers spent most of their time gathering and cutting wood for winter fuel. Rob was still taking the lead in both planning and coordinating who and what needed to be where and when. The work was carried out with intensity but the calm confidence of the leaders helped to mitigate the anxieties of many of those survivors about the coming winter.
Rob was also meeting regularly with Shep, Yakov, and Tricia to keep everyone appraised of the quantities of essential food supplies for the numbers of people involved. Doctor Dillingham was also brought into those meeting to help assess the health impact of the diets, or more accurately the limited diets, that were being anticipated. The conventional pharmaceutical supplies available were extremely limited . There was certainly not enough time to develop any berry or fruit producing bushes or trees to improve their diets. Frank decided to organize scouting parties consisting of a mix of adults and children to scour the surrounding countryside for wild berries. He was determined to collect and sort as many berries as he could to process and dispense as necessary for dietary supplements for the coming winter. He also instructed those teams to locate a variety of native nut producing trees so those could be gathered when they began to fall at the end of the summer. His instructions were also distributed to the various settlements being prepared for the coming winter.
Meanwhile Shep was still dealing with the self appointed community leaders on the Island who wanted to exercise a measure of influence or power regarding the disposition of almost everything. Their noses were being forced in to everything from the outlaw prisoners, to who was being sent on the training excursions. One of them even tried to have a say in what was the proper mix of adults and children on the berry hunts. They seemed more concerned with maintaining the appearance of a democratic process, that they could steer and direct, than they were about having enough food for everyone to survive. Shep was the kind of leader who stayed with his people wherever they were working, rather that hiding out in an office somewhere. Most of his meetings with these leaders were out in the open where anyone might overhear what was said. When Shep did not give them immediate satisfaction , they often turned to those nearby to reiterate their arguments to anyone who would listen. Shep began to notice a concessionary attitude among the majority of the Island residents toward these so called leaders. People seemed ready to make unnecessary and illogical concessions to their persistent demands just to get them to back off and shut up. Of course as soon as they gained one demand they would stop harping on that demand. However, a new demand was always waiting in the wings for its 15 minutes in the limelight.
One day Shep had extracted himself from another such entanglement and was walking along the side of a field . He always felt a weight of discouragement after one of those encounters and this time was no exception. It sometimes helped when he could focus for a time on people who were working hard to make things better. He was musing to himself about the people here who were harvesting potatoes rather than standing around idle listening to the leaders prattling. One lady who had been crouching down in the potato bed stood and stretched. “So, Shep, do you sometimes feel like you are carrying a heavy load like Moses did?”
Shep shook his head and smirked. “No. My responsibilities are small compared to his. On the other hand, if I were Moses I would at least have a magic staff that could devour the snakes of the Pharaoh's minions, shield my people from the angel of death, and part the sea until my people could escape from the pursuing armies of the Pharaoh. All I have is a measure of patience and a tenacious hope that I will have enough strength to help get us all through this.”
Marilyn smiled slightly and paused. “Shep, you are a strong man and a strong leader, but that is not enough. It was not enough for Moses, either. His strength did not come from within himself, and it did not come from a magic staff. When you decide you can take a few minutes to rest, I'd like a chance to talk with you about Moses. Right now these potatoes are calling me back to work. I'll talk to you more, when you're ready.”
Shep continued his walk along the fields and then turned back toward the complex to check out the progress in the food storage preparation area. As he walked along he had a gradual sense of a shadowy cloud drifting away from his thoughts. He decided that since he had to spend so much time listening to the whining of the self appointed community leaders every day, it might be healthy to make time for listening to some refreshing ideas from people like Marilyn once in a while. He had seen Tricia talking with Marilyn many times before and it certainly did no harm to Tricia's outlook. He decided he could do well with some more energy like Tricia's.